3 ideas
Senior-level opportunities flow through exactly three channels: personal contacts, executive recruiters, and direct mail campaigns to companies. Each channel must be worked simultaneously and differently, because relying on networking alone ignores the majority of the market that only surfaces through recruiters and unsolicited targeted outreach.
Retained recruiters are paid by the employer regardless of outcome and conduct exclusive, confidential searches for specific high-level roles, while contingency recruiters earn only if their candidate is hired and shop résumés widely. Knowing which type you're dealing with determines how much you trust them with confidential information and whether your résumé is being broadcast without your control.
Revealing your current compensation anchors any future offer to your past rather than to the value of the new role, capping your negotiating ceiling before discussion begins. The candidate should defer salary questions until an offer is imminent and the employer has decided they want you specifically, shifting the leverage to the candidate's market value.