Many executives believe that Director level and higher jobs are never advertised online, and therefore it is a waste of time to peruse online ads. This is a false belief, for many reasons.
The fact is, quite a few of management level roles are indeed advertised online. You can also glean terrific information from ads, that you can use to increase your chances of procuring an interview.
It is common knowledge at this point that many companies as well as recruiters utilize software to help manage the tremendous number of applicants that is received on a daily basis for active searches. That software works by matching key words from applicants against key words in the ad to decipher how well a candidate matches what we are looking for. By reviewing online ads, you can easily determine specifically which key words a company tends to employ and utilize those in your resume and cover letter.
For executive level job seekers, it also makes sense to set up job alerts for all companies that you have targeted on your wish list of companies to work for, making note of what their hiring needs may be. For lower level roles, you can always reach out to the recruiter or hiring manager to say that you noticed that they had a need for XYZ and you had a few names that you could suggest. This is a novel approach to get on their radar screen. Offering assistance is always appreciated, and occasionally will lead to more opportunities. The key is to build rapport with key decision makers within your targeted companies.
You can easily set up google alerts for your targeted list of companies, and many companies also offer the opportunity to set up alerts directly on their website in order to be notified of new job postings.
Reaching out to key decision makers within your targeted list of companies on social media, specifically LinkedIn is also smart. By sending out invitations to connect, as well as interacting with them, as well as recruiters that work within your industry, you can build relationships in previously unprecedented ways. Regardless of the status of someone in a company, virtually everyone enjoys getting positive feedback on posts that they make, and having intelligent feedback is always welcomed.
Being alerted to a critical need for a marketing manager for instance, you may want to reach out to the VP of Marketing or the VP of HR on LI offering names of stellar candidates that you have worked with in the past.
The more information you can gain on a company that you want to work for, the better. In addition to the fact that executive level roles are indeed occasionally posted as online ads, you can also get into the habit of reviewing a company’s published hiring needs as a terrific reason to reach out and offer assistance in creative ways to get on someones radar screen.
Once a candidate hits a certain level in his or her career, we occasionally hear from them that they believe the next step is going to be more and more difficult because the pyramid obviously gets smaller at the top. While in theory this is correct, the fact remains that the higher up the corporate ladder you progress, the more people are exposed to your abilities. Do your best to remain open to opportunities, remembering that every single person that you have contact with….that comes away with a favorable impression of you…. exponentially increases your chances of hearing about an opportunity. By engaging with current and previous co-workers on LinkedIn, actively staying abreast of hiring needs of your targeted list of companies, and applying directly when appropriate, the right match should reveal itself.
Since 1999, International Search Consultants has been a leading provider of Executive Recruiting services across the United States, placing executives in a wide array of industries.
Please feel free to check out our Job Seekers page, where you can upload your resume for inclusion into our confidential database. You may also want to check out our Hot Jobs listings for a full list of all active searches.
