REPE Headhunters - How does the process work

Title is sort of self-explanatory - I'm about 1.5 years in at a boutique assisting with acquisitions and development, finding myself thinking that the grass might be greener at a larger, structured firm with clear base+bonus and title progressions.  I think I have a pretty solid resume to this point but have no understanding of how to go about the headhunter process while at a smaller firm.

Should I be reaching out directly to headhunters to get on their radar?  Or how else could I go about this?  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

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One important thing to know is that headhunters heavily rely on scanning LinkedIn profiles (they pay for the expensive version for HR people that let's do very custom searches), so making your sure your LinkedIn profile is complete, accurate, and loaded with the right keywords is very important. 

No harm in making proactive contact, but don't expect them to engage much with you (they work for the hiring firms, not you). If you send a resume, they will read it into their system and tag with your linkedin profile (assuming it passes any tests they have for relevancy). 

To note at the junior/mid level, there is a good chance the positions they are filling will be equally posted on LinkedIn/Indeed (not true of big name firms seeking to even junior roles anon), so the value in waiting for them to contact you is less. At the senior to exec level, they are mega important, but that won't kick in usually until the 5 and really 10+ year of exp mark. Those searches are quite different than those for junior to mid positions. 

 

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