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Career tips: The best way to raise your annual salary from 100,000 to 500,000. Starting with an annual salary of around 100,000, in just three to five years, some people manage to raise their salary from 100,000 to 200,000, then to 300,000 and even 500,000, while others remain stuck at around 100,000. In this regard, the role of headhunters is invaluable. However, to understand why headhunters chose some of these people and not others, we interviewed TOM, a partner at Deca Headhunters with over a decade of experience in human resources. Turning oneself into a “prey” According to TOM, based on his experience as a headhunter consultant, the people they choose are those who have clear plans for their own development. The leap from 100,000 to 500,000 is not like the increase from 80,000 to 100,000 or 120,000; it represents a transition from an ordinary manager to a professional manager, and it is very difficult for most people. This requires careful preparation and planning – it cannot be achieved simply by working hard and going with the flow. TOM believes that the key element here is for a professional to have a clear development plan, and to ask oneself three questions at all times while working: ■ What is your future development plan? TOM said that many people are constantly busy throughout the day, passively carrying out various tasks, without ever thinking about their long-term plans, and simply going with the flow of the market. Based on the candidates they come into contact with every year, those they pursue are individuals who are making steady progress in a particular industry, advancing vertically from assistant to manager positions; whereas those who work in various industries, experience little advancement in their roles, and follow a more horizontal career path rarely catch their attention. Clarifying one’s future development plan is the first step in a manager’s growth; any future job changes or training will always be carried out in line with this plan. TOM warns that those who switch jobs merely for a current salary of 20% or more, without considering career development, will face increasingly limited prospects for the future. ■Where is the gap in your career? TOM said that for a human resources manager with an annual salary of 100,000 yuan and a human resources director with an annual salary of 500,000 yuan, the requirements placed on them are vastly different, whether from an individual perspective or from that of the company – this is the difference between an ordinary manager and a professional manager. From a personal perspective, positions with annual salaries of 100,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan require different levels of experience, skills, and other qualifications. For example, the Human Resources Director places more emphasis on management and innovation capabilities such as human resources development strategies ； Human resources managers focus on providing assistance and support related to a company’s human resources. From a corporate perspective, the expectations of companies regarding employees with different annual salaries also change significantly. Furthermore, the higher the position, the greater the requirement from companies for candidates’ professional loyalty. Therefore, after determining one’s development plan, identifying gaps in skills, managerial abilities, and other areas is a crucial step for managers to improve. ■What tasks do you need to take on to close the gap? Once you are aware of your shortcomings, make an effort to address them consciously in your work. TOM said that in everyday work, there are many such opportunities, but many people simply don’t realize it. For example, keep trying those particularly challenging tasks to enrich the content of your resume ； Take the initiative to develop skills for which no payment is involved, but which one urgently needs to master ； Actively trying to work in different departments, etc., are all ways to improve one’s working skills and bridge any gaps. Of course, it is also essential to regularly and systematically attend some high-quality management and skills training programs. Get known to headhunting firms TOM suggests that once managers have the necessary skills and experience, they should also promote themselves appropriately and maintain close contact with the outside world, so that others can get to know them. Expose yourself appropriately. Many managers may be \"good employees\" within their companies, but due to a lack of connection with the outside world, headhunters or senior executives outside do not know them, causing them to miss out on many good opportunities. Therefore, candidates must learn how to deal with headhunters and maintain very close contact with them, so as to be able to seize opportunities when they arise. From the perspective of a headhunting consultant, TOM advises candidates to get to know key people ； Prepare and regularly update a list of “people to get to know” ； Don’t wait until you need it to think about building your network ； Never “hide” yourself in daily work. To this end, candidates can appropriately showcase themselves through various channels, and increase their visibility in places where relevant industries are frequently gathered. Such as attending industry forums, occasionally publishing professional articles in specialized magazines, or giving appropriate interviews to the media. TOM said that in their work, even for cases involving employees of certain types of companies as specified by the clients, they first conduct searches using search engines, such as looking for the finance director of a particular company or the sales director of another company. Thus, appropriate exposure will **increase the chances of headhunting firms finding you. Registering with headhunting firms Many managers only think of contacting headhunting firms when their work is not going well and they want to change jobs. However, at this time, headhunting firms often are not recruiting for such positions, putting managers in a very passive position. Practical approaches to working with honest headhunters: TOM advises managers to keep an eye on the recruitment activities of headhunt firms. If they come across positions that are relevant to their potential career change, they should contact those headhunt firms, even if they aren’t planning to change jobs at the moment, just to ‘register their interest’. Because, when contacting a headhunting firm at this time – when they are in urgent need of hiring staff – it **increases the attention that the headhunting consultant pays to the manager, and meetings held under such circumstances help to strengthen the consultant’s impression of the manager. On the other hand, since headhunting firms are recruiting for this position, it indicates that their business is doing well in this sector; there will be many such positions in the future. If suitable positions become available, the headhunting firms will take the initiative to contact the candidates. TOM said that when selecting candidates, in addition to reaching out directly to target companies to recruit talent, they often first review resumes before deciding whether to schedule an interview. However, many candidates may be highly skilled but fail to put effort into preparing their resumes, thus missing out on many opportunities for growth; therefore, a resume is equally important for candidates as well. Some companies specifically emphasize that we should provide unmodified candidate resumes, as they believe that resumes can reflect a manager’s ability to summarize and analyze information. As a manager, one is required to prepare reports regularly and develop plans and strategies. If a candidate’s resume is poorly written, it is difficult to believe in their management abilities. Abroad, there are specialized resume templates for an annual salary of 500,000 yuan, as well as those for an annual salary of 1 million yuan. In the MBA program, there are two dedicated courses on how to write a resume. TOM suggests that those considering a job change might want to take a look at templates for resumes used abroad. When the interview actually takes place, senior executives at the hiring company use various questions to uncover the candidate’s true potential and abilities. If any sign of dishonest behavior is detected in a candidate, they will be eliminated. In the headhunting industry, the higher the position, the greater the demands are on candidates’ loyalty and emotional intelligence.