Search Campaign
Strategies
If a single word could be used to describe
the successful executive search candidate, it would be
"proactive." Long gone are the days when one could peruse a
few ads, get several interviews, and land a great new position. The
successful candidate in the new millennium realizes that employment
search is MARKETING. How many thriving businesses do you
know of that derive all of their business from one advertising
medium? The more aggressively and effectively you use creative
marketing and merchandising strategies, concepts, and techniques, the
shorter and more productive will be the search process.
This multi-faceted process begins with
creation of high-impact advertising copy--your resume, cover letters,
thank-you and follow-up letters, reference list, salary history. Once
armed with these marketing tools, there are various avenues you will
want to evaluate for promoting the product (you). Not all will be
appropriate in every case, but you will want to make sure your search
campaign is multi- rather than one-dimensional:
Networking:
By far your best
source of leads and also the avenue through which the majority of
positions in the marketplace are filled. Your previous bosses and
co-workers, contacts with vendors and suppliers, previous clients and
customers immediately come to mind. Professional and civic
associations are a valuable networking resource. Not so obvious but
surprisingly fruitful can be casual acquaintances and associates at
social and sports clubs, your bank, even your barber or hairdresser.
Make sure everyone you know has a copy of your resume! Investigate
and join one or more networking associations (e.g., ExecuNet)
and then aggressively utilize every resource they offer.
Print Advertisements:
Comb
the Wall Street
Journal, The
Washington Post, The
New York Times, trade publications for your industry, etc.
Look not only for companies specifically recruiting for your target
position, but for companies highlighted in articles as
growing/changing as well as those advertising to fill other
positions. Compile a list of prospects for your direct mail campaign
from these resources.
Targeted E-Mail and/or Direct Mail:
Targeted mailing (not broadcast or mass mailing) has proven
for many to be a powerful vehicle for identifying unadvertised
opportunities. Well-planned, well-targeted, and well-executed
campaigns do get results! You may wish to select companies in your
preferred industry(s), executive recruiters who specialize in your
industry or targeted position, or perhaps venture capitalists who
invest in your industry and are looking for management teams to take
the helm of their new acquisitions. Critical to a successful targeted
e-mail or direct mail campaign are three elements: an up-to-date
mailing list, specific contact information for the top executive at
each company, and follow-up! Many individuals have been
sorely disappointed after mailing hundreds of resumes to a poorly
targeted and outdated list and then compounding their error by
failing to follow up by telephone with each and every contact.
Posting Your Resume Online:
Gain quick, low cost, incredibly broad exposure of your credentials
to potential employers, executive recruiters, and venture
capitalists. The Web is literally exploding as a tool for employment
search both from the employer's and the candidate's perspective. As
early as 1994, for example, the OCC (Online Career Center) estimated
that it received over two million accesses from employers,
recruiters, and job searchers per month. More and more
employers every day use resume databases exclusively to identify
potential candidates, and it was reported recently that 80% of
employers use the Web to some degree. Those who neglect this resource
will soon be left behind in the employment competition!
Online Executive Search Services: Join
and utilize one or more executive job boards or e-mail notification
services that provide access to positions in the $100K+ category (a
good example is Netshare).
Make sure that the service or services you work with provide
appropriate and up-to-date information. You can waste many hours
wading through inappropriate or dated material on some sites.
Professional and Executive Job Search
Publications: Select and subscribe to one or more
specialized search publications which provide the inside track on
high level positions unadvertised elsewhere. These publications often
offer additional assistance in the areas of networking opportunities,
mailing lists, etc.
Executive search candidates may not enjoy
hearing it, but it is the truth: The casual searcher generally
produces "casual" results. In many respects, the search
process must be approached as a full-time job. However, through
proactive and well-planned use of as many search tools as are
appropriate to your situation, you can produce great results while
minimizing your time investment. Work smarter, not harder! That,
after all, is an area in which the high-caliber executive excels.
 
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