A large number of employers actually have strategies to minimise the amount of spend on using 3rd parties to find people. As a result, most companies are usually very positive about direct, unsolicited approaches. It shows enthusiasm and initiative, both of these are attributes seen as positive, and may even be spelt out on an advert or job spec!
If you are easily able to create a target list of organisations that you would most like to work for, it pays to search them out on the web for clues as to how they prefer to be contacted.
Headhunters and agencies can be useful but Reccruitment Insider thinks you shouldn’t start there. 3rd parties are paid to supply candidates so that an employer can fill a vacancy. They are not being paid to find YOU a job. And there is a difference.
You need to make it as easy as possible for a third party to help you. Treat any meeting or conversation like you would that of an employer directly. The analogy is with an estate agent. Most people tidy their house, or even decorate the place, before inviting an estate agent to come and value it or instruct them to sell. Take time to brief the “middle man”.
Hiring Managers and Recruitment professionals know that agencies frequently use a strong candidate’s CV as a calling card. It a great way for them to break into an organisation that has never dealt with them before. Don’t let an organisation use your CV as a marketing tool. Take time preparing a CV. Clarify what is of interest to you. The most critical thing is to know exactly what the headhunter or agency is going to do on your behalf. Leave no room for vagueness or ambiguity. Agree in detail exactly what is going to happen at each step. Make sure you know to whom your details have been sent.
But do make direct approaches to companies. Don’t believe an agency when they say they can open doors that you cannot.