If anyone tells you that being a good headhunter is easy, they’re either drunk, stoned, or just plain stupid.
I’ve been in the recruiting / headhunting business for over three decades. What an enormous blessing it is for me to be a part of so many people’s careers and business successes. However the word easy is never one that I would use to describe the journey. What I’ve learned firsthand is that good headhunters are known for directly contributing towards their client’s profitability. Good headhunters are focused on saving companies time, money and frustration by ensuring they hire people who will achieve results and contribute in a meaningful way to their bottom line. Nothing else matters.
Therein lies the value of a good headhunter – having a positive impact your profitability.
The process appears quite simple…
1. Sourcing talent the employer wouldn’t otherwise have access to,
2. Providing high level objectivity to the employer to ensure expectations are being clearly and consitently communicated throughout the hiring process.
3. Saving the employer time by ensuring only candidates with the right character, competencies and commitment are short-listed,
4. Handling all the pre-hire due diligence processes (reference investigations, interviews and debriefing, performance evaluation, aptitude and psychometric assessments, criminal record checks)
5. Negotiating a successful offer and acceptance by the candidate.
But It’s No Easy Task …
In fact headhunting is one of the hardest businesses to be successful in. It’s an occupation that literally takes years of practice in order to manouever the subtleties of motive, uncover hidden agendas, facilitate open communications, with the ultimate goal to build meaningful long term relationships that bring together A-level talent with leading employers.
Examples of successful searches we have handled include a technical specialist who knew the mechanical processes, had expert skills in programming, AND could mentor others on highly advanced machining processes. Another search involved sourcing top managers for a specific industry who was experiencing a global shortage of this specific talent.
And yet another involved finding a production manager who was both an accomplished leader and intimately familiar with processes that were in an industry with a very short supply of A-level talent. Sourcing right fit candidates with unique combinations of hard and soft skills is just one of the many talents to look for in a good headhunter.
Characteristics of Good Headhunters
- Their currency is relationships, they spend the bulk of their day sourcing, screening and building relationships with skilled candidates.
- They are masters at communication, using social networking, gaining referrals and uncovering hard to find passive candidates
- They are creative thinkers, bringing forward new ideas, options and solutions to challenging hiring situations
A Good Headhunter Knows How to Uncover Motive.
Identifying motive is always our number one priority. To do this we ask a lot of questions, over and over, qualifying every step of the way. Why are you looking? Why are you interested in this role? What is most important to you? do you want to relocate?
I am blessed to be a good headhunter and passionately encourage every business owner, leader or aspiring manager to build a strong relationship with a skilled recruitment consultant that you know, like and trust. The investment of your time and money will go a long way to ensure that whoever you hire, they have the right motives and values are rightly aligned to profitably contribute to you and your company’s success. Nothing else matters.
This post has been approved for public release by Barbara Ashton. All certified posts carry this Google Authorship link to Google.
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