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Executive
Recruiters: Your Job-Search Commandos
By P. Jeffrey North, Esq.
Managing Director, Juris Resources®
Legal recruiters (also known as headhunters or search consultants) have firmly established
themselves as a visible and highly valued fixture in today's employment landscape. Through
their aggressive matchmaking, headhunters affect the careers of individuals, the lives of
their families and friends, and the profitability of entire corporations.
No one knows exactly what the business world would be like without the influence of
headhunters, but one thing's for sure: sometime in your career, you'll either receive a
call from a headhunter, or initiate contact yourself. In either case, you should learn how
to work with them effectively, and take full advantage of the many benefits their service
provides. Here's what you get from establishing a relationship with an executive
recruiter:
• Greater exposure. Headhunters not only maintain a myriad of
existing contacts within your field, they can also scout out new companies you never heard
of.
• Increased efficiency. Headhunters are obsessive networkers; they
spend their time researching and penetrating the job market. Their knowledge can save you
time in identifying and pursuing prospective employers.
• Personalized public relations. Employers generally look more
favorably towards a candidate who's professionally recommended. Headhunters stake their
reputations on the quality of their candidates, and will always present you in the best
possible light.
• Confidential representation. Some job search situations require a
great deal of discretion. For example, you may want to explore an opportunity with your
present law firm's direct competitor. In such an instance, a headhunter can present your
background confidentially, thereby protecting your identity, and eliminating (or at least
minimizing) your risk of exposure.
• Authoritative career consulting. Headhunters can help you
determine the job or career track that's right for you, based on current market conditions
and your own values and abilities. They're also in a unique position to walk you through
(and monitor) each step in your job changing process.
• Private training. Headhunters can give you practical, time-tested
suggestions on how to strengthen your resume and improve your interviewing technique. In
many ways, a headhunter acts as a personal coach.
• Third-party representation. As experienced brokers, headhunters
find ways to put favorable deals together, and iron out differences you and the hiring
firm or company may have regarding your salary, benefits, and relocation package.
In addition, working through a headhunter can actually improve your chances for success
once you've been placed. That's because the search fee the hiring company paid the
recruiter represents a sizable financial investment in your future success - an investment
worth protecting.
Headhunters: The Missing Link
Headhunting is a multi-billion dollar international industry that acts as the missing link
between a half million job seekers and employers each year. At last count, there were over
125,000 executive search practitioners in the United States, according to The Fordyce
Letter, the industry's leading trade journal.
There's hardly an industry or profession that hasn't spawned its own coterie of
recruiters. They go far beyond the legal industry to cover every conceivable pocket of the
job market, from food sales to machine design to motion picture financing to mortgage
banking to freight hauling to data communications to haute cuisine to college
administration to city management.
Generally speaking, headhunters work within well-defined niches. To make sense of a
complicated employment market, headhunters classify their candidates according to:
• Title or function, which refers to their descriptive title or rank within the
company or law firm, such as General Counsel, Associate General counsel, Assistant General
Counsel, and so on in the corporate law department; associate and partner (income or
equity) in the law firm world.
• Skill or application, which refers to their specialized abilities, such as tax,
intellectual property, environmental, transactional and the like; and
• Service, which refers to whether the candidates is seeking an in-house position or
wants to be with a law firm.
To give you an example, a recruiter might place an associate (title) with IP experience
(skill) into an in-house position (service).
Think of your own experience. How would you classify yourself? Your answer will not only
help you put your career into perspective; it'll help the headhunter determine whether you
"fit" into his or her market niche.
Of course, legal recruiters can use other means to define their markets. Some take a
skill-specific approach. Let's say you work in intellectual property. You'll probably find
a recruiter who doesn't care what your title or function is, as long as you have
experience in that target market.
Don't Get Lost in the Shuffle
Even though headhunters can't guarantee you a new job, you have much to gain from working
with them. And vice-versa, since you represent an addition to their continuously
perishable inventory. While it's true that headhunters owe their allegiance to their
client companies (who pay the fees), without candidates to fuel the fire, headhunters
simply wouldn't exist.
For each search assignment, headhunters may prescreen hundreds of prospects. Therefore,
the majority of their time is spent with the finalists for each open position, relegating
to their file drawers the "reject" or the "maybe next time" candidates
they encounter. These candidates are often highly skilled professionals who simply don't
fit the specific qualifications required by the headhunter's client company - they're
simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
For that reason, you should always press for a realistic appraisal of your chances of
being placed. If one isn't forthcoming, you can assume the recruiter is giving your
candidacy a low priority. In that case, you can opt to let your resume languish in a
headhunter's file, or seek the help of a recruiter who'll take an active role in finding
you a new position.
I try my best to be up front with every candidate I talk