Thanks Colin! Timing is one of those things you really can’t control. It’s tough when you’re open for work and don’t have your next tour lined up. As an IC/manager I never thought to interview while I was happy/focused at work. It was always a signal of dissatisfaction at my current role.
It seems like once you’ve hit Sr. Director/ VP/CPO you should start reaching out before you’re actively looking (because it just takes longer). Could you share some of the differences in how you engage search firms if you’re active vs passively looking?
If you’re passive, I would schedule a batch of outreach to different recruiters regularly to get a feel for the market. Especially if you’re going to be searching soon, they will be open to chatting if you’re profile is relevant to their typical searches. You can also refer people you can vouch for to them too to build good will.
I would also reach out to your core network to let them know you’re considering a move. It’s hard to time when they’ll come across something relevant, so the earlier the better.
When you’re actively searching, you just are more direct, you reach out with more volume and persistence, you tap your core champions and connectors in your network to refer you to recruiters and talent partners, but generally it’s similar.
Hi Colin, great article. I thought you might want to know it appears True Search recently acquired Paradigm search (https://huntscanlon.com/true-acquires-paradigm-search/). I've noticed it appears that acquisitions are fairly common in the space, as I've found lists of firms to contact, and similar changes recently.
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Thanks Colin! Timing is one of those things you really can’t control. It’s tough when you’re open for work and don’t have your next tour lined up. As an IC/manager I never thought to interview while I was happy/focused at work. It was always a signal of dissatisfaction at my current role.
It seems like once you’ve hit Sr. Director/ VP/CPO you should start reaching out before you’re actively looking (because it just takes longer). Could you share some of the differences in how you engage search firms if you’re active vs passively looking?
If you’re passive, I would schedule a batch of outreach to different recruiters regularly to get a feel for the market. Especially if you’re going to be searching soon, they will be open to chatting if you’re profile is relevant to their typical searches. You can also refer people you can vouch for to them too to build good will.
I would also reach out to your core network to let them know you’re considering a move. It’s hard to time when they’ll come across something relevant, so the earlier the better.
When you’re actively searching, you just are more direct, you reach out with more volume and persistence, you tap your core champions and connectors in your network to refer you to recruiters and talent partners, but generally it’s similar.
Hi Colin, great article. I thought you might want to know it appears True Search recently acquired Paradigm search (https://huntscanlon.com/true-acquires-paradigm-search/). I've noticed it appears that acquisitions are fairly common in the space, as I've found lists of firms to contact, and similar changes recently.
Thanks I'm going to update this week with some others