What do Executive management recruiters do?
Executive Management Recruiters (also known as executive headhunters), are specialists in locating management talent at the executive level. The kind of top-level talent that can run a major corporation or direct the operations of an entire company division doesn’t read want ads and is seldom in search of employment. Instead, these powerhouses often file a resume with a trusted executive recruitment firm. When a company needs high-level talent, they also hire an executive management recruitment firm, this time to locate potential applicants. The ''headhunter'' firms then take the delicate role of go between for major companies and high level executives, identifying and vetting possible choices.
The Search Begins
The executive management recruiter will usually start by combing through a vast database of resumes submitted by executives who are interested in being ''kept in the loop'' for potential job offers. They prescreen the resumes for those that best match the stated needs of the company that has hired them — something busy corporate human resource managers may not have time to do. The client then makes selections from this pool of potential executives and instructs the recruiters to make contact. This calls for a great deal of confidentiality and discretion — a rumor that a company president is shopping around for another job could very well cause his employer’s reputation and stock prices to drop and trigger a lawsuit! So executive recruiters must be highly skilled at contacting potential applicants in a confidential manner and determining if they are interested in interviewing with the client company.
Call in the Specialists
Most executive search firms cover entire countries or international markets. On the other hand, as search skills require intimate knowledge about the executive market, some search firms specialize. Some recruit for specific types of jobs or industries, or jobs that require special kinds of knowledge. Others operate within a certain geographic area, allowing them to know their potential market more intimately.
Once a candidate is located and shows interest, the search firm may perform several additional services for the company client. They may do pre-screening interviews of the applicant, as well as a background check. They may also provide the corporate client with information on salary or benefits of comparable hires.
How Do Executive Management Recruiters Work?
Executive management recruiters use a wide variety of tools to locate potential new hires at the executive level. Most start with resumes and reputations; when a search firm is known for making good placements, executives naturally prefer to place copies of their resumes with them. Recruiters enhance this by building relationships with possible executive hires, checking on their current status and encouraging them to keep their resumes up to date.
In addition to maintaining large resume files, executive management recruiters also keep abreast of current trends in the businesses they serve. They keep in touch with the hiring and personnel departments of companies that may need their services, updating their records and making sure to keep track of the company’s needs. Specialist Executive management recruitment firms track market trends and needs so that they’re always on top of changes in the hiring landscape. They also keep an eye on the business sections of the papers; a change in management, an economic downturn or a new corporate initiative may be a signal of possible job openings or applicants that will be entering the market.
What Are Executive Management Recruiters Looking for?
Having a good resume isn’t enough for an Executive management recruiter’s needs. Because potential hires may occupy critical areas of a client company’s ''org chart,'' Executive recruiters need to make sure that an applicant is also a good fit for the company. This means making sure that the company and the hire have matching management styles, or similar corporate ''cultures’ (i.e., the ingrained ways of doing things in large companies). For example, an executive from a loose, unstructured company might find himself at odds in a buttoned down, highly stratified organization. The job of the recruiter is to not only make sure the candidate has the skills, but the needed attitudes and style to make the transition smooth and undisruptive to the client company.
What Companies Use Executive Management Recruiters?
In general, companies seeking executives at the divisional or top levels of management find Executive management recruiters most useful. While large companies usually have their own HR departments, the careful negotiations and need for confidentiality typically call for specialists who are outside the company hierarchy. After all, it wouldn’t do to have information about the new company president floating around the HR typing pool!
Salaries
As of 2006, median salaries of executive recruiters and related fields were $42,000 yearly, with a low of $26,590, a high (10%) $81,680+ and the middle 50% coming in at $58,320.
Employment Outlook
As of 2006, approximately 197,000 people worked as executive recruiters or related fields. While competition in this industry is usually high, demand for Executive recruiters and Executive recruiting firms is expected to grow at one of the fastest rates in the overall job market. Salaries are also expected to increase by approximately 78% between 2006 to 2016, making this one of the fastest growing segments of the economy as well.
