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I've been in recruiting for Fifteen years. For people who don't know, a headhunter (exact same thing as a recruiter) goes out and finds very specific people to fill very specific positions at client companies. If we should pull that off, there happens to be nice commission built in, and of course if we don't, well, we starve. So, recruiters end up very capable of not only finding qualified people (the easier, not easy, part) but (the most important part) at preparing those individuals to talk about all the right things in response to their phone interview questions and later face-to-face meetings.

I'm a big believer in marketing a Candidate (That's recruiter-talk for the person seeking the position) making use of a cohesive marketing strategy. This involves three key components: The 30-second Elevator Pitch, The 180-second Tell Me a Little Bit About Yourself, and The Resume. All three are created centering on the most impressive, specific achievements of the job seeker.

In order to start, looking back over job history, and just the employment history that corresponds to the position being sought, identify the 3 highest impact specific success stories. These should be examples of going above and beyond that truly stand out. Also, they ought to include specific numbers when possible. To provide an example, "I was the # 1 producing sales representative out of Five-hundred in 2004 for producing over $50 million in my territory. That was a gain of over 36% from the previous year." Most people probably don't have something that ideal, but get as near to that particular mark as possible. It could possibly be "I ran a $10 million dollar company with 87 employees for 7 years." Now, list out those three items in order from greatest to least.

The Elevator Pitch is a short 20 to 30 second initial introduction which is used during a phone call when contacting somebody new. In quick order, give your name, the number of years you've been in the profession, a 1 line version of your best accomplishment, and the reason you are calling. It might sound like this, "Hello, I'm Dean Jawarski. I've been an executive recruiter for Fifteen years. During that period of time I've placed over 200 software engineers at X company alone. I was wondering if we could discuss any positions you might have available?" If that goes well, that pitch might turn into a conversation or at least result in one being scheduled.

"Tell me a little bit about yourself", will likely be the beginning question of most interviews. It's a wide open opportunity to set the tone for what is to follow. Again, repeat the elevator pitch, but on this occasion go into all three of the major accomplishments at length. It should take 2-3 minutes. Then end it by using a statement that those accomplishments along with your work history on the whole are what make you a first rate fit.

As far as the resume, it needs to be also made to highlight those three major accomplishments and perhaps two more. Many interviewers make use of the resume as a general road map for your conversation going down it in order. If they do, this piece of paper will lead them straight to all the successes mentioned earlier.

In the end, the net result is an exceedingly concise and well put together presentation of all your best strengths that has been stated and restated 2-3 times.