There
are a number of fee-based executive job hunting sites for $100,000+
executives: The
Ladders, Execunet, RiteSite, BlueSteps and
Netshare.
Each has its advantages. All will charge you a
monthly
or annual fee. Many retained search firms (mine included) never use
paid advertising or pay to view resumes on free-for-job-hunters boards
such as Monster or 6FigureJobs. However, since all of these
sites
other than ExecuNet and Blue Steps allow retained search firms to post
positions for free, you’ll see positions advertised on these sites that
can be seen nowhere else. In addition, several of these sites
(The Ladders, RiteSite and BlueSteps) allow recruiters to view their
database of candidate resumes for free. If you're actively
looking, sign up for one or two of these fee-based services, in
addition to the free, 6figurejobs.com.
6FigureJobs.com. This
one is
different from the others listed below, because membership is free for
job
hunters. All jobs listed pay $100,000 or more. They have
fewer jobs listed than the fee-based sites, but it goes without saying
that you should register here, because the price is right.
Click here to go to FigureJobs.com.
The
Ladders charges $30 a month ($180/year),
and allows you to view ads which recruiters and companies are able to
post for free. Recruiters are also allowed to view your
resume
without paying a fee to The Ladders. Positions tend to be
lower
end than those on Netshare, Execunet, RiteSite or BlueSteps (all
supposedly pay $100,000 a year or more, but some actually pay less than
that). The Ladders reports that they have 1.6-million members
(although non-paying members who get very limited services are included
in this number), and report that they have 35,000 jobs
listed. Click
here to go to The Ladders.
RiteSite
is a site
created and owned by John Lucht, the author of Rites of Passage at
$100,000. Recruiters are permitted to search your resume for
free; other employers are allowed to view an identity-concealed resume
of you for free, and email you. Recruiters and employers can
list
positions for free. Membership costs $94 per year.
It is
still small – only 10,000 members, and gets significantly less activity
than do the other sites. The site does have two significant
advantages. They have a list of Rites Honored Recruiters who
do
100% retained search (some firms listed on the Kennedy Information list
do some contingency as well). Members can download this list
of
600 firms, or have their resume emailed to these firms as part of the
membership package. The other advantage is their
Reconnaissance
feature. They scour all of the free job boards, including
Monster
and CareerBuilder, but also Craig’s List, major newspaper job boards,
and obscure specialty boards for executive jobs, and post them on the
site. These can also be emailed to you, if you set up an
agent
with keywords. In sum, they list about 15,000 jobs, and all
are
true executive jobs. Click here to go to RiteSite.
Netshare
allows recruiters and companies to post jobs at no charge, but charges
them to view your resume. A good portion of the jobs
advertised
are higher-end and more senior than those at The Ladders. Cost
is
$40/month, or $360 per year.
ExecuNet
provides excellent
networking opportunities for executives - they probably provide the
best networking of any of the executive sites. The positions advertised
are more senior than those on The Ladders - they have more $200,000+
positions. However, recruiters and
companies are charged to place ads here, so there are fewer ads. Cost
is $39/month or $399/year.
BlueSteps
makes your resume available to members of the Association of Executive
Search Consultants (AESC). The AESC is made up of 270
retained
firms worldwide, and most of the major firms are members. For
a
$219 membership, you can keep your resume on the site for
life.
For an additional $60, you can download from their member list, which
lists individual consultants and their specialties. The site
has
40,000 members, who have an average salary of $230,000. If
your
income is under $200,000, this is probably not for you. If
you
use this service, you'll be missing many of the retained firms, as many
are not members, particularly the smaller firms. However,
member
firms may turn here first to view candidate resumes, and these firms
tend to be working on the more senior positions.
Bear
in mind that the vast majority of positions filled by retained search
firms are not filled from either ads placed on these executive
job-hunting sites or from resumes found on these executive job-hunting
sites (or any site). Most retained searches are filled by a
combination of networking, cold contacts to candidates working in the
client’s industry, and a review of the firm's internal database of
candidates.
