Every once in a while, I will get a phone call totally out of the blue from an executive recruiter (a.k.a. headhunter) asking if I'd be interested in an exciting new job opportunity. Typically I answer "yes" because you never know if someone might offer you a job as a TV talk show host, which over the last five years has easily been the fastest growing job on the market.
But this column isn't about being a talk show host, it's about headhunting, or what has euphemistically become known as "executive search."
Executive search is, a $3 billion business---and growing---with 2,000 search firms employing a staggering 13,000 headhunters. It’s no wonder you can't find a plumber these days, they've all gone into finding jobs for others rather than finding clogs in toilets.
Years ago, headhunters were an employer's last resort, the final option when all else had failed. Now headhunters are involved in about 20 percent of all managerial and executive hiring. Which means either headhunters have gained respectability, as they themselves suggest, or a large percentage of our corporations are more desperate than we thought.
It's no secret how headhunters find their prospects; they network. What I mean is that they make a few contacts in an industry and then ask each of these contacts to give them the names of a half dozen or so other contacts, and so on and so on. Pretty soon they have a database as large as the Philippine phonebook, and about as relevant. What qualifies you to be in this giant employee chain letter is that someone has certified that you are, indeed, part of humanity.
Despite all the rhetoric, in reality job placement is a numbers game and most headhunters are governed by the Rule of Three’s. Generally, a headhunter will contact three people for every one he interviews. He will interview three for each candidate he introduces to the hiring company. And he will usually offer the company three candidates from which it can choose. Spot Quiz: If you can tell me how many people the headhunter contacts for each job, you are qualified to run a Fortune 500 company.
If a headhunter contacts you, don't be flattered too quickly, it may simply be the day he calls everyone whose last name begins with your initial. Also, don't mistake the headhunter's call as the job offer itself. This is just the start of the screening process. In other words, if the headhunter says he is calling on behalf of a client in Los Angeles, you shouldn't rush out and immediately sell your house.
Headhunters say they like prospects that are conversant on the phone, not just listeners. They recommend you ask them at least as many questions as they ask you. This can become tricky, however, since the last thing you want to have happen is have the phone call sound like a session with Dr. Joyce Brothers.
If you get an interview with a company and a job offer is extended, the role of the headhunter changes. The headhunter becomes your advocate, working to help you secure the best deal possible. He does this not because he is a really great guy, but because he has an incentive, namely his commission, which is usually a percentage of your new pay. Of course for him to get anything you have to take the job. For this reason, if you decide to refuse the offer, it is wise to immediately enter the Federal Witness Protection Program.
Finally, since you never know when a headhunter may call, be prepared. Take me, for instance: I already know that I want Alec Baldwin, Jessica Biel, and Robin Williams as guests on my first show.
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