Quiz: When is it Time to Leave Your Job?

Most people wait until things are really bad before starting to look for a new job. But the best time to look is for a new job is when you are not desperate. So how can you tell when it’s time to go before it’s too late?

As it turns out asking yourself four questions will probably put you on the right path.  See my post in the Washington Business Journal for the four questions that tell when it’s time to look for a new job.

How To Work with a Headhunter

Most people are unsure how to work with a recruiter (aka headhunter). What is the etiquette? Can you contact them, or must you wait for them to contact you? Should you invite them to meet for coffee, or wait for them to invite you?

But some of the questions are not just etiquette. If you are currently working, you need to be sure headhunters will represent you fairly while maintaining your confidentiality. (You need to be absolutely sure your boss will not find out you are looking.)

Finally, you need to be sure the search firms keeps your best interests in mind. You don’t want to change jobs just so someone else can earn a placement fee. (Full disclosure: nobody at Staffing Advisors works on commission and we take candidate confidentiality very seriously.)

Good news. We have a series of posts on this blog that answer your questions about working with headhunters. Enjoy!

How Do Headhunters Find Candidates?

Candidates always ask us, “How did you find me?” So we created a two minute video to answer the question. We link to the video in all our email outreach messages. You can watch it below, but of course that only describes how the candidate research process works here at Staffing Advisors. Other search firms work differently.

From watching our video you can see that we cast a wide net in our approach, methodically working through business databases like Hoover’s, working through LinkedIn profiles, and checking out conferences to look for people who demonstrate expertise in certain areas. Most retained search firms have a dedicated candidate research team capable of doing this kind of candidate sourcing.

But in your job search, you also need to be aware of search firms who take a different approach. Some search firms rely on job board advertising to find candidates. Some firms comb through the resume databases from career sites like Monster, Careerbuilder and Indeed. Some firms rely on networking with people they already know, and call or send emails out to their networks inviting people to recommend candidates for searches.

So if you want to be considered for new opportunities, what should you do? Well, if you are openly and actively searching, go ahead and post your resume to the job board databases, and definitely apply to job postings from search firms. Even if you don’t see an active search matching your profile, you can often send a resume to search firms, simply  asking them to include you in their database. Almost every search firm will first look for candidates within their own candidate database. 

If you are searching more confidentially, you should work on becoming more visible, particularly online.  Watch our video series on how to update your LinkedIn profile to increase your career visibility. But don’t stop at LinkedIn, here is another video on how to increase your online visibility.

No one strategy will make you visible to every search firm, and search firms vary widely in their approach to recruiting, but if you increase your ability to be found, you will always hear about more job opportunities. 

Where Do You Look for Jobs Online?

When you go online to look for a job, where do you go? Well, in January of 2013, 62% of all U.S. job seekers went to Indeed.

More job seekers went to Indeed, by far, than went to the biggest job boards.

Millions of job seekers have downloaded the Indeed app to their phones.  Almost a third of the traffic on Indeed is mobile (from smart phones and tablets).  You can apply to jobs right from your phone now. It sounds like the place to be … right?

But if you primarily use Indeed for your job search, you will not see most of the job postings from small employers (organizations with less than 100 employees). The reason is simple. Indeed “scrapes” (gathers) job postings from career sites. Big employers almost always have a career site, but small employers without a career site are simply left behind. Indeed does not stop small employers from posting, in fact they make it free … but many small employers don’t bother.

The vast majority of small employers are still using the job sites they used 10 years ago.  Sites like Craigslist and niche job boards.  They simply don’t realize that the vast majority of candidates are elsewhere, and they certainly don’t realize that 30% of candidates are conducting their job search on a smart phone.

So when you go online to look for a job, you need to understand that where you are looking may not be where your next employer is looking for you.

Hiring Managers Do Not Always Know What They Want

Do you ever interview and wonder if the hiring manager knows what they really want? Do you ever ask that question specifically in an interview, and get a vague answer?

Of course. It happens all the time.

That’s the topic of my latest post in the Washington Business Journal, “Sometimes the Hiring Manger Doesn’t Know What They Want (Until They See It).“

Should You Work With a Contingency or a Retained Search Firm?

Job seekers are always curious about how search firms work. Who pays the fees? What are the differences between a contingency recruiter vs a retained search firm? Which is best for the job seeker?

First things first. You can pay a career counselor to help you write your resume, or to help you plan your search, but no search firm should ever charge you. Ever.

OK, now let’s move on.

Search firms charge their fees to employers. The real difference is when they charge and how much they charge.

Retained versus contingent search is simply a choice of business models.  Neither model is inherently better for you as the job seeker. Neither model is inherently more professional or more ethical. Neither business model means that the recruiter is better informed about the job, or more knowledgeable about your profession.

But there are very real differences in your experience as a candidate.

If a search firm works on a retained basis, they are essentially paid by the employer to research and find great candidates – and it is presumed that any candidates uncovered from that research are “owned” by the employer until they are removed from consideration.  The entire candidate pool “belongs” to whoever paid for the research.  The retainer firm wants the employer to hire the most qualified, compelling candidate from any source – either in the pool found by the search firm, or drawn from an employee referral.  It’s all the same to them. (This is the model Staffing Advisors uses).

In a contingency basis, the search firm takes on the risk and expense of developing relationships with lots of candidates (which is why they often specialize in just one functional area).  They did the work and took the risk, so essentially, they ”own” the candidate pool.   To ensure they get a return on their candidate research investment, they must present those great candidates to lots of employers.  The employer committed nothing, and therefore has no right to the pool of candidates, so the search firm is wise to present the best people to multiple employers.  This is why some employers feel their interests are better represented by a retained search firm and some job seekers feel like they are better represented by a contingency search firm.

The contingency search firm wants ANY employer to make a compelling  job offer to their candidate, while the retained firm wants the employer to make an offer to ANY compelling candidate, regardless of source. The contingency firm gets paid only after a candidate accepts a job offer. The retained firm earns their fee by conducting the search process and is usually paid the majority of their fees within 60 days of starting the search. And to add complexity, some search firms use a blend of the two approaches.

Search fees vary widely, but can be as low as 10-15% of the placed candidate’s annual salary all the way up to 33% of annual salary, but again this entire fee is paid by the employer, not the candidate. (Some retained search firms have a minimum retainer fee of $75,000).

So how can you tell if you are dealing with a contingency vs. a retained search firm?

It can be difficult and company websites do not always reveal it. But there are clues, and you can always ask the recruiter who contacts you. If it is not a confidential search, we always disclose the name of our client early in the recruiting process. We are not worried about a candidate applying directly to our client–we have an agreement to be paid either way, so our clients simply forward any resumes or internal candidates to us. If a firm publicly discloses their client’s name early in the recruiting process, it is often (but not always) a retained search firm.

A contingency search firm is only paid when a candidate they present is hired. They are essentially in a foot race with the employer (or sometimes even another search firm) to present candidates quickly. Whoever presents the candidate first earns the fee. Some employers engage a contingency search firm, but hope to hire on their own to avoid the fee. For this reason it’s wise for contingency search firms to avoid disclosing their client’s name too early in the recruiting process. There is nothing improper about this, the business model requires it. If a search firm is representing you simultaneously to several clients, you are definitely working with a contingency model firm–a retained search firm should never do this.

I hope this helps. If you have other questions, leave me a comment.

A Search Firm Insider’s Tips for How to Use LinkedIn for Career Visibility

Almost everyone maintains a profile on LinkedIn to advance their career visibility. But very few people are being coached by a search firm insider like Kelly Dingee.

Now you can get the inside scoop on how to create your profile to attract more career opportunities.  Just click the play button to watch the entire series on how to use LinkedIn more effectively.

Or, click here to watch the entire series on YouTube.