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- Executive Search In South Africa
Informally referred to as headhunting, Executive Search is pretty much just that. Executive search companies actively seek to recruit individuals to fill executive positions in companies and organisations, usually identifying and recruiting people who are not actually in the market for a new job.
Executive Search Companies
The primary goal of executive search firms is to seek the recruitment of special candidates for very specific jobs. This means that top executive search companies are often entrenched in specific market sectors. When a client company retains the services of an executive search company they usually have very specific briefs, and the people fitting the profile that they are looking for might well be employed by their competition in the marketplace.
After establishing the job specification in conjunction with their client, potential job candidates are first identified, then qualified and finally presented to the client by the executive search firms. Leading international recruiting services assess the degree of potential fit of candidates with the job specification, saving the client the time and effort involved with the identifying, qualifying and presentation of candidates process.
Executive Search Consultants
The recruiters working for executive search companies that are tasked with the job of headhunting executives are called executive search consultants. Successful executive search consultants have to work their way into their positions, usually starting as researchers and only progressing to the level of consultant once they have proven intimate market knowledge and gained sufficient experience.
The nature of their profession is of such a nature that top executive search consultants are in international demand by leading global executive search companies. This proves that not even the headhunter is immune to being headhunted!
The Executive Search Recruitment Process
Once the job specification has been established, and the recruitment task allocated to the relevant executive search consultants, the wheels of the recruiting process are set in motion with possible candidates being identified. It is now that the value of of being solidly entrenched in a specific market sector comes to the fore. Networks of contacts get alerted to the job opportunity that exists and potential candidates often get recommended by somebody in this network.
Networking is really important, and top executive search companies and their consultants work hard at constantly cultivating and updating their network of contacts, so that when a search assignment is awarded they will be ready and able to immediately start the process of recruiting potential candidates.
Another method to identify potential candidates involves contacting targeted people in specific companies who seem to fit the job profile as laid down by the client. Quite often some of the best candidate referrals come from people who could be candidates for the job themselves but who are not interested in changing jobs when approached with an offer.
Job seekers who qualify for executive level jobs often mistake executive search recruitment companies for outplacement specialists. Executive recruiters work for their client companies and do not actively place individuals like a conventional recruitment firm. Do contact executive search firms and forward your CV to them if you qualify, but do not expect them to see you if they haven’t got anything on their books you might be suited for.
Executive search companies are driven by their specific assignments for their clients, so they find people for jobs, not jobs for people. Executive Search can be a career maker for some special individuals, but for most of us this will not be the way to finding our next job.
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