When you chat with someone of a certain seniority, you often find they’ll tell you that they didn’t apply for their roles, but rather were sought out, or even had roles created for them, based on the value that the business saw in them. They know how to get noticed by headhunters.
They could have joined the business at an entry-level and worked their way up, or perhaps they were seen making waves on the conference circuit with their unique perspective on the toughest challenges facing businesses today.
That’s the dream, right? Amazing opportunities that come to you, rather than having to seek them out yourself.
There are a few key ways you can elevate yourself so that headhunters can easily approach you.
As mentioned above, speaking at events, or even attending them is always a strong start. The old phrase, “It’s not what you know…” still rings true even in 2023. Many of the data leaders within our Orbition Group community know of each other already due to meeting them at our own networking events. This can be hugely beneficial, not just on the headhunting front, but being able to have a better idea about the data and analytics function within the said organization, before joining. You’re probably going to get a better view of an organization and its pain points in a networking space than you are in an interview.
Writing blogs, articles, and formal content for industry magazines and online platforms is another super way of getting your voice out there. My personal favourites are CDO magazine and Forbes. This gets eyeballs on your ideas at scale, in a reputable space. We’re also on the lookout for contributors for our own content platform, so let us know if you’d be interested in writing for our global D&A community, too!
However, it doesn’t need to be that formal, it can be as simple as writing your thoughts, experiences, and perspectives, on LinkedIn. You don’t have to write war and peace for it to count as thought leadership. It can be short observations from your own career and experiences. It could be infographics of information you’ve found helpful. You could even record a video and post it (we personally have a bias towards a certain lip-syncer in our community!) Whatever the format, you can produce your own content surrounding News and insights, trends, and hot D&A challenges, the list really is endless.
The obvious caveat to all of this is you have to back up what you say, but that goes for all of the elevation work – it’s no good being a keynote speaker who can’t back up their talk with action.
What all of this really boils down to is: the more visible you are, the better your chances are of being headhunted.
If this is something you’d like some guidance with, please feel free to register for our Personal Branding LinkedIn Diagnosis, for free! Within this 30-minute session I walk through your current profile and help you understand what you could alter to meet your aims and goals, and we also have a chat about any challenges you’re currently facing with content creation.
Catherine King
Catherine works passionately to provide senior executives with the hottest content and insights in the areas of Digital, Data, Analytics, Information, Business Development & Innovation. She hosts and moderates large events as well as directs, produces, and hosts industry-leading podcasts.
She is an award-winning event prof with a wealth of experience directing and designing Conferences, Bespoke Roundtables, Online events, and more! Catherine is especially passionate about diversity, inclusion, and accessibility work – and is an active ally and advocate for female and BAME leaders. Read more.
