Executive job search (employee, job openings, applying, reputation)

[magni]

What do you think the best way is to find executive job openings (VP, director etc)?
They are not posted on usual websites and everyone tells those are generally filled via recruiter service or networking.
But then how do you find the recruiters among the thousands that can be found on Linkedin?

[joe from dayton]

Trade publications frequently have advertisements for executives. There are some national recruiting companies that send email inquiries to their professional contact list soliciting names of potential executive candidates for specific openings that they are trying to fill. I don't mean to be snarky, but if you don't know the resources that exist to find a VP job, you probably don't need to be a VP. I also disagree that executives are generally filled through networking. I have seen multiple directors and executives hired "out of the blue" because they were the best candidate as opposed to knowing somebody on the inside.

[Humanista]

Director and even VP level positions are posted on LinkedIn all the time. I actually got my current position by responding to a LinkedIn post. I saw it, applied, and was contacted two days later. And at the time, it was a Fortune 100 company. My company will use head hunters but only if the internal recruiting team was unable to fill it first.

[Hemlock140]

For executive positions (managing director) and above we use headhunters, but it's still posted on our website job listings and on Linkedin. The only difference is that you would apply to the headhunter firm rather than our online system.

[HeadhunterPaul]

Originally Posted by magni

What do you think the best way is to find executive job openings (VP, director etc)?
They are not posted on usual websites and everyone tells those are generally filled via recruiter service or networking.
But then how do you find the recruiters among the thousands that can be found on Linkedin?

1. What is your specialty/industry expertise? **



2. The advantage to having an executive search consultant represent you is that they will walk your resume directly to the person doing the hiring for the advertised position (assuming they see you as a best choice hire) as opposed to applying online and hoping the [usually junior] first level screener knows enough to pick your resume out of the stack of them that managed to get through that company's ATS.


** This is not a solicitation. I do not represent people I meet here although I do offer -at no charge- to review resumes to determine if they can be improved. I asked since it could be possible I could refer you to a specific search consultant, depending on your industry niche.





Paul............


..

[G-fused]

I see them posted in the usual places - LinkedIn, Indeed, Organizational job sites, etc.

And yes, recruiters are used if the right candidate cannot be found or enticed away form where they currently are. I would guess it is a rare thing for someone of that level to be hired from submitting a resume on a website. The higher up I go, the more I network and know people and the more they know me. If i have an open position I know people to reach out to who would be interested. And if I should find myself wanting to make a move, I know who to reach out to for that as well.

[Humanista]

Just my personal experience, but I've been hired via both headhunters and LinkedIn/job sites. I landed at the smaller companies I worked for via headhunters. The last time this happened, I was a contractor at a Fortune 20 and randomly received a call. The position sounded intriguing so I moved. Once there, I realized their hiring process was first current employee networks –*there were many times when someone would announce do you know anyone and a job wasn't ever posted. If this failed, they would go to a headhunter. This worked for them because even though I live in a top 10 city by population, the tech community is small and you tend to know everyone in the same industry.

I landed both positions at the Fortune 100 companies I worked for via LinkedIn. These companies were both more willing to search nationally and because of their names/reputation, they had no trouble getting candidates and extensive recruiting departments for screening, etc. When hiring within these companies, I would write up my JD, speak with the internal recruiter to go through specifics, and I would usually get realistic candidates without going to an external headhunter.

I get annoying emails/contact from headhunters all the time letting me know they can help me find qualified candidates. I usually just delete as my company's recruiting team is excellent.

[ERH]

I hear great reviews about BlueSteps and ExecuNet, so you may want to try them. Don't go near The Ladders.

[Berteau]

I think its typically recruiters, internal promotions, or networking.