If you excel at your current gig, you may be getting phone calls or LinkedIn messages soon from recruiters — if you're not already getting bombarded with them.
That's because a new trend is gaining momentum: More aggressive headhunting from employers. "We're seeing more employers proactively seeking out and contacting candidates, compared to last year at this time," Shon Burton, C.E.O. of online recruiting firm HiringSolved, told Fortune.
The internet has made it extremely easy to find — and entice — potential candidates who aren't even looking for new opportunities. Say a company is looking for a new exec in its Austin office. When a recruiter calls you up, she may mention that she saw you attended SXSW last year, or noticed that you frequently tweet about the indie music scene — and use that as the basis to ask if you would be interested in relocating to Austin for a job. "The new online tools employers are using now can really help with conversation-starters," Burton said.
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Burton speculates that these aggressive tactics are making job-hunters just a little too comfortable resting on their laurels. "Top candidates now are much more passive or what I would even call lazy. They're willing to wait for the right job to land in their lap, because they know recruiters or hiring managers will contact them," he said.
Another consequence is the beginning of the end for that job-hunt staple: the résumé. Burton noted that résumés take too long to read and are easily ignored by employers. They also favor good writers and native English speakers, thereby excluding a slew of candidates who may still be qualified for a job.
He advises that although you should certainly still have a résumé, you should spend more time crafting your online professional persona through social media, a blog, or other channels so that recruiters can find you with ease. In other words, that polished LinkedIn profile could be what lands you your next big career move.
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