Looking for the inside scoop on recruitment strategies and the future of work? Our guests for today, Richard Triggs and Cherie Canning, are here to share their wealth of knowledge, insights and how they’ve navigated the waters of change during challenging times.
It was a lively session and we covered a lot of ground, including:
…and a whole lot more.
This is how you maximize your chance for getting shortlisted for a position.
In the last 20 years, I have recruited well in excess of 1,000 senior executives coached over 2,500 people in relation to their job search. Two of the questions I am most often asked are “How do I get recruiters to pay attention to me?” and “How do I maximize my chances of getting shortlisted for a role?”
Let’s say I am recruiting a CEO role for one of my clients, and I advertise that role. Because it is an attractive opportunity, I receive 200 applications (which is quite common for senior roles). I give each applicant’s résumé a cursory 15-second review (that’s right, that’s how long you have to make an impression). I select 10 applicants for an initial interview and the other 190 applicants get the dreaded “thanks, but no thanks” email.
How many of those 190 people do you think ring me asking for some feedback as to why they are not being progressed? The answer is typically zero, or occasionally one.
If I am recruiting one role you are interested in, then it’s highly likely I’ll be recruiting more. Why would you not want to have a relationship with me, so that you may get preferential consideration in the future? How do you impress me, if you don’t even speak to me?
Here are some tips and tricks to help you stand out from the crowd.
Do: Always ring the recruiter prior to submitting your application if their name is on the advertisement. Ask some specific, relevant questions to demonstrate you have read the ad. Be courteous and respectful of the recruiter’s time.
Don’t: Ask an obvious question like, “What can you tell me about the role?” or expect the recruiter to listen to your entire life story on this call. We are busy people too.
Do: Always make sure your résumé highlights key achievements that reflect the skills called for in the advertisement. Show the recruiter why you are awesome and deserve their attention.
Don’t: Write a cover letter unless it is specifically called for. Given my comments above about the 200 applicants and 15 seconds, take my word for it: We do not read cover letters.
Do: Be patient and wait five days before following up to see if you are being shortlisted. However make sure you do follow up as each conversation is another opportunity to leave a good impression.
Don’t: Be a stalker and leave multiple messages/emails per day. Don’t be aggressive, needy, or belligerent.
Do: If you get a rejection email, always follow up and ask for feedback. Offer to buy the recruiter a coffee (it’s amazing what a $5 investment will get you) so you can meet and build a relationship.
Don’t: Expect that recruiters will drop everything just to meet with you face-to-face immediately. Accept that a 15-minute Zoom/Teams meeting is the norm nowadays.
Do: If you are offered an interview, be on time, well-prepared, and smartly dressed. When in doubt, always dress up rather than down.
Do: If you are being interviewed by the recruiter’s client (i.e., the employer), always provide immediate feedback to the recruiter on how the meeting went, so they can proactively follow up.
Do: If references are requested, always provide at least two people you have worked directly for (i.e., former employers). Subordinates, colleagues, and personal references aren’t appropriate.
Do: Always let the recruiter handle the salary negotiations. Our job is to get you the best outcome and to take the emotion out (like a real estate agent).
Don’t: Artificially talk up your salary expectations, just because you can. I’ve seen many candidates miss out on great jobs because they priced themselves out of consideration and/or the employer thought they were being greedy. (Note: You should definitely be paid what you are worth, and a good employer will know this.)
Do: Show your appreciation to the recruiter for helping you, by sending a thank you card or small gift. Yes, we do get paid a fee from the employer, but we also love it when a placed candidate shows some gratitude.
Don’t: Think that now you have a new job, you don’t need to maintain a relationship with your recruiter. They may have another fantastic job for you in the future, they may be able to introduce you to some relevant contacts in the industry useful for your career, and potentially they may even recruit people into your team.
Some basic things can go a long way to ensuring you impress an executive recruiter and become one of their candidates of choice.
As an executive recruitment consultant with over 20 years’ experience (14 years running my own company), I have recruited well over 2,000 senior executive and board roles for my clients. I’ve worked across almost all role families, all industries (including government and not-for profits) and throughout all of Australia and internationally.
As a result, I probably get between 15 and 30 enquiries a week from people wanting advice on how to get c-suite (CEO, CFO, COO etc.) and board roles. I wrote a book, “Uncover the Hidden Job Market”, I host monthly webinars dealing with this topic, plus I have coached hundreds of senior executives and board directors through their job search.
Here’s a few key points that will help you fast track your career to the roles you would truly love to have.
Ask your boss the question, “For you to be absolutely delighted with my performance, what do I need to achieve for you in the next 3, 6 and 12 months?” Drill down and quantify these expectations as much as possible, and then go out and achieve it. Of course, if your boss is a Machiavellian narcissist, then it’s probably time to leave regardless.
Nothing will accelerate your career more than being excellent at your job.
Even if there is a current vacancy, why would an organisation want to go through a protracted, expensive recruitment process, if they can just hire you directly and get on with business. Makes sense, right?
So in order for you to access the hidden job market (c-suite or board), you need to have a direct relationship with your employers of choice (which can also include the CEO and Chair of your current employer). You need to “sell” them on your key achievements and transferable skills (see point one above). You need to remain front of mind, so that when the vacancy becomes available, you are the logical first choice.
