Busting The Myths About South Florida Executive Recruiters

South Florida executive recruiters have been alternately hailed as high efficiency management staffing experts and labeled with derogatory epitaphs such as “executive scalpers,” or “headhunters.” As a job seeker looking for executive placement assistance, the hearsay can be intimidating. In particular, there are several popular myths or misconceptions about the way that executive recruiters or executive search firms work that could severely limit your experience, causing to you unnecessarily miss out on the valuable assistance they can provide. Before you join forces with an executive recruiter, get a load of the facts, and throw away those misconceptions

Executive Recruiter Myths

One of the biggest misconceptions about the way that South Florida executive recruiters work is the belief that once they have your resume, you should just sit back and wait for them to call. While there is no one communication style common to all executive recruiters, and some of them do prefer to initiate contact. It’s important that you keep your recruiter well informed on any resume changes, job related achievements, or accomplishments within your field, such as invitations to speak, consult, or publish. All of these factors can have a profound impact on your marketability, and give you a more attractive range of job candidacy.

Once you’ve begun working with an executive recruiter or search firm, don’t expect to start interviewing immediately. The myth of instantaneous demand is another misrepresentation of the actual process. Sure, it could happen, but generally a reputable and experienced South Florida executive search firm agent will take the time to find the best executive options for you, which means that they won’t be sending you on a rote listing of job interviews that they had before they met with you and discussed your particular strengths, qualifications, and goals.

Another common and potentially damaging misconception is that an executive recruiter or search firm is working for you, the job candidate. This is entirely untrue. Companies seeking to fill high-level positions quickly and effectively hire executive recruiters and search firms. This means that they are working on the company’s dime, not yours, and while they are interested in finding the right fit for your talents, motivations and experience, it is because by doing so they will have fulfilled their obligations to their actual client- the company which hired them to find you. To keep your expectations on the right level, it’s useful to understand how executive recruiters and search firms get paid.

South Florida executive recruiters and search firms work on either a contingency or retainer basis. Recruiters who work on retainer get paid a certain amount up front, regardless of job completion, whereas those who work on a contingency basis get paid only once a position is satisfactorily filled. The reason this effects their relationship with you is that contingency based recruiters may have extra motivation to have you settled into a good position, since they don’t get paid until you do. Another important fact to keep in mind about these two recruiter work styles is that contingency based recruiters tend to fill positions which pay less than $100,000 per year, while retainers typically place executives in positions with higher annual salaries and more unique skill requirements