Seven Things A Head hunter Won't Tell You

Love them or hate them, at some point you may find yourself working with a head hunter. So it’s helpful to understand how they operate. A head hunter has something you don’t have: inside information from the job market and knowledge about openings that will never be advertised. An experienced head hunter can search more efficiently for jobs than you can. Our goal is to match you with a job. Choose and use us wisely and we can be a catalyst for your career.

If you get that job, we get our fee. Plus we leave a trail of happy people – you and our client company – whose recommendations are good for business.

In an ideal world, headhunting is a win-win. But here are some things a head hunter probably will not tell you.

Head Hunter

1. “Three months ago, I was selling shoes.” You cannot study headhunting; we have all done another job before. Therefore, we might not understand what you do for a living or what the job we’re recruiting you for entails. Although we will gladly accept the assignment to search for a CIO, for example, we might have no idea about what makes a good one or whether this job will advance your career.

In other words, we are generalists in a world of specialists. So do your research and do not expect us to give you well-informed answers to your questions about the company or job responsibilities.

2. “I haven’t read your résumé or cover letter.” Our decision about whether to call you for an opening is based on a 5 to 10-second glance at your résumé. So make sure we can quickly spot the essential information. Boil your bio down to a maximum of two or three pages. Consider adding an executive summary at the top, letting us know what makes you special. For instance, “MBA, 15 years sales leadership, fluent Spanish,” will get your message through, even if the recruiter doesn’t read the rest of your résumé. Avoid hackneyed words like, “dynamic,” “proven track record” or “team player.”

 3. “You don’t make a good presentation.” Based on your outfit, the way you carry yourself, or the way you speak, a head hunter might decide not to put you in front of a customer. Although only one candidate will be hired, our aim is to get positive feedback on all of them. Our fantasy is for a client to say, “The four candidates you presented were all fantastic. I will retain A and B and as a back-up also C and D. You wowed me and I will never ever again work with anyone else.”

Recruitment is part science and part art. If we have invited you to meet us, we did so because we thought that you could do the job; that’s the technical part–“the science.” Your motivation, attitude and presentation are “the art.” Once you make it to the interview with us, focus on these three. Impress us, and we will be confident to work with you.

4. “You are not competitive in today’s labor market.” There’s no substitute for a solid education if you want to make a career as a knowledge worker. The good news is that there are excellent alternatives to a Harvard MBA. Online studies have become more widely accepted and decision makers care less about where you earned your degree. Furthermore, executive education such as Ivy League senior management programs (also called “mini MBAs”) can lift your profile to today’s standards. The term “lifelong learning” – though overused – is the No. 1 buzzword for today’s career management. If you want to be competitive for the next decades, you must hop on that train.