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Headhunters take on an enormous responsibility with the acceptance of a mandate to search for competent, qualified top executives. In living up to expectations and identifying eligible, appropriate, high-performing candidates of great personal integrity, numerous new and partly unknown tools are available to them thanks to the rapid expansion of social media platforms. In times when recruitment tasks are increasingly performed internally by personnel managers, it is particularly crucial for headhunters to adapt to such new trends.
The present study examines whether social media are a suitable medium for the recruitment of executives by headhunters and identifies the new opportunities and challenges they present to recruitment experts. By means of a survey, the extent to which social media platforms are already being used by headhunters, in particular in their search for executives for the German fashion business, is investigated. Taking into account the results of this survey as well as the latest research concerning headhunters, social media and the fashion business, the study concludes by putting forward recommendations for the use of social media in headhunting executives.

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Robin Schlesinger, born 1977, studied law in Göttingen and Vienna from 1998 to 2004, working in sales in different industries alongside his studies. He entered the fashion and lifestyle industry in 2006, taking on fashion sales assignments from companies such as Tommy Hilfiger, Karl Lagerfeld, Marithé & Fran‡ois Girbaud and Guess, and holding various leadership positions. In 2012 and 2013, Robin Schlesinger completed a Part-Time MBA and a Top-Up MSc in General and International Management at the University of Wales and ipe Management School Paris. As Dior International Distribution Manager for Central and Northern Europe in the Italian Sàfilo Group, Robin Schlesinger is currently responsible for the selective distribution of the Dior brand.
When searching for specialists suitable for leadership positions in the fashion business, the author made the experience that initial searches via traditional channels, such as print media, were unsuccessful, while the subsequent use of social media, sometimes including the employment of headhunters, led to the desired results. This and his wealth of experience in using social media motivated Robin Schlesinger to explore the topic in more detail.

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