The simple answer is: Both. However they are completely different and will serve a different purpose in your career journey. Job Boards like Indeed, Glassdoor or more hotelier specific -Caterer Global are digital advertising boards on a global scale and have replaced completely the more regional and local newspaper job advertising. The difference to traditional job advertising is massive. You are instantly informed about job opportunities in any city, region, country and even continent. In addition to this you have the corporate specific job boards from regional and international hotel companies. Let us not forget Linkedin which is a professional platform and search engine, also functioning as a job board in a more personal manner. Linkedin deserves a seperate and individual blog at a later time.
Headhunters, on the other site are primarily working for international hotel companies, seeking out specialized talent in more elevated positions beginning a the department head level. They are usually appointed by corporate officers, to source the right person for a very specific position based on a very specific profile requirement. They play a role when companies have positions open, they cannot easily fill, what happens more often than one thinks. Unless you are at a department head level you will not be of much interest to a headhunter, because they are paid for their services based on a multiple of the monthly salary. This means, that as long your salary is below 60-70 K $ per year you might not be in that bracket. However it is important to get to know a few headhunters early on. And they are open to meet young talent in their development stage early on. This happens mostly through personal introduction during trade fares and naturally in hotels where they stay during their travels. This means, if you are an aspiring young hotelier with career dreams of your own you need to make it a point to get introduced sooner than later , be it through your superior, ideally the General Manager or your Mentor. This is a crucial and important first step to establish a relationship with a headhunter.
I personally had the good fortune to be introduced to the Top 3 headhunters in the world by two of my superiors, both Hotel General Managers, when I was still in the early stages of my career. All 3 were working on a global level and were chosen for the top quality of talent they would bring to the companies who had had contracted them. I usually initiate introductions and eventually meetings of my clients with these international headhunters. My recommendation is to seek out those companies who are in New York, Toronto, Miami, Singapore, Melbourne or Sidney and London. This is usually, were the best headhunting agencies are located. They have also regional consultants working for them across the world.
I am often asked by clients to make a personal introduction to a headhunter. When I ask them, why, the reply usually is, that the headhunter will help to find a job or get a better job. Again, it is important to understand, that the headhunter serves primarily the client who is paying the commission. This is the way, the business works. So building a long term relationship with a headhunter will go a long way. The agent will get to know you over the years, follow your development and probably 3-5 times during your career journey contact you for a job, which is not yet officially advertised. At this stage your career can take a most interesting twist. Being shortlisted by the headhunter and then introduced to the final decision maker increases the chance to get an interesting and well paying position 1000 % ! You must keep this in mind.
My own relationship with headhunters – I had 3 – was an interesting and fruitful one. I was offered most interesting jobs in New York, in Miami, in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and in Los Angeles. In 1981 I was introduced to the first headhunters in the industry. It happened during the ITB in Berlin, when hoteliers from all over the world would meet for a few days and conduct business. The introduction came through my then Mentor, not my hotel General Manager. The introduction was not meant to yield a job for me right away. It was what it was – merely a personal introduction from my mentor to this headhunters. They knew my Mentor from Chicago were he had been working with Hyatt Hotels with Horst Schulze, the founder and CEO of Ritz-Carlton hotels. My mentor would introduce me to Horst years later in Dubai who would ask me to join Ritz-Carlton hotels.
Being introduced is good, very . In order for an aspirational candidate to be introduced he or she have to have certain characteristics. That they have to be professional and on top of curve goes without saying. However there is another ingredient. That ingredient is “Desire.” Desire means, that you want something strong enough, that you are willing to pay the prize for it. I know, I did. When I was working at the Waldorf=Astoria in NYC I got a call from my former mentor, to join him as Food and Beverage Director to open the iconic El San Juan Hotel. I asked him why me and he said: “Because you are hungry. You want this job ! At the Waldorf it will take you years ! So why wasting time ?” A few weeks later I would travel with my wife to San Juan Puerto Rico to start not only a new job, but also a new life. From the streets of Manhattan to the beaches of the Caribbean. Looking back, I realize that this had been a “strategic career decision.” A good mentor will recognize these opportunities. As a young career hotelier, you will miss this most of the time ! So get yourself a good Mentor. They do not grow on trees.
Back to the original question: Who serves you better, the job board or your headhunter ? The truth is different for everyone. There are those who will study job boards and look for new opportunities, when they feel, the time is right for the next move and then there are those who will eventually, based on their experiences and relationship building with headhunting agents get offers to new positions. The world today is totally digitalized, LInkedin is the place were talent is scouted and hired, but that very personal phone call from a familiar voice is until today still playing a big role. Internet and smartphones have not changed this. You need to keep in mind, that once you have received a job through a headhunter you might eventually turn into someone who is seeking to fill a position urgently and you cannot find the right candidate. Your HR manager will place an add on multiple job boards and bring you many resumes and CVs without finding the right person.
What do you d ? You call eventually the assistance of the headhunter who got you into this job in the first place. During my own career I contacted my headhunters many times to fill general management positions, corporate HR positions but also many department head positions. On the other side, I did receive many discreet calls from headhunters if I would be available for the next best move. The search for talent has only intensified over the years, even during the pandemic there were opportunities for those at the right age with the strong desire to make their next move. If you think, there are no jobs out there you are wrong. You just do not understand the importance of strategic search, connections and enough “Hunger” to take an opportunity when it shows itself.
The search for talent is nothing new. I would say, it was more difficult 30 or 40 years ago as compared to the way it is now. Of course, if you reach a certain age, today it is around 50-55 opportunities and calls will be less and if you have no personal connection and relationship with a headhunter it will not serve you well. I know of plenty of top quality managers who could have done any job advertised on the job boards. Of course did they know headhunters too, but due to age and a not very intense relationship, they would not get the job. Let me say it straight here. Todays job search does not depend so much on your qualifications, resume or cover letter (which is anyway a relict of the past) but on your own orientation, personality and of course connections within the industry. Not to forget your own personal marketing, branding and positioning as a manager in the global hotel business.
After my work at the Waldorf=Astoria I never ever looked for a job anymore until the age of 54. All the years the jobs came to me, I did not have to apply. My resume was just a list of positions I had held over the years with a couple of keywords from job descriptions and were a mere formality. I was recommended to other managers, But I was never searching. I always had a job. The jobs were coming to me. My biggest personal mistakes were, that I was very loyal and this way missing out on strategic smart career moves which would have opened the doors for me better companies as I was working in. These are exactly the reasons why I have started Thecareerhotelier.com to help, guide and mentor ambitious hoteliers to make the best out of their careers. Once you are in a position of responsibility with a good salary and in good standing I guarantee, you will potentially make the wrong career decision unless you have a strategic career plan backed up by experience.
I am sure, you will make the best out of your career and you will prepare the perfect plan. I am someone who does not believe in a Plan B but its good to have a mentor who can help out. So call me if you want. I wish you a great journey and a beautiful year ahead !