I have been talking a headhunter for a while and she said to send my resume for a new job posting she is working on. I did. It's been 3 weeks and I called her, emailed her, left her a voicemail, and no reply. I feel like she's deliberatley avoiding me. Am I overthinking? This is the Options Group.
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Don't worry, my headhunter did not get in touch with me till a month after I initially got in touch with her. They (in my experience) will only contact you if they think you are a good fit for an opening.
Head hunters are nice seeds to plant with the expectation that nothing will ever come out of them. That way, every so often when they make a mistake and somehow become useful, its a pleasantly unexpected surprise.
It doesn't hurt to check in from time to time, but these people make a living placing people into open positions. So if she's not getting back to you its not because she's procrastinating in submitting you, its probably because she didn't get any interest from her client and either doesn't have the courtesy to give you an update or wants to keep you on ice in case something else or the same opportunity comes up down the line.
There could be a host of reasons by the headhunter hasn't gotten back to you. 1) The opportunity has dried up and she's keeping you on the line for a new opportunity. 2) She submitted your resume but you were initially rejected for an interview 3) She is working another candidate which is a better fit, putting you in as the relief candidate 4) There actually is no opportunity and she is just fishing for resumes for the future
The fact that she hasn't gotten back to you is good enough indication that there is nothing you can do from your end to improve the situation. It's probably best to work your other leads and expect very little in the short term.
That said, Options Group is probably one of the better head hunters.
I actually got my current gig trading FX at a BB through them.
I worked with one headhunter who actually told me that he'll only get back to me if the client wants to move forward. In his words, it wasn't worth his or my time for him to keep calling back and/or following up for a "no go".
Like Marcus put it so nicely, expect little to nothing from headhunters.
They'll only contact you if they can smell the commission from a surefire placement, otherwise your resume will be in the Pile o' Thousands.
It makes little sense to call them. Why? Because when there's a hot lead, they will make sure that they get in contact with you by any means necessary. No match, no call; and no amount of e-mails and voicemails will change that.
I haven't had much luck getting anything worthwhile from headhunters... they are usually trying to fill a specific job and tell you during their first call that they have all these openings just to get you to come in and go through the screening then they try to shove you into one of the few things they are actually sourcing
Unresponsive headhunters? (Originally Posted: 12/28/2013)
Hi all,
I'm currently a 2nd year PE associate in a secondary finance city (not NY/Chicago/LA...think Boston/Dallas/San Fran?), looking to make a move to another local fund. I emailed a couple headhunters over the past couple weeks -- not in relation to a particular opening, but asking more generally -- and haven't gotten anything back, even an acknowledgment of receipt. I have a strong background, especially for my location (Ivy grad, 2 years BB, one of the top 2-3 PE shops here) so I'm a little disappointed to not even get a response.
Is there a strategy from here? Most reasonable thing would be to wait until after the New Year now (don't want to follow up with people possibly on vacation) but I have no idea how to deal with headhunters as I've never had to use them before...don't want to completely alienate them or come off as desperate.
Thanks!
May be worthwhile to follow up after New Years. My experience from recruiting for a job after the initial IB/PE track is to practice a lot of patience. No longer will firms be pressured to be on some kind of recruiting timeline defined by rounds and super days. They will take their sweet time to hire someone at that mid-level, as the stakes are a lot higher, and employers and headhunters alike will just take their time responding to you for these roles.
In my experience, recruiters only care about making their finder's fee. If you can't help them i.e. you don't fit their client's specifications, they will flat out ignore you. They won't even give you a courtesy response. If they have a job that they think you can get, they become your best friend. Nothing you can really do if they ignore you, but move on to the next recruiter.
Exactly that.
One is timing, right now before bonus season is the quiet period for hiring. But more importantly, right now it's an employers' market. Headhunters get too many requests from candidates, they are not responding because they are short-term focused. They are only thinking about candidates for the 1 or 2 openings at the moment, and if you don't fit the bill, they'll just assume you'll keep contacting until you fit into their agenda.
My advice is instead of contacting headhunters, focus on finding and dropping resumes to jobs that fit your criteria. This is the more effective and efficient way. Have email templates and cover letter templates ready, and drop 5-10 resumes a day. You'll hear back soon, especially in Jan-Feb after bonuses.
I wouldn't really sweat it yet if you just emailed over the past couple weeks. It is the holiday season after all, so recruiters are most likely on vacation and/or waiting for most PE firms' year-end activities to wrap.
If you haven't heard anything a week or so after the new work year is in full swing, ping them again.
I own a recruiting firm and I can tell you this. If they cannot get back to you inside of a few days - move on. You don’t want to work with them. While it is a very client driven business - you have to keep the "supply" happy as well. Timing often does not work out with most recruiters but it is helpful to have relationships with a few you trust. I want to provide market intelligence to everyone I talk to - client or candidate. It may bite me in the ass in a lost placement but doing good by people even if it doesn’t pay you a dime is often not forgotten.
I am based in Houston and focus on the commodity trading market in both the US and UK. I may not be of help but drop me an email and I will do my best. At worse I can put you in touch with someone who could help
What do you mean by secondary finance city? There's a big difference between Boston/SF and Dallas. I'm sure associates at TPG, H&F and Bain are not comparable with Dallas PE associates from a recruiting standpojnt
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