How To Get Head-hunted

They know the jobs that don’t get advertised and are in with that CEO you want to work for.Here’s how to make their hit list.

- Jessica Powell

Your phone rings. You answer. A chirpy voice says, ‘I’m calling to offer you a job. You’re looking at a R20K raise. There is, I can confirm, an office puppy.’ And then you wake up. Being head-hunted sounds like the stuff of dreams but it does happen – and more than you might think, as social media is enabling talent scouting in ways never before possible. A recent survey found that 97% of recruiters now use LinkedIn to hunt for would be candidates*. (Don’t have a profile? Stop reading this, create one, then come back.) You’re already in with a good chance as statistics** suggest women are more than 10% more likely to get head-hunted than men. How do you become a head-hunter’s next target? We asked some of the best in the business…

Beware of the power of your junior

The number-one way you’ll come to a headhunter’s attention is by being recommended by someone in their network. ‘I spend the majority of my time meeting industry professionals, and I hear the same names repeated – people’s reputations always precede them,’ says Mohammed Mirza, chief executive officer of Luxury Recruit, who head-hunts for the likes of Chanel and Ralph Lauren, and has placed senior managers and creative directors at some of the best-known luxury brands. It’s not just your boss’s good books you want to get in and stay in, though. ‘I place as much weight on opinions of entry-level staff,’ says Mirza. ‘You can often tell the most about a candidate by speaking to the most junior member of the team.’Funny, that – weren’t you about to do a coffee run for the interns?

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