I am an unemployed IT professional with four years'
experience. I worked as an analyst programmer but I am having
difficulty in getting a new job. In Computer Weekly on 16 March I
read that headhunters are looking for IT staff at all levels. How
can I make sure I get spotted by these headhunters?
The solution
Get someone to recommend you
Headhunters will find applicants at different levels through
different methods. The traditional image of a headhunter is of
someone carrying out search assignments for high-profile positions,
and perhaps this image has caused confusion.
At a more technical level, particularly for people in your
position, you will be dealing mostly with recruitment consultants
who work partly on a contingency basis and partly on a search, or
headhunting, basis.
This means that as you are not currently employed, and therefore
cannot be "spotted" within a company, you will almost certainly
need to take a more proactive approach to finding work and contact
the headhunters yourself.
You can do this either by sending your CV speculatively to
recruiters, responding to adverts, attending recruitment fairs and
speaking with recruiters or by asking industry friends and
colleagues to mention you to any headhunters or recruiters they are
in contact with.
This last method is an excellent way of getting your name and
experience in front of recruiters who are looking for candidates -
recruiters and headhunters always welcome recommendations and will
be more inclined to contact you when you come with a reference from
someone they know already.
Solution by Grant Seidner, operations manager at Reed
Technology
The panel: MSB International, Spring Group,
E-Skills UK, British Computer Society, Computer Futures, Computer
People, Elan, Reed Technology, Zarak Technology.
E-mail your career questions to
computerweekly@rbi.co.uk