Demand generation for the best product you have ever worked on – yourself.

It may be the easy way to deal with your job search but fact is that for senior professionals and leaders, job portals and career pages are not an effective way when looking to re-orientate yourself. Consider this a bit like an iceberg (Yes, even the job market is an iceberg analogy!). You only get to access to visible 20% whilst the remaining 80% remain untapped for you, if your main strategy is to ‘look’ for a new role.

When we act as an Executive Search and leadership advisory firm and we advertise a new role, we achieve 100 applicants or more in the shortest of times.? If you consider that a seasoned professional with track record at Director, VP or even C/Level now competes with another 100 applicants or more, plus the talent pool our research team identify and bring to the process, it becomes clear that the competition for senior roles is extremely tough.

Additionally, it is worth remembering that an advert has to be scheduled under European employment law and that the preference of the employer likely to hire someone internally, from an interim-role or from a board function to avoid delays and further hiring costs.

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Changing the hiring paradigm at senior level

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This is how you can change the paradigm with an application initiated by yourself, generating demand for yourself and shaping the nature of the roles.

How? As headhunters, we often get asked to present the final 3 who meet all criteria and one ‘wildcard’, so someone who is further away from the perfect track record but who would be successful in the role. Often this leads to the opening of 2nd role, shaping around the wildcard. Whilst this is a win-win-win situation for all three parties, it highlights that there is a hidden element to the employment market.

So, what does this mean for you: it means that if you hone your networking skills you put yourself into an evergreen employment situation because you are driving the demand for yourself via the business leaders who speak with regularly.

It is important to note that you network with peers and line leaders, not the HR department leveraging your business development and networking skills.

This works particularly well if you are in a sector that is expanding rapidly, where executives mingle in sector specific events and where investment is flowing via Private Equity or VC firms.

What can you do today?

So, you are now interested to generate demand for exactly your skills set? What do you do now?

1.??????? You follow the principles of strategic marketing. Start by identifying 20-40 companies that interest you or you know are in some way open to your track record and skill set.

2.??????? Next identify the leaders in the business. Identify leaders you would work with and build a data sheet.

3.??????? Research the business situation your target is in right now- maybe a new product line, a new high profile project or an acquisition – make sure you create a strong link between the situation of the business currently and your approach.

4.??????? Build a connection via LinkedIn or mail. Your approach is focused on a peer exchange, an eye-level exchange, not applicant to hiring manager. In other words, you offer your target an exchange about the industry and shared experiences. The idea is that you win credibility by showing your expertise and allow the target leader to make up their own mind about your skills and experience. This way you qualify yourself as an industry expert with potential hiring managers who already know and trust you.

Be prepared to reach out to the same person up to 5 times before you get a response. Demand generation is hard work but by developing tenacity you will learn to focus on the results and rewards from doing this work.

5.??????? Build your collateral. Oftentimes, even executives work on the basis of the CV, but that works about as well as placing your business card on someone’s desk hoping they will place an order. It is crucial that you build your collateral to include a killer CV with a strong executive statement and KPIs, a letter about your ambitions an why your target company is the employer of choice and a project list and / or case studies of your most successful project complete with business outcomes.

6.??????? Keep in contact and nurture your growing network by ensuring you meet at trade events, making contact when big announcements are made, by congratulating for wins and promotions.

Dominik Roth and I have coached many executives through this process, and we can vouch for the success this process generates. When we work on behalf of clients who issue a mandate for a search, we operate in the name of the client only. But you don’t have to wait for a call from us. As passionate business developers ourselves, we hope that we have given you an insight into demand generation for the best product you have ever sold – yourself.

If we can be of any help to you, please simply reach out to [email protected] for a confidential conversation and more information.?