How Headhunters Really Work

Episode 334 - Executive headhunter Gerard Miles explains how search firms identify, assess, and approach candidates, and what experienced professionals can do to become more visible, relevant, and memorable to the recruiters who matter.

Many experienced professionals reach a point in their career where the job market starts to feel strangely opaque.

Earlier in their careers, they could apply for advertised roles, hear back from recruiters, attend interviews, and move through a relatively visible hiring process. But at senior levels, the rules change.

The hiring process is quieter. The shortlist may be built before a role ever becomes public. And the people being considered are often not actively looking.

This is why so many senior executives become frustrated when they approach the job market the same way they did ten or twenty years ago. They update their resume, apply for roles online, wait for responses, and assume that if they are good enough, the market will find them.

But executive recruitment does not work that way.

In my conversation with Gerard Miles, a headhunter specialising in the games and entertainment sector and co-founder of Mission One, we discussed what really happens behind the scenes in senior hiring. And although Gerard works in a very specific niche, the lessons are not limited to gaming.

Replace the word “gaming” with mining, education, retail, health, technology, financial services, or government, and the same principles apply.

At the senior executive level, hiring is less about applications and more about relevance, reputation, timing, and trust.

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