Headhunters need to get webwise

Remember the days when people talked about executive search or headhunting in rather revered hushed tones ñ
ell they are long gone. The advent of on-line job markets has not only significantly increased competition but has also taken away the rather elitist and secretive nature of this recruitment discipline. Consequently, headunters are increasingly turning to the net themselves and, according to Warren Kemp of specialist training company Warren Kempís Recruitment Matters, what you know is becoming just as important as who you know ñ especially where on-line search techniques are concerned.

Kemp offers the following tips for uncovering candidates on the net

ïSearching the net is like searching your own recruitment database. Be very specific when you start and then refine and expand the search by taking out some lesser keywords.

ïLearn Boolean logic ñ algebra for the net.

ïìInverted commasî will tell your search engine to look for the specific phrase contained within the commas. ìJohn Brownî will give you only John Brown while John Brown may give you Alasdair Brown and John Smith as well.

ïThe last result on the last page of your search maybe the exact item you want ñ go through all entries not just the first few.

ïLearn to ëpeel backí your results. Taking ìjohnî
away from www.microsoft/scotland/engineering/staff/cv/john will give you all cvs on that part of the site not just the
ìJohnsî.

ïUse (brackets) and the words AND OR and NOT to cover a number of options ñ
e.g. (curriculum OR cv OR resume)
e.g. (solihull OR birmingham OR midlands) ñ and use lower case for all words except AND OR and NOT

ïUse different search engines to get some variants of results

ïBe creative - @websiteaddress.co.uk will give you all the email addresses of people with that suffix that appear on the net.

ïUse asterisks ñ account* will give you results that cover not just ëaccountí but also any other word that account is part of, i.e. accounts, accountant, accountancy.

ïIf you get a name and want to find out more try researching their own company website, logging onto discussion groups, looking up member profile areas on individual host sites eg AOL, friends reunited or even their direct dial telephone number (with no spaces). Tracey Dunn
BlueSky PR

01582 760149
tracey@bluesky-pr.net