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jadedog  ·  2656 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Should I get a headhunter or what should I do about my career?

Caveat: I'm a stranger on the internet. Research everything I say before taking action and see if it works for you.

The answer to the question you asked is that it depends on what you mean by headhunter.

Here's what I would do.

I'd set up a new email account that's different than the one you're using. If you do this right, it could get flooded with stuff.

I'd go to Indeed.com (or another job search engine - there are a lot out there) and set the parameters to your area and the types of positions you're looking for. Based on your job descriptions, you've done some data collections, accounts payable, accounts receivable, worker's comp and insurance. You'll have to decide at some point which career path you want to go on, but at this point, you can just collect data on what's available. Put in general descriptions like accounting or insurance or data collections just to get a feel for the job titles, job descriptions and salaries. You can have job listings sent to the new email you just set up.

Places like Glass Door (to get a feel for the employee side of things) and LinkedIn (some good group discussions here) might be helpful as well.

Then ask yourself what career path you're interested in. The accounting path goes from where you are and can go to CFO or higher but you might need some education along the way, but maybe not until you're sure about the direction. The insurance path also has some growth but again you might need some education along the way. Indeed also has salary searches so you can see what people in the field in your area make. You'll also get a sense of the job titles and the duties and responsibilities of the person holding that job.

Then I would set up a free google phone number. This is a number you can give out to people and link to your phone if you choose. I wouldn't answer this number when I was working.

After you've gathered some information on some of the positions, then I'd look on a recruiter site like Robert Half. (roberthalf.com) Filter by your area and the positions you're looking for. Look at the recruiter who owns the lead. Look for the leads by that person. If that person has a lot of leads that look interesting to you, call the office that person works in and ask to speak to them.

If you like them, then you might want to interview in person. They should be able to give you assessment tests if you're interested. If you see any jobs available from the site you like, call your recruiter and see if he/she can get that job for you. If some other recruiter owns the job lead, it might be harder to get so choose your recruiter carefully.

You can go to several recruiters in your area. You can do a quick search for them based on your area, the field you're interested and the word 'recruiter' or 'temp. agency' or 'employment agency'. The downside is that some employers will drop you out of the list if more than one application comes in your name. You can try to make it clear that the agency may not apply without notifying you first, but that doesn't always work, so it's a risk.

Here's what I would NOT do.

I would not pay anyone to get me a job.

Recruiters work on commission from the company. Ask them to make sure. Headhunters are paid a fee of your salary when you get a job. I would not pay a headhunter. I would make very sure that anyone I'm talking with won't be getting any compensation from me at any time.

Good luck! I hope this helps.