Be honest, who has never dreamed of telling their boss they are off to greener pastures? But how do you find those pastures?
According to a recent survey by Forrester Research, 60 per cent of chief information officer (CIO) and chief technology officer (CTO) positions are filled by headhunters or recruitment agencies – not through internal promotion or job adverts.
‘Most organisations want to hire someone with experience of working in other companies, because they offer more expertise and an objective viewpoint,’ says Forrester analyst Bobby Cameron. ‘And with a third of new CIOs coming from outside the IT function, there is a wider pool of candidates to choose from.’
The most obvious way to attract the attention of a headhunter is probably to send them your CV. Yet even though your resumé will certainly be looked at and may be kept on file, this is unlikely to make a headhunter rush to call you up.
‘The reality is that if you’re any good and you’re really CIO material, I would already have heard of you,’ says Martin Soulsby, manager of the senior technology appointments team at recruitment agency Michael Page.
The key skill for a would-be CIO is a good understanding of business drivers, says Soulsby. ‘This is a high-profile role in the organisation and nobody wants a technical guru who can’t hold a conversation with the board,’ he says.
A successful IT leader also needs to show they are not afraid to take on challenges and take risks.
‘If you have a perfect CV that tells me you’ve never learned to manage risk, you’re not going to make a great CIO,’ says Denise Plumpton, chairman of user group The Corporate IT Forum.
‘If you’re ambitious about your career, you should be volunteering to lead challenging projects and not being afraid that they could end badly.’
The advantage of being involved in this kind of project is they are often talked about by colleagues and peers – and this is the fastest way to get on a headhunter’s radar, says Simon LaFosse, head of the CIO practice at recruiter Harvey Nash. ‘If you excel professionally, word will get out, and we will start to track you,’ he says.
Public speaking
It is also a good idea to take every opportunity to speak to the trade and business press relevant to your industry. Talking about your successes is a great way to raise your profile and get your name known, says Plumpton.
If you have the stomach for it, public speaking can also help raise your profile – but choose your events carefully.
‘Look at who is organising events and try to gauge if there will be lots of people attending, and whether the topic is timely and interesting,’ says Plumpton. ‘Even if you’re not speaking, you should still go along to the major conferences if you want to be seen as an industry player.’
As well as conferences, consider attending industry groups such as the IT Director’s Network, CIO Connect or Eurim. You will become better known to your peers – and it will probably help you perform better in your current job.
‘Very often people we appoint are referred to us by other IT executives who we may have dealt with in the past,’ says LaFosse. ‘It’s always worth networking with former colleagues and peers through this kind of group.’
This is especially useful if you are still one or two rungs short of the top of the career ladder. IT headhunters often employ resource teams – groups of headhunters whose job is to seek out IT professionals in middle and lower management who might be poached. Networking increases the chances that you will get noticed by the people the headhunters know.
All this self-promotion could still be in vain if you do not present yourself effectively to a headhunter. Warning signs for recruitment companies include candidates with a patchy work history, extensive job-hopping, ambiguous references, and no clear direction.
Nor should you inflate or obscure details on your CV. ‘It’s the trait that most turns me off and is the one most likely to make me not select someone, along with people who have not stayed in companies for four years, or who have little structure in their careers,’ says Soulsby.
Even if you are not actively job-hunting, developing a relationship with a professional headhunter is never wasted.
‘It’s a great career move,’ says Soulsby. ‘You might not make a move for another two years, but the exchange of information in the interim is mutually beneficial.’
A good headhunter will keep track of any executives he speaks with – and in a couple of years’ time when you are looking to move on, you will already have a contact.
If you accept an offer, it can be tempting to dangle this in front of your employer as a ploy to get a raise or a better job.
But research suggests that more than 90 per cent of counter-offers still result in the employee leaving the company within six months. Moreover, the issues that prompted you to look elsewhere to begin with will probably still be there.
‘Often, it’s simply a case that the job you set out to do has come to the end of its natural life-span,’ says Soulsby. ‘Once that happens, there’s really nothing for it but to make a move.’
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