“Trade Secrets” of a Headhunter
to Find Suitable Executives

When approached by a company looking for assistance in filling a key position, I often hear:

“We posted ads everywhere, blasted LinkedIn, exhausted our network, and after 3 months our internal recruitment team is having a hard time. How do you find candidates?”

Let me share one “trade secret”.

A good recruiter is a custom research detective.

The best candidates already have a job and are not looking. So, I do these 3 steps:

(1) Search my database, LinkedIn, Google, relevant trade association lists, etc. and MAKE A LIST OF COMPETITORS AND INDUSTRY-RELEVANT COMPANIES.

(2) MAKE A LIST OF CANDIDATES WITH THE RIGHT TITLE at each company. For instance, if I’m looking for a VP of Marketing, I list out everyone with that title at the identified companies.

(3) ADD CMO, CRO & VP SALES TO THE LIST. Why? Because all these people are 1 degree removed from and will know good VPs of Marketing they can refer you to.

Unless your search is very specific, by now you should have a list of 300 relevant, suitable potential candidates!