Yesterday I made a few suggestions as to how to respond should a headhunter call to sound out your interest in jumping ship to work for another company. (Or making an “unsolicited offer of employment”, as an email correspondent put it!)

I also mentioned in yesterday’s discussion that I actually ended up being headhunted into a web design role, despite having little commercial design experience, and having searched - and applied - without luck for a number of positions prior to that.

The prospect of being “headhunted” into a job began to intrigue me after hearing that is what happened to someone else I knew, who was also making a career transition into web design.

A local design studio had found her personal website, and the creative director was so impressed with what he saw, that he contacted her and almost immediately offered her a design job.

I quickly realised that there was little difference in the way she was “pitching” herself, to the way I was.

We both had a reasonably prominent online presence by way of our personal websites, we were both networking with other professional (or established) web designers, and we both also promoting ourselves by way of our involvement in various “sideline” web projects.

In my case this included being a then founder of The Australian INfront, a community that I was involved in establishing, whose aims where to raise the visibility and perception of Australian web designers globally.

While I know not everyone reading this article is looking for web design work, there are still a number of things that anyone can do to raise their visibility and profile, and put themselves on a headhunter’s radar.

Get yourself noticed (somehow, anyhow)
A great way to do this is to start a blog, something I explored in another article recently, which outlined how blogging can be an effective self-promotional tool in the career change, or job search, process.

In fact the article attracted a number of comments from people who mentioned that a blog had boosted their profile and even resulted in job offers.

I also recently read an article at manzkie dot com about recruitment managers who search through the blogosphere looking for potential employees.

Do I need to push this particular point any further?!

Develop a specialist knowledge
Build on your passion for what you want to do. Focus on an aspect of the job that is not as widely recognised as others, become an expert on it, and then make sure you advertise the fact!

In my case this was an interest in web standards. Put briefly web standards are a uniform set of rules web designers should adhere to when developing websites. For various reasons few designers were, ten or so years ago using standards, so by learning to work with them natively from day one, I was able to stand out from other web designers.

Ironically, despite the fact I no longer work as a web designer, I still receive occasional freelance work offers, because one former colleague or another’s clients have stipulated that the design work be standards compliant!

Network!
This goes without saying, and is just about the best way to achieve anything. As always it is a case of who you know, followed closely by what you know.

Look around for networking forums in the industry you are interested in, whether on or off line, and make yourself known!

MeetUp is an increasingly popular way of bringing all sorts of people, with all sorts of interests - both personal and professional - together, and you are bound to find an interest group near where you live.

Even if you don’t, members of the various Meetup groups often place their blog, or website, addresses on their Meetup profiles, so even if a like minded person is at some distance, you can still make contact and network with them.

And you never know, even though someone is in another city, or even country, they may know a former colleague, or associate, who is in your area and looking for staff.

Get involved
Can’t find a networking forum, or association, relevant to your industry or work interests, locally? Then start one! Taking some sort of initiative is exactly the sort of activity headhunters are on the look out for.

And once more thanks to ideas such as Meetup, this can be achieved relatively quickly and at not too great a cost.

Conclusion
While I’m not suggesting that you sit around waiting to be headhunted, you certainly have nothing to lose by boosting your profile, and self promotional activities, to the point that an employer may just spot you, and subsequently make contact.

And if you are making a career change, being headhunted into a job that you really want could be the lucky break you are looking for, as it was for me.

While I was searching for web design work several years ago, it was mainly by way of the targeted job search method, which I wrote about recently.

It was a process that had its ups and downs, as I have referred to before, but was something I was prepared to stick at, as it best suited my circumstances at the time.

You could therefore imagine my surprise when an email arrived, out of the blue, from a company I had not had any dealings with previously, asking if I would be interested in discussing the possibility of working for them.

“You’ve been headhunted!” a friend said to me.

Had I really? To me headhunting always seemed like an activity that was the result of clandestine meetings that followed clandestine telephone calls or letters, between highflying company executives, and specially engaged executive recruiters!

“No, no,” my friend said, “just about anyone, no matter what they do, stands to be headhunted.”

Some people regard it as an honour, while others see a certain prestige in being “hand picked” for a role. It means your work has been noticed by, or your name has been mentioned to, someone who is looking for staff.

While certainly an uplifting experience it is a good idea to rein in your euphoria though, and remember that being headhunted is really just an invitation to apply for a job, and there is no guarantee that you will actually be offered a role.

After all an employer’s first hand impressions of you may differ markedly from the second, or third hand, impressions they have gained of you from others.

Or to use the words of my headhunting-wise friend;

“Consider being headhunted as a free walk to the second interview of a three interview recruiting process.”

That seemed like a good way to put what had happened to me into perspective. Being headhunted is really just another way of applying for a job, and you shouldn’t get too far ahead of yourself as a result.

Headhunters can make contact in a number of ways, and if you already have a close working relationship with the company interested in bringing you on-board, this may even happen in a face-to-face situation, during or after a regular meeting, with the people you normally liaise with.

On other occasions you may be contacted unexpectedly, by a company you have not even heard of.

Assuming you have been contacted by email or letter, the first thing to do before responding to the person, or representative, who made the approach to you, is to find out what you can about the company in question.

While this is a commonsense course of action when looking for work anyway, it is still a good idea to know what you are talking about before you speak to anyone. Find out about the company’s background, and see what you can learn about of some of their current and recent projects, particularly in the area in which you think you may be working.

If it is possible, try to find out how you came to the company’s attention. If someone put in a good word for you, contact them, and ask what they said about you. It can be useful to know exactly how you have been represented, as this can guide your initial communications with the company.

Approach all contact and interviews in a professional manner, and above all do not act as if you are a shoo-in for whatever role is being discussed, and also send thank you emails, or notes, after each meeting or interview.

The fact you are being headhunted may offer you a little more leverage when it comes to discussing salary plus terms and conditions of employment though. To what degree you can bargain here will depend on your skills and abilities, together with exactly how interested the company is in hiring you.

I went on to be offered a role with the web design studio who had contacted me, which I accepted. In my case, I was extremely pleased with the outcome, considering I didn’t actually have a great deal of commercial web design work under my belt at the time.

You may therefore be wondering how I came to be headhunted. It was pretty simple really, I was headhunted because I wanted to be! There’s nothing like a little ambition to get you where you want to go is there?!

Tomorrow, in the second part of this article, I will tell you how I went about getting myself headhunted!

Could regular, and acute, cases of Mondayitis be a symptom of a career rut?

It’s a four day week in this part of the world, following the four day Easter weekend, and one neighbour I met in the lift on Tuesday evening, who had just arrived home from work, was looking very much the worse for wear.

Or do we just hate Mondays, or the first day of the working week, regardless of how much we like our work? This is something that warrants further investigation. The good news, for those working a Monday to Friday week at least, is that Friday is here. At last. Enjoy the weekend; I know I will!

• How to set personal goals from the Study Habits blog. Achieving goals can be reasonably straightforward so long as we work to a plan. Or to guidelines. Even a “to-do” list is a great way to make sure things get done. While we’re on the subject of such lists, Remember The Milk is an excellent online personal organiser.
• And not being organised may also be another reason why you are not as successful as you would like to be, or doing as well as others. 9 Reasons You Are Not Successful, an article at Career Ramblings, looks at some of the things we need to consider in order to make an impression.
• Confidence Vs Experience. Almost written for career changers! Obviously we will be low on experience when establishing ourselves in a new career, so this is the time to work on boosting our confidence. Amit suggests a few ways to increase our self belief.
• Ten Reasons To Turn Off Your TV. My loathing of TV is legendary. I have always maintained there are better ways to spend time, even if that is just day dreaming; at least it is making use of the imagination! There’s a lot you can do with your (new found free) time if you ditch the TV though. How about start a second business, take an evening class, learn a new skill or a new hobby, and take on a major project? Never had time to start making that career change? Now you do!
• And finally a little humour for a Friday, thanks to the people at Flying Solo, who pointed out a couple of parody websites the other day. Huhcorp is a great take off of a consulting company, while Duhcorp as a go at application developers. Actually both companies seem fun places to work, I wonder if they’re hiring?

Today is the beginning of a four day weekend for many people. As if I need to say so. Hopefully most of you will be having some time off. I’ll be taking it easy while also tinkering around behind the scenes here. I can’t help it; it’s just in my nature! Enjoy your break, but read the Friday five first!

• Since Richard Bolles, author of “What Color Is Your Parachute?“, shares some of his thoughts in this article, I really thought I had to point to it! “Discovering your life’s purpose is more like putting together a big puzzle then it is finding a needle in a haystack.” I envy those who seem to have it all worked out!
• Setting goals is one thing, but working consistently towards achieving them can be something else. And while we all forget to do something, or are prone to procrastination at sometime or another, Jen has found a solution! Dreaminder allows you to list your goals or dreams, and then arrange for a reminder, or a follow-up, to be emailed to you at some point in the future. A kind of automated conscience maybe?
• Considering many of us have to return to work on Tuesday (something that is difficult enough after an extended weekend, doubly so if you also can’t stand the job!) you may want to skip over this one. Secrets of the nomads profiles a few (lucky) people who travel as part of their job. Not so much about working as such, but a great holiday weekend read nevertheless!
• Top 10 reasons why happiness at work is the ultimate productivity booster. May seem like commonsense for many people, but there are certainly one or two workplaces around that have no idea!
• A little motivational reading. Strength from Weakness and What You “Can’t Not Do”. Did you know that Richard Branson gets bored easily and that is why he started so many businesses? When working for one project starts to becomes a little familiar, he puts on another cap, and does something different for a while. How’s that for a response to boredom?! Gives the term “multitasking” a whole new meaning that’s for sure!

What do you know, it’s Friday already, and that must mean it’s time for another edition of the Friday five! Ah, some quiet reading, just the tonic for a week that was way too busy. Enjoy!

• Withdraw your resignation! No, I don’t mean your letter of resignation, I mean your resignation from leading a happy life, trying to get out of whatever rut you are in, or pursuing a career you really want. Sometimes we are pushed into a corner that we don’t like, but the real problem is when we don’t try and dig ourselves out of it. Leaden Winter, at Verve Coaching, offers some excellent advice for dealing with these sorts of situations.
• Perhaps a career as a writer appeals to you. The work is creative and as long as you can meet deadlines, the working hours flexible. So why not? That just leaves the problem of what area of writing to specialise in, and with the range as varied as the world is wide, the choice can be difficult to say the least. Not to worry though, the “What Type of Writer Should You Be?” quiz, is here to help you out!
• Changing careers is a big step for many people and sometimes the prospect of taking a big step, any big step, induces a certain inertia or reluctance to move forward. Or to be more precise, fear of change. These fears can be overcome as this article (which originally appeared at PayScale) at the Career Transition Resources suggests.
• Chances are you’re considering a career change because you not only find your current job un-fulfilling and boring, but you HATE it with a loathing as well! If the latter is the case then you should check out Disgruntled Workforce. Read about what peeves other workers and even submit your own stories. It’s great to really vent now and again and this is the perfect place to go!
• And if you do submit a workplace tale to Disgruntled Workforce, remember to be discreet, and not give away too many clues as to who you work for. It just may get you dooced or fired! But what if the worst has already come to fruition? First, calm down and try not to panic, and then second, read the advice from Career Hub about what to do in the hours immediately after a sacking.

If you consider yourself a slash careerist (this week’s favourite term at The InterChange Desk!) then this week would have been a “slash week”, as I’ve been wearing a couple of work hats these last few days. Talk about busy days and busy nights! Still time to compile the weekly check list though, I hope you enjoy today’s selection.

• Rather than search high and low for your dream job you could try creating it for yourself instead, by starting a business that is related to your field of interest. So what is it you want to do though? How to choose a career is an article at Flying Solo written by Katie Roberts, and suggests a few ideas for those seeking out their dream job.

• Aspiring entrepreneurs, or those thinking of launching their own enterprise, ought to check out the series of articles by Bryan Baker on how running has changed his life and inspired him to become a successful entrepreneur. Some interesting parallels there, long distance running and starting up your own business are hard work, but the result is worth the effort.
• What did you did about your dreams? Some excellent motivation reading for a Friday, together with some lessons about never being afraid to ask for help, and being prepared to constantly reassess your weaknesses.
• Another must read for those contemplating a career change, The Power of Calling, at Creative Careers Unleashed. Just what is your calling in life? There’s something each of us wants to do, and is capable of doing, but somehow we seem to miss its call. I love the article’s summary: “You CAN definitely ignore your Calling - but believe me it WILL HURT to do so”.
• A picture speaks a thousand words! Another way of looking at finding the “ideal career” equation!

Here’s a double serve of the Friday five for you this week. While you’d think I did nothing but spend my days surfing the net, that’s not quite the case. There’s a lot of good stuff out there, and we have to keep on top of it somehow! Happy reading, I’ll see you all again next week!

• Slash careers are a by-product of the multifaceted, multitasking times we live in. If you have a “job title” that looks like say this: designer / writer / speaker then you are a “Slash Careerist”! This could be a smart way of effecting a career change though. Begin doing part of the time (and in addition to your current career or work) what you would like to do all of the time…
• Some sort of study will usually be required by those changing careers. But how to fit in study time while trying to hold down a full time job, taking care of a family, etc? How to study with a full-time job offers a few good pointers.
• Ghosting… No, it’s not about pursuing a new career as a ghost buster, but is a training method used by sports people. It’s a little like role play, whereby you imagine yourself to be in a real, or live, situation during practice sessions. Think “fake it before you make it”.
• Finding Your Passion Amid the Hate is some great motivational reading at Success from the Nest, which I found this via a post at Antbag.com
• Refactoring Your Career is an article that runs a little a long the lines of my 10° career change article, in that it suggests making small changes until you reach the place you want to be. Software releases are subtly changed or “refactored” overtime, which end users seldom notice as it still appears to carry out the same function. Think of how software like Word or Excel has changed over time for example.
• 4 Reasons to Do (Work) Only What You Love: a very succinct and to the point article at Lifecho.
• Is It Your Job, Or Your Passion? Think about the amount of time you spend working. If you enjoy it, great. If not, then you should give the reasons why you stay put some thought.
• Find Your Inner Jerry Maguire. “What is it that separates those who succeed from those who fail?” Whoever thought we could take a few pointers from Tom Cruise?
• While aimed more at those who find themselves out of work suddenly, Five Tips to Jump Start Your Network is also useful reading for career changers looking to establish some networks. Never underestimate the power of networking…
• Time for some fun. Sometimes finding career direction is simply a matter of looking back to the future! The Futuristic Job Quiz will set you in the right direction. Who knows, you may find a job that is “groundbreaking” and “ahead of its time”!