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"Looking Out for Your Own Best Interests"
by Elizabeth Clauhsen, Partner and Managing Director Savoy Partners

A few guidelines for you:

Every professional should always have a well-written resume on hand, ideally up-to-date, or easily put into that state. In the same way that you wouldn't be without a business card, you should always be able to produce a resume on short notice. As has often been proven, "Chance favors the prepared mind," and preparation in this case means you can get a high quality resume out the door very quickly. It should be accurate and honest, but also flattering. This is your ultimate advertisement for yourself, and often the first and only item that will introduce you to others you've yet to meet. Remember the old saying that "you never get a second chance to make a good first impression?" That absolutely applies to your resume.
It has been estimated by the Wall Street Journal, and other qualified observers, that somewhere between 25-33% of the most attractive jobs at the middle to upper levels are filled via executive search firms. Those percentages can even be higher in early stage, turnaround or change of regime situations. (The balance of the positions are staffed by internal promotions, employee referrals of external candidates, and the companies' own direct recruiting efforts via advertising/web site postings/career fairs and the like.)
The vast majority of searches we handle are for newly created and/or upgraded positions. Some of these openings may be posted on proprietary websites (the companies' own or those of professional interest groups/associations), but for the most part they are never advertised in any way. Therefore, it behooves you to be in the resume files of the top search firms in your specialty/industry area. Similarly, networking with people who are employed by, or consult to, a company that could be of potential interest to you as an employer is also important. You need to develop an "inside track" in order to improve your chances of learning about hidden opportunities.
As a reminder, retained executive search firms are hired by companies to find people with very specific skill sets; search firms find people for jobs, not jobs for people. Therefore, do not take it personally if the resume you submit to a recruiter is not acknowledged with either a letter or a phone call. Any good firm will keep you on file if you have substantive credentials and contact you if and when they have something that could potentially be a match of interests and qualifications; they just can't afford to take the time to deal with you now, if you're not on the mark for a current search. The more relevant firms you can file with, the better, because it is very hard for search executives to predict what clients will ask them to look for next; but you can be sure that all well-run recruiting organizations carefully tend their databases. One resume can be of great value (time and money) to them if it's the right match.
You may initially feel disappointed if you finally do get a call from a search person and then find out that he/she doesn't have something exactly on the mark for you but wants to "source" you for referrals to others you know who may meet the specification. This can be a good investment of your time, for it gives you not only the chance to develop a personal interaction with the executive recruiter, it also can be a great opportunity to do a favor for someone you like and respect . . . which he/she may later have the chance to return. I know some very busy and quite successful executives who are particularly proactive in referring potential candidates and it has served them extremely well, for they have: introduced acquaintances to life-changing opportunities they might never have heard about otherwise and those individuals are most grateful as a result; built relationships with search executives who will be predisposed to keep them in mind for other positions; and last, but not least, continued to increase their knowledge about the competitive landscape and the compensation packages therein.
Try never, ever to have an interview with a search professional or a client company unless you are ready, willing and able to properly prepare for the discussion and put your best self forward. The search person will become your ambassador, and both of your reputations will be on the line when you go to visit one of his/her clients. With both parties, even if the specific job you are discussing turns out not to be the right one for you, there may well be other opportunities in the wings, with either another of the search firm's clients, or perhaps even within this current client company itself. Many of the searches we have undertaken result in more than one hire; we fill the assignment but also have a secondary placement of a candidate who wasn't quite right for the initial role, but was so impressive that our client found a spot for him/her elsewhere in the corporation.
Probably the most common complaint we hear from clients about candidates (whose resumes they have received and approved of beforehand) when things don't go well during a meeting is that he/she "didn't seem to have enough fire in the belly," or other words to that effect. You should prepare for an interview like you would for a speech; that is, it is incumbent upon you to impress the audience. You shouldn't go unless you are ready to perform.
Another criticism will be that he/she "didn't ask enough questions." Clients will interpret that as a sign of disinterest and/or lack of good homework. Some senior executives will also take it as a bit of a slight in that they've given up some of their valuable time for you, but didn't feel like they received quid pro quo.
On the flip side, client executives can have off/distracted days, not be great interviewers or simply have a lack of inter-personal compatibility with a candidate. That's OK - it's human nature and, while disappointing to all involved, it is to be expected from time to time.
You will find that many high quality firms - ourselves included - guarantee the performance (for at least six months and as long as twelve) of any candidate a client hires at our recommendation. Therefore, the last thing we want to do is urge you to pursue and accept something that you don't feel is really right for you. It is much less painful - though far from painless - to have a turn down/rejection, than it is to have an acceptance that will lead to a subsequent, unhappy parting of the ways. Candor on your part will always be appreciated and respected; the opposite will hurt all of us. Honest candidates will be invited back to another dance; those who mislead will not.
And while we're on the topic of candor, it is astounding to us how many otherwise seemingly bright and successful individuals haven't gotten - accepted? - the message about the absolute necessity of honesty with regard to professional and compensation history. For example, I still see resumes where people will list what appear to be graduate degrees (usually without a date), when, in fact, they've only done some coursework. A successful candidacy can get derailed if we and/or our client believes there was deception involved. Furthermore, many companies also require finalists (even those with multi-hundred thousand dollar, or more, compensation packages) to fill out an "application form" of some sort, even though we have already submitted a great deal of information about the candidate and his/her history. The reason for this additional step is that by signing it you are swearing that all data thereon is accurate; if it turns out not to be, that could be grounds for dismissal from your employer. (And we've just seen another few very sad cases of that nature make the business press.)
Over all, keeping yourself connected to the matchmakers, can be very informative at minimum and, at maximum, may open doors for you to life-changing possibilities.

Wishing you the very best of experiences during your explorations.

About the Author:

Elizabeth Clauhsen is a Partner and Managing Director with Savoy Partners, ranked by the Washington Business Journal/Washington Post for many years as one of the "Top Ten" retained executive search firms in the greater metropolitan area. She has also worked on "the other side of the table," having held prior executive/professional positions with Salomon Brothers, Strategic Planning Associates and Booz/Allen/Hamilton. Savoy's clients have included Fortune 100 companies and leading professional services/consulting firms, as well as a number of early-stage, entrepreneurial enterprises. Savoy is known for its expertise in technology-based businesses, for both the commercial and government sectors, and also has long been active in the national defense/homeland and international security areas.