How to get a job essentially? Riffling the classifieds? Surfing Websites? Or Recommended by friends or business associates? Or by being a headhunted?

There are essentially three ways to get a job: the first, by riffling the classifieds and surfing job-search Websites; second, by being recommended by friends or business associates; and finally, by being headhunted. Of the three, being headhunted is easily the most flattering acknowledgement of your talents and potential… but it is also the hardest to achieve.

If you are on the job market, you are actively seeking work. You go through the classified every morning, receive emails from job-search Websites and ask industry peers for news of vacancies you could fill. But what if you’re not looking for a job? What if you’re quite comfortable where you are? What if you’re too busy to hunt? How will you know about opportunities elsewhere? So what’s the way to get a job?

This is where recruitment agencies come in. these are companies whose business it is to look for you when you are not looking yourself. Some focus on lower-scale vacancies and some focus on executive experience, typically filling non-management positions in sales and administration. The real headhunters, however, are generally called in to fill management positions and above.

When a company engages the services of a professional headhunter, it is usually secretive because they do not want their employees, competitors or shareholders to know what they are up to. Advertisements appear with mysterious P.O. Box addresses. Email addresses are sometimes deliberately misleading. No phone numbers are given. A lot of the work done is undercover-dinner meetings and after-hours interviews are not uncommon.

A headhunter’s job is usually to find the top performers within a niche range of skills, experience and other requirements. Their clients pay a lot of money for this work, and expect a lot more than the run-of-the-mill applications they receive in their mail every day. There are looking for quality, not quantity.

To appear on the shortlist that these headhunters present to clients is flattering acknowledgement that you are amongst the crème de la crème of your industry. But how do you get there?

Get Noticed

In every career path worth talking about, there comes a point when you achieve a certain amount of recognition and fame for your work that elevates you to the pantheon of greats, where you hobnob with your industry’s top performers and become a guru for juniors. Getting to this place is the first thing you need to do if you want to become a target for headhunters.

The first step to appearing on the headhunter’s radar is to increase your visibility within your industry, and you can start doing this by attending all the networking events and conferences that happen within your business. Give keynote addresses and speeches. Network intelligently. Use every opportunity to introduce yourself and make strong, lasting first impressions. Better yet, promote yourself as a spokesperson for your company or as an expert in a particular field – getting your name and picture in the media not only increases your chances of being noticed by headhunters, but also makes you more desirable to their clients and therefore easier to sell.

The idea here to become memorable, both to headhunters and to your peers within your industry. Remember that headhunters rarely call at random. They always seek recommendations from others first, and if others remember you and hold you in high regard, they may suggest you. In such way, your name will start to circulate among your peers.

Your employers, however, may not take too kindly to increasing your profile within your industry – they know full well that being visible increases the chances of your being headhunted. However, as long as you don’t appear to be consciously looking for another job – and you shouldn’t be – they cannot blame you for wanting to further your career.

Make Contact, but Remember Who’s Paying

If you are successful at getting noticed, you may start receiving mysterious calls at work or after-hours but only if there is a need. Headhunters do not seek candidates to sell without already having a ready buyer. They don’t canvass for talent in the hope that someday, some client somewhere is going to need someone with your knowledge, skills, abilities and other attributes (KSAOs).

What this means is that although a headhunter may go to great pains to make you feel comfortable and to assist your career objectives, you would do well to remember that it is ultimately their clients who pay their bills. In a pinch, therefore, a headhunter’s allegiance is always going to be their client, not you. You are merely a name on a shortlist of a half-dozen other candidates. Unless you happen to fit one of their current assignments, there is no pressing need for a search consultant to talk to you. Typically, consultants will reluctant to read you’re CV, speak to you or meet you unless they can present you as a candidate for a current assignment.

This does not mean that you cannot send in your CV to a headhunter. Just make sure you send it to the right headhunter – they tend to focus on specific industries, so find one that specializes in yours. And, once you’ve established a relationship with headhunter, make sure you respect it. Do not work with more than one consultant at a time or produce a standard CV and send out a mass email.

Work With Your Headhunter

Now that your headhunter has taken an interest in you, it is important that you work with him. By developing a close working relationship, you are more likely to be remembered by him among three dozen other people he has interviewed for a particular assignment. It is also helps if you are straightforward with confidential information such as your CV or work history, although you should check that the agency is a reputable one and is not going to “broadcast” your CV to their clients via email.

It is therefore important that you are completely honest with your headhunter. If you had a disagreement with your boss in your previous firm, and thus “resigned to seek other opportunities”, as stated in your CV, say so. Remember: the search consultants not the employer, so it’s not really his business to judge you. It is important that he know the truth so that when he’s in discussions with the client he can steer clear of the potential landmine. It is important that you tell the search firm first, rather than them stumbling on this information later.

Talk About Money

While being headhunted certainly increases your stature among your peers and is the most sincere form of recognition, there is little point to it if it does not bring you more money. Being able to tell you boss “I’ve been headhunted”, while incredibly satisfying, is not reason enough for you to leave your current job.

This is where your headhunter becomes really useful. Firstly, he is likely to know what the client’s maximum deal will be, much better than you, and is thus more suited for the negotiation process. Secondly, because he is an intermediary, you do not have to go through the uncomfortable feeling that you are asking for too much…and therefore settle for less than you could have.

If you quite comfortable where you are and have no pressing need to leave your present job, spell out what your minimum terms are to your headhunters so that he knows which offer to bring to your attention and which to leave out. If nothing less than USD100, 000 a year plus a company car and 30-days paid leave is the only way to interest you, say so. If what you are expecting is way above market rates, the headhunter will tell you and it will be up to you to decide whether or not you should lower your sights.

You should certainly tell the search firm your current remuneration package. Some candidates worry they will be regarded as too expensive, particularly if there are lots of other people looking for jobs. However, the firm should know what the market rates are.