Exec job search ‘disconnect’

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Recruiters and headhunters believe senior level executives are entering their job searches unprepared, according to new research.

Steve Nicholls
Steve Nicholls

A report into the senior level jobs market, which explored the perspectives of both recruiters and candidates, revealed many are spending longer than anticipated searching for their next role.

The research was commissioned by Pool-based career coaching company Executive Connexions, and revealed that more than half of those looking for a new position spent four months or longer hunting, while one in ten were still searching after a year.

Managing director, Steve Nicholls, said: “There seems to be a real disconnect between the perceptions of candidates and recruiters. According to many recruiters, part of the problem is that candidates expect positions to present themselves, often in the form of advertised posts.”

With close to around three quarters of senior jobs never actually being advertised, Nicholls says this creates a gap between expectation and availability.

Almost half of candidates interviewed said they hadn’t expected to be looking for so long, with 67% stating they’d expected to find the right position within three months.

Nicholls believes candidates need to change their approach: “Recruiters couldn’t stress enough the value of effective networking as an important life skill (not just when looking for a new job), to extend networks through tools such as LinkedIn and not rely on ‘out of date’ connections.

“Candidates should actively be visible, go out of their way to speak to people, and make themselves open to approaches and invitations. The bar has definitely been raised in today’s market, so this added level of activity is vital.”

The full report is available to view by clicking here.