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!

Yesterday I discussed the promotional and networking benefits that blogging can have for career changers.

To keep the networking theme continuing today I thought I’d relate an anecdote from a few years ago, once more about my web design career transition.

As I mentioned yesterday, the quirky nature of my personal website had garnered quite a degree of unexpected, but welcome, attention from a number of professional web designers locally.

As an aside, the researcher at the disposable razor blade company I mentioned yesterday, was but one of my web “identities”. Another “character” was a web designer, who featured in an on-going series of fictional stories that chronicled his various up and downs socially, personally, and as a freelance web designer.

I would subtly allude to various aspects of web design in these stories, using knowledge I was gathering about the workings of the web industry as I was going along.

As a result I would literally meet people who already thought I was a web designer, and was simply producing the fictional series as some respite from a hard day’s work designing websites!

I was able to deploy my expanding knowledge in more purposeful ways however, and it was one conversation in particular with the director of a design studio that resulted in a web design job offer coming my way.

It’s no secret web designers like to party, meaning there were always regular gatherings and social events around town, which I’d often get myself along to. It was not only a way of doing some serious face-to-face networking, but also of having some fun at the same time.

At one such function I met, for the first time, a studio director I had been corresponding with by email for the past few months. He went on to tell me about some of the projects he was working on, and a particular problem he was having with one website that was being produced to a very tight deadline.

Without having to think, I immediately ventured a possible solution which he was very interested in. A few days later he emailed, thanking me for the suggestion, and told me it was working perfectly!

I replied back telling him I was happy to have been of service, and partly humourously, to consider me for any job vacancies he had. I was surprised when he wrote back saying that while he had no openings presently, he had mentioned me to the Creative Director of another design studio who was looking to hire.

About ten days later I was starting work as a web designer, having virtually been head-hunted into the role!

And a large part of my success in this regard had been the way, albeit slightly creatively, that I had managed to build up name for myself, as someone who knew what he was talking about when it came to web design.

While you don’t have to go creating multiple identities, or writing works of fiction to get yourself noticed, there are a still some lessons that can be learnt from this experience.

Firstly, avail yourself of every opportunity to network face-to-face with people doing the sort of work you would one day like to.

As I mentioned yesterday, a blog (or personal website) is a great vehicle with which to introduce yourself, and go about creating a network of professional contacts, but it’s not the be all, and end all, of the process.

It’s the personal, or face-to-face, meetings that can really make the difference though, and often the value of putting a “face to a name” is often under-appreciated.

Also, keep you finger on the pulse. Be “up to speed” with the industry buzz. Subscribe to industry newsletters, blogs, and magazines. This will also give you some conversation starters at networking functions, and allow you to make knowledgeable contributions to the discussion.

And some informed conversation might be all it takes to bring about the job opening you have been looking for.