First, an explanation of the two different types of recruiting firms: Retained and Contingency. Retainer firms are hired to find what are usually "hard to recruit" key people. The compensation for these positions typically starts at $125,000 and goes up from there. The retainer firm is paid a fee whether or not a candidate is hired, all expenses are paid by the client firm, and only one firm works on the search. Retained recruiting firms are for the most part,large and international in scope. However, firms that specialize in a certain Technology area also do well on retainer.

There are essentially two groups of people working in retained firms, search consultants and researchers. Search consultants deal with clients and make the decision on which candidates are presented to the client firm.

Consultants who work in the large prestigious firms make excellent incomes. They are very well connected within the industries they serve and are generally looked-up to by everyone in the recruiting business. They are to the executive search industry what a fighter pilot is on an aircraft carrier.

The other group is the researchers. They do the labor-intensive work of finding candidates that match the client's specification and usually make the initial contact with targeted candidates. Researchers also do most of the reference checking.

The other type of recruiter is a contingency firm. The recruiter only gets a fee after they find a candidate that is hired by the client. Most of the positions contingency firms recruit for pay about $70,000 to $200,000. Contingency recruiters pay all the expenses and often compete with other contingency firms working on the same assignment. The fee paid to the recruiter is usually based on a percentage of the candidates annual compensation, typically 20-35%.

Now for the good stuff: How you as a candidate can more effectively use executive technical recruiters to promote your career to the next level.

The first words of advice I will give you are these: BE VISIBLE. When I start a new search,after using my extensive 'network' of professionals and our exclusive in-house 'sourcing' system, one of my many "tools" that I will go to is the Internet or Industry directories. There are more Internet Web Sites and trade directories created and published annually than you can ever imagine, in fact there are over 223,000 sites and the more of them you list yourself in the better your chances of being "visible" are. Go to your local library and look up a publication titled "GALE RESEARCH "directory of directories." Determine which directories pertain to your industry and call or write the publisher. Find out the procedure for being included in your present company's listing. They're usually glad to have all the names and data they can get because unlike the yellow pages, directory publishers make their revenue from selling their publications, and the more data included the better. Also, present a brief description of your background on the internet. Other "tools" you can use to post your resume are the usual job sites such as Hotjobs,Monster,USJOBS,D.I.C.E.,Craigslist, and over 50,000 other job boards and websites. You can also use services that will "blast" your resume to over 38,000 recruiters, nationwide, although I personally do not encourage this!

A common strategy in the current job market to get your resume out is to conduct a selective direct mail campaign to technical recruiting firms. Kennedy Publications will rent you their list of recruiters on pressure sensitive labels at a reasonable cost. You may want to consider this option. Or another option that is "free" is to go to the Internet and search for listings of Technical Recruiters in your area. Using www.AIRS.com or www.google.com to find a local recruiter is a good start.