Tips on How to Raise Your Profile - Accountancy Ireland Magazine

Tips on How to Raise Your Profile - Accountancy Ireland Magazine

So You Want To Be Head Hunted?

Tips on How To Raise Your Profile
by Ruth Curran
  
Senior Executives looking to make the next step and progress their career will more than likely deal with an executive search firm. Ruth Curran from MERC Partners, explains how the process works and offers some pertinent advice for executives.

For Irish executives contemplating their next career move these are interesting times. In recent years the propensity for companies to engage in executive search as a form of recruitment for senior talent has been increasing. In Ireland, companies are most likely to use retained executive search in situations where:

  • the skills/experience are in short supply
  • the ideal candidate sought is not actively looking for a job change
  • the client wishes to keep the appointment confidential
  • the client cannot approach key prospects

Executive search firms use two basic strategies simultaneously to identify potential candidates. Desk research involves using in-house information and knowledge of the markets and people, annual reports and published business information to identify individuals within particular industries and at specific levels in an organisation.

For some industries, particularly within an Irish context, prospective candidates can be identified relatively quickly through this process for positions requiring a specific skill set in a unique industry. However, for more generic industries, there is a potentially deep pool of candidates identified through this process.

Sourcing on the other hand is a strategy where the executive search firm uses various industry contacts from a variety of fields to provide a list of potential candidates. Search firms will typically talk to industry specialists for a general view and also to more technical experts on individuals’ technical expertise.

Raising the Profile

One of the key strategies to get on the radar screen of executive search firms is to raise executive profile within a particular industry and among industry peers. Typically executive recruiters look for individuals who have delivered presentations at industry conferences, submitted articles for publication in either trade publications or more mainstream media. Executives who take on extra-curricular activities as part of their role, (e.g. assuming an elected position on an industry body or lobby group) have demonstrated further commitment.

There are various profile raising strategies available to executives, ranging from networking and media profile building to making discreet approaches directly to search consultancies.

Networking

It will come as no surprise that successful executive search is all about networking. However, a large number of executives fail to understand that the first element of networking should begin not with interacting with others in industry but with being demonstrably competent in their current role and delivering a track record of achievement. An executive with a mediocre track record handing out business cards will not be an effective networker.

It is advisable to begin building networking relationships well in advance of looking for a new position. Executives should be prepared to offer something (information, contacts, etc.) as part of a networking process rather than looking upon the activity as a one-way process.

 

Industry functions and the various industry associations and professional bodies represent the obvious starting point for executives wanting to become more active in their industry and hence achieve greater recognition.

In Ireland there are numerous industry bodies providing a range of fora for networking purposes Typically, industry or professional associations with a quality annual conference and an independently circulated magazine achieve the best recognition.

Recruiters will look favourably on individuals who have devoted time and effort to professional organisations; however, this will always be a secondary consideration to the particular skill set and the compatibility with the organisation sourcing an executive.

Industry Engagements

Speaking at conferences is a time honoured way of raising an executive profile, and more recently round table discussions have become popular. Individual performance at these engagements is critical. Executives will be recognised for contributing innovative ideas to industry debates. Equally they will be remembered, particularly among search consultants and industry peers, for a poor showing.

Professional-development programmes are ideal vehicles to enhance professional skills and make industry contacts. In addition to learning new skills and networking, executives who have attended such programmes signal their interest in professional development and career progression.

Similarly, executives should not neglect clients as a potential source of networking opportunities. Client testimonials are a traditional source of references for search consultants so it is therefore advisable to be active in client dealings where possible. For executives employed in back office or support functions, the opportunity to interact with clients and, therefore, develop rapport, can be limited. In these instances executives looking to attract attention should investigate opportunities to promote their role to the client as much as possible without, of course, hindering the existing relationship.

Media

Contributing by-lined articles to industry publications and professional journals is another way of raising executive profile. Ireland has seen an expansion of niche trade publications in recent years.

Some publications welcome contributions from industry participants and these can be a valuable tool to showcase an executive’s particular expertise on a subject. However, it is increasingly the case that publications will only accept well-written pieces which are of particular interest to the subscribers and readers. It is recommended therefore to first send an outline of a suggested article to the editor.

Additionally, many executives looking to attract attention seek to cultivate media relationships to promote their personal profile. In the United States, for example, it is not uncommon practice for individual executives to hire a PR consultant purely to raise their personal profile through the media.

 

While such an enhanced profile can be beneficial, it can also be detrimental as many search consultants will see the transparency of the exercise.

Approaching an Executive Search Firm

While it is true that, in the majority of executive recruitment cases, the search firm will make the initial call to the candidate(s), there is no reason why well-qualified executives looking to progress their career should not directly contact an executive search firm. Indeed, a professional search firm can be a valuable career reference point to assess market opportunities, benchmark individual executive skills and remuneration levels versus industry peers, and provide general career advice.

Curriculum Vitae

For most executives, this process will begin with sending in their Curriculum Vitae. Ironically, it can be counter productive to include too much detail in CVs, particularly those containing management speak and jargon (creating win-win situations, high level facilitative skills, etc). Less is more. Concentrate on core accountabilities and key achievements.

Consultants tend to be more impressed where specific skill sets have led to a demonstrable commercial outcome as opposed to personal fulfilment. So the fact that a candidate has completed a management development course assumes much greater significance when placed in the context of a successful commercial venture in terms of how these skills have generated revenue or saved expenditure.

Search Consultants

Irrespective of whether the executive or the consultant has initiated contact, it is always in the best interests of all concerned to be candid. Consultants can readily spot ‘stringing along’ techniques which can damage your reputation down the line. Don’t lose sight of the fact that a consultant will approach a number of individuals about a position and therefore the process is still competitive. Executives should research the company, undertake background analysis of the position and speak to relevant people (e.g. former employees) to gain an understanding of the company and the culture. Doing your own due diligence is important.

The profile, reputation and standing of the executive search firm and its consultants is an important consideration on the part of both the client and candidate. Senior-level positions are more likely to be handled by firms with an established track record.

Executives can expect reference checks as part of the process to be extremely thorough and therefore should not even entertain the thought of fabricating experience or qualifications.

Finally, executives should be aware that the process can be very lengthy and constant checking-in with the consultant is pointless at best and counter-productive at worst. It is also advisable to recognise that being overlooked for a position is not an admission of failure and one should not take this personally. Often at this level, behavioural issues assume greater importance and companies require a specific type of management style to complement the existing culture.