ERegardless of whether shortly after graduation, happy at the job or willing to change: Anyone who maintains a profile in an online job network may receive inquiries from recruiting specialists or headhunters.
It is not always immediately apparent who is behind the request and what it is to be advertised. How do you properly deal with such messages?
“My recommendation is to always look at and respond to inquiries from HR consultants and potential employers, even if you’re not looking,” says Berlin HR consultant Kerstin Sarah von Appen. Because even if the contact is inconvenient at the time of the inquiry or the job offered is uninteresting, networking can be helpful later.
Julia Held from the consulting company Kienbaum recommends checking the sender before answering the request. However, the longer you wait with the response, the more the chances of getting the job on offer decrease.
Because the positions need to be filled in a hurry, especially in the lower hierarchical levels. A good supervisory board, on the other hand, looks for a managing director position two years in advance.
Politely decline unattractive LinkedIn offers
If the position is uninteresting or the advisor seems dubious, Held advises at least briefly and politely to decline. But anyone who is interested in a job change or finds a position exciting can, according to von Appen, signal when he or she has time to make personal contact via video call or phone call. In this way, details about the vacancy can be exchanged more easily.
From a technical point of view, it is always advisable to answer. Held says that the LinkedIn job network, for example, recognizes whether users are responding to the inquiries. Those who want to get in touch then receive clues as to whether a person is likely to answer or not.
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“If you are repeatedly asked about positions that really do not fit, a reference to your own orientation and possible interesting development steps can be helpful,” says von Appen.
It is not only for this reason that it makes sense to keep your profile in career networks up to date and to check it out regularly.
Contacts with headhunters can be valuable
Kienbaum headhunter Held says that HR consultant contacts can be valuable for years to come. For example, if working people are looking for a new challenge.
But how do you know whether a request is legitimate or not? “I would question general inquiries without a salutation, without reference to the professional focus and without specific information about a new position,” says Olga Schwalbe from the Federal Employment Agency.
It can then be, for example, inquiries from personnel consultants who only want to fill their database with contacts – without specific mandates, says Jörg Albold, who also works as a consultant at Kienbaum.
“Candidates should be vigilant here and ask who the client is and whether the mandate is exclusively filled.”
Is the recruiter reputable?
In addition, it is not forbidden to ask questions to a recruiter, says von Appen. For example, based on experience in the industry. Or according to why the position is a suitable development step from the consultant’s point of view. A serious HR consultant would appreciate this exchange and would be happy to provide information.
In general, the following applies: A look at the website of the consulting company from which the request came can provide information about whether the request is serious. If the site makes a good impression and references are given, Held recommends that you question this and the headhunter’s goal during an initial telephone call.
And only when everything fits and a data protection declaration has been signed should a résumé be given to the personnel consultant, says Held.
Changing jobs often leads to a jump in salary
If it works in the end and the candidate ends up in the new job with the help of the headhunter, according to information from Kienbaum consultant Albold, a salary increase can often be expected.
The service of the personnel consultant is usually free of charge for the candidate. The headhunter’s fee is usually paid by the hiring company and is based on the agreed annual target salary of the candidate.
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