Your career can develop linearly. Step by step. That’s nice, but also a bit boring. Why not hit the accelerator? Just check out these exclusive headhunter tips for career boosting, and you’ll be flying in no time.
Whether career advice or the right online presence – Headhunters know how to properly advance your career.
So, you find your current job satisfying? You’re not looking for a change at the moment? You know very well where you would like to be in five years and your current path will take you there? If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, you should continue in your current position.
However, if you answered “no” to one or more of them, we urge you to read our top three tips from successful headhunters – because with their advice you can give your career a real boost.
Tip 1- Invest in career counseling
Today’s working world is undergoing drastic changes, and at a tremendous pace. Digitalization is putting pressure on senior management representatives in particular. In order not to lose direction in this increasingly confusing environment, the targeted consultation and planning of one’s own career is an important step. Recognize your potential and your values.
Personal consultant Christian Düngfeler knows: “The focus of senior professionals is no longer solely on their careers, in recent years keywords such as freedom and flexibility in work, especially with regard to the compatibility of job and family, have become increasingly important factors.” Now all you have to do is find an employer who shares your values. Personal consultants or headhunters can become valuable partners in this search.
The consultant gathers information, looks for vulnerabilities and assesses your potential. “The headhunter can then prepare the candidate for the right company, the right position and also the person to talk to,” explains Düngfeler.
Before the consultation you should be prepared so that you can contribute to the success. Formulate your goals and define your values. What’s important to you? Above all, be honest with yourself and your advisor. This is the only way to create a long-term relationship.
Tip 2 – Get fit for the Cultural Fit
Even if you’ve got ample experience, and your resume is seemingly perfect for the position, this doesn’t tell you whether or not you’ll be a good fit at the company. Employers, however, always pay attention to ensuring that their own values are as fully integrated as possible with those of the candidate. “Cultural Fit has been an important aspect of recruiting for several years now.
After all, much of the success in today’s workplaces are the result of team effort. With a good cultural fit, the engine runs much smoother,” says Gerrit Nagel, Managing Director of Dr. Ing. Terhalle & Nagel.
Nagel’s tip: Evaluate your cultural fit before deciding on a company. Question the corporate culture praised in glossy brochures! Use job review portals such as Kununu and Glassdoor. This will help you to better assess which employer suits you.
Tip 3 – Polish your online profile
Let’s be honest – not having an online profile today in most sectors, even with senior management, just doesn’t cut it. Especially when considering that headhunters use the digital world to find perfect candidates. Accept that social channels and business networks are becoming increasingly important as a recruiting channel, and use them to your advantage! Your online profile is your calling card – so if the last time you polished your Experteer profile was so long ago you can’t even remember… off to the laptop!
Check your “social CV” for expressiveness, completeness and that it’s up to date. And take another critical look at your photo – does it still show you how you would be perceived today? Make sure to use keywords, “A good tagging of professional experience and expectations increases visibility – and thus the chances to attract the attention of headhunters”, explains Simone Dappert of Konsultwerk. Important: If possible, specify synonyms. Do you have experience in sales? Then you should also write “negotiation” as expertise.
You will also prove your complete online expertise by mastering online etiquette: “Possible running application processes should always end with a cancellation email in a timely manner,” advises Thomas K. Heiden of Heiden Associates.
About the author:
Jörg Peter Urbach is the author, editor and blogger of Sprachleidenschaft. He has been writing for more than 25 years, for print and online. Concepts. Stories. Journal articles. After studying musicology and German language and literature, Jörg Peter worked as an editorial manager in the classical music business. As long-time chief editor of the portal wissen.de, he knows how to inspire readers with clever topics. If the native Kieler is not writing, he is walking through the Alps. Or listening to the opera. With mindfulness.