Fortunately, LinkedIn has made this process easy. Firstly, identify your employer/s of choice. Then identify the key decision maker (i.e. the Chair and/or CEO). Reach out to them with a connection request and then follow up with an email asking for a 15-minute introductory meeting. Do this consistently and proactively and you will easily find a new job/board role when the time is right.
You should also do this with key “People of Influence” in your industry. Who are the thought leaders who regularly speak at industry events or write about industry specific topics? Reach out to them to introduce yourself as well. These people are regularly asked for referrals for vacancies, and you want to be top of mind.
Make sure you include in your career history those key achievements that you are most proud of and are quantified to make sure you stand out from the crowd. “Increased revenue by x percent”, “increased market share by y percent”, “reduced operating costs by z percent”, etc. Big, sexy key achievements. You need to “sell the sizzle, not the steak”.
Have a great quality headshot, have at least 500 connections (so that you are visible), include your qualifications and ideally have at least a few Recommendations (personal testimonials at the bottom of your profile). It’s not hard to create a LinkedIn profile that stands out from the crowd.
Doing these simple things will best ensure that when the time is right, you will be well positioned to achieve the c-suite or board role that you are best qualified and deserved of. Good luck with your job search.
As an executive recruiter with over 20 years of experience, I am regularly asked by both jobseekers and employers what substantive changes or trends are affecting the recruitment industry.
The reality is that technology and human behaviour (in relation to finding jobs) have significantly changed, yet in many respects, both in-house and third-party recruiters continue to operate using antiquated models that are not effective any more.
Traditional recruitment
In the pre-LinkedIn world, employers would rely on third-party recruiters for the bulk of their hiring needs.
As an example, a mining company requires a new chief financial officer, so they go to a recruiter who specialises in these roles. That recruiter has, over time, built a database of candidates with these skill sets and experience, which the employer requires. Recruiters were able to charge substantial fees for access to their talent pools.
The rise of LinkedIn Recruiter
With the introduction of LinkedIn, millions of professionals created profiles in order to connect with former and current colleagues and business associates. It wasn’t long before LinkedIn realised they had created a goldmine for recruiters, so they, in turn, created LinkedIn Recruiter licences. This product allows recruiters to use sophisticated search tools to mine LinkedIn for candidate profiles.
Larger employers were quick to start to build internal recruitment teams, believing that by arming them with LinkedIn Recruiter licences, they could dramatically reduce their recruitment spend.
Why pay a third-party recruiter $60,000-plus per placement when they could hire their own recruiter for not much more per annum, who, using LinkedIn, could potentially recruit dozens of employees per year? Using the example above, if virtually every CFO in the mining industry has a LinkedIn profile, why do employers need the third-party recruiter’s database anymore?
The pitfalls of internal recruitment
Unfortunately, for a lot of employers, building out an internal recruitment team has not resulted in the fantastic outcomes they were anticipating.
I would say that the vast majority of business owners and senior hiring managers I speak to are consistently underwhelmed with the quality and quantity of candidates they are presented with by their internal recruitment teams. As a result, they still need to rely on third-party recruiters for many of their vacancies and continue to pay high fees. This is unsurprising for a few key reasons.
Most internal recruiters are failed external recruiters who go in-house to escape the pressures of working for a consultancy.
They bring with them their bad habits, including not putting their name and phone number on job advertisements (so candidates are unable to call and ask questions to decide if they want to apply), not acknowledging applications (so candidates don’t know the status of their application), not processing applications fast enough (so good candidates find another job in the meantime) and just generally regarding candidates as a commodity and treating them extremely poorly.
I am sure every job applicant reading this article will have had this experience.
Don’t get me wrong; many third-party recruiters deliver an equally underwhelming candidate experience. It’s just that these third-party recruiters won’t survive long in a competitive industry, so most who wish to remain in recruitment will probably end up in-house.
So what does the future look like?
Job applicants are human beings with emotions and aspirations. They expect and deserve to be treated with respect and to have human interactions prior to and during their application process.
Organisations that truly wish to be regarded as “employers of choice” must radically assess and redress their recruitment processes. The reliance on current technologies like LinkedIn and new technologies like ChatGPT and artificial intelligence, while useful, will never replace a human’s desire for connection and emotional engagement.
Organisations that focus on building their employment brands, and the personal brands of their hiring managers, are able to attract top talent from their competitors. Organisations that are looking at ways to provide greater value to their employees through flexible working arrangements, professional development, healthcare and other benefits also have a competitive advantage when recruiting.
Likewise, third-party recruiters need to critically examine their value proposition and look for ways to partner with internal recruitment rather than compete with them.
New hybrid models are emerging, which play to the strengths of both third-party and internal recruitment teams, allowing for great candidate experiences while also substantially reducing costs.
While the traditional recruitment industry may be dead, the requirement for excellent recruitment practices is even more critical in this new employment environment. For employers to win “the war for talent”, it’s time to make the necessary changes to attract and retain excellent employees.
By Richard Triggs, author of “Uncover the Hidden Job Market – How to Find and Win Your Next Senior Executive Role”. He also hosts the Arete Podcast and is a highly sought-after keynote speaker.