A headhunter has called and you’re not ready

Nothing is wrong with your career. You just have days, not weeks.

The call was flattering and slightly inconvenient. You were not looking. Your resume is two roles out of date and your LinkedIn profile still describes a job you left in 2022.

Now someone credible has asked you to send something through, and the version you have would undersell you badly to a person who has never met you.


A search consultant reads differently

They are not screening you. They are building a shortlist they have to defend.

Scope they can quantify

An internal recruiter checks you against a position description. A search consultant has to argue for you to a client paying a substantial fee, so they need numbers they can repeat in that meeting — budget, headcount, revenue, territory.

Decisions you personally owned

Not what your function delivered. What you decided, and what happened as a result. A resume written for advertised applications tends to emphasise breadth and duties. What is needed here is evidence and altitude.

A line that reads as deliberate

They are also, quietly, assessing whether you will present well to their client — because their reputation travels with you into that room. A career that reads as a series of deliberate choices makes that easy to believe.

Ready before the follow-up call

Executive Express. $895, both documents within 48 hours of your call.


Order Executive Express

Three things worth doing today


  • Reply promptly, even if you are not ready

    A short acknowledgement holds your place. Search timelines are compressed and consultants move on. You do not need the documents in order to answer the call.

  • Do not update LinkedIn in a hurry

    A flurry of edits is visible to your current employer and to anyone watching. Update it properly, once, after you have decided how you want to be positioned.

  • Decide what would actually make you move

    The strongest position in any search conversation belongs to the person who does not need to move. Work out your terms before the second call, not during it.

What this leads to

The search consultant will follow up. Here is where you can realistically be by then.


5 daysFirst draft, after your branding sessionDelivery
2 weeksFinalised, polished documents in your handsDelivery
6 weeksMost clients report being in a new role, from receiving their documentsClient reported
Under 3%Clients who have invoked the rework guarantee or asked for a refundFive years, measured

Clients self-report salary increases ranging from $12,000 to $160,000 a year. They also tell us interview invitations pick up noticeably — we have not measured that comprehensively, so we will not put a number on it. The guarantee figure covers five years of engagements and is counted directly; the rest is what clients report back to us.

If it is only an exploratory approach

No role yet? Then the priority is your profile, not your resume.


Tell us who approached you and what they said the role was. If there is no live position and the conversation is speculative, the next three people who look you up will start at LinkedIn — so that is where the work should go first. Say so on the call and we will tell you which of the two matters more in your case.


Speak to us first