Prey seeks hunter

August 6, 2008 6:06 PM

My head needs hunting...how do I find the hunters in my field?

I want to make a move into software training in the legal field and am not finding a lot of jobs in the usual listings (monster, careerbuilders, hotjobs, nytimes). I'm just starting the search for real and calling all my contacts in the legal field, but I also want to put myself in the path of headhunters in this field. My googling looked like this "software trainer headhunter legal new york", and the results were not at all helpful.

Is there a reputable guide to headhunters, maybe with breakdown by field and rankings/ratings? Should I be looking at IT headhunters? or legal headhunters? How do I know I'm getting a good one? If you have actual headhunters or agencies to recommend, please post them.

BTW, I'm in New York City. Thanks!

posted by kenzi23 to Work & Money (8 answers total)

I'm in Asia Pacific, so can't help you on the specifics in New York. But, I'd get rid of the term "headhunter" in your search. Find an agency via monster and look at their website. How do they refer to themselves? Add that into the search criteria.

That said, most of the time headhunters specialising in experienced or senior placements will find your head through personal referrals and introductions. Do you know anyone else in the field? Network with them.
posted by michswiss at 6:32 PM on August 6, 2008

I've gotten several calls just by having a LinkedIn profile that I update rather regularly. You didn't have that on your list of "usual listings" -- try that?
posted by olinerd at 6:34 PM on August 6, 2008

It is really easy to find headhunters if your resume is on Dice/Monster/Craigslist/whatever. These headhunters may or may not be good for you. If you do have interviews you set up yourself, and you feel comfortable asking the interviewers about their recruiting, ask them who they use. I have done this in the past, and it worked well for me.
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 7:07 PM on August 6, 2008

I asked someone else this same question and their advice was to surreptitiously ask how your own organization would hire a new X. I tend to think people will notice that your question is basically "how would you hire my replacement," no matter how surreptitiously you ask, but it might work in a big organization or if your job change is somewhat dramatic.
posted by salvia at 7:09 PM on August 6, 2008

Do you currently do software training in the legal field? How big a shift is this from what your previous experience has been? Headhunters don't find jobs for people, they find people for jobs - and companies are usually loathe to pay a fee for someone who hasn't got specific experience in the role they're filling. Headhunters are generally more useful for vertical career development, not so much for changing career paths.

Canada's biggest recruitment agency in the legal field would be zsa.ca. I found a directory of legal recruiters for metro New York here. I don't know if a legal recruiting firm would generally be involved with hiring for IT positions, though - my guess would be no.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:43 PM on August 6, 2008

Response by poster: I'm not currently a software trainer but I work for a law firm and do training as about 30% of my job. It's kind of the logical progression for my career.
posted by kenzi23 at 8:11 PM on August 6, 2008

The term people use instead of "headhunter" is usually "recruiter" or "executive recruiter."
posted by Miko at 8:55 PM on August 6, 2008

Another vote for LinkedIn. If they don't find you directly, just search for some recruiters and add them as a connection. Most of them will be eager to get in touch.
posted by lodev at 2:16 PM on August 9, 2008