Many senior executives claim they are hired via the simple act of word of mouth, or that a recruitment firm found them, chatted to them, and headhunted them. 

Sure, both methods can work in your favour when you’re looking to make the leap from an adequate, well-paying position to one that is more up your alley and even better paying – but let’s first consider the best way to be discovered, in the first place. 

By Vanessa Rogers on behalf of Executive Placements

Co-founder of Executive Placements, Charles Edelstein, explains that some senior executives prefer not to have a presence on a job portal because they are nervous about the extent of its visibility.  

However, while senior executives are often sourced via word of mouth, he explains that the top executive search companies and/or recruiters use a variety of different channels to map out their markets – from internal databases and connections, to social networks and referral systems. 

And you wouldn’t want to miss out on being discovered for a top-level position by not having a presence on their most used online job boards. Of interest is the fact that it is not necessarily the best candidate who get the job, but the one who uses all possible channels to be discovered and who is prepared to take the leap and deal with the interviewing process. 

A job portal can therefore work in your favour in the following three ways: 

1. First up, if you take the initiative to sign up on a portal that caters specifically towards your level of expertise, there is way more chance that your CV and portfolio will land up in the right hands. 

You want, and need, a specialised role at the type of firm where your unique areas of skill will be appreciated and nurtured. An offer that will not take your career to the next level, is not even worth the paper it is metaphorically scribbled on. 

2. Secondly, a jobs site that is worth its weight in gold will allow you to research, to some extent, a company that is hiring – culture, objectives and future goals – so that, when that firm potentially comes knocking on your door, you’re prepared with the requisite questions, answers and suggestions for any major headaches or stumbling blocks that they’re all up for solving, and this will impress them. 

While it is, of course, each candidate’s responsibility to research the company they are applying to, by means of the advice of their headhunter and/or executive search firm, omitting the jobs-portal step can mean part of the intelligence that you seek is not made available to you. 

3. And then, thirdly, in a recruitment landscape where you could apply for a position as one of a several different applicants, it pays to be listed – and noticed – on a reputable jobs portal where only senior executives who meet a tight range of criteria are accepted; and where their skills are highlighted as being the best in the business. 

Once your CV is listed on a jobs portal, the headhunters and recruiters whom you, ideally, wish to be dealing with – the reputable ones with a good name in the industry – will be able to search for you and find you; assuming you are not already part of their network. 

When you’ve worked your way up the ranks, you deserve this level of confidentiality and appreciation for what you’re getting done where you’re currently based; and what you may potentially achieve when you make that picture-perfect move. 

The moral of the story, enthuses Edelstein, is that you need all three of the aspects mentioned above in your corner – the glowing resumé, the extensive network, and the online portal where the jobs you want to hear about are advertised for the taking among a rather select crowd of highly qualified peers. 

See the full list of Executive Jobs and upload your CV here, too.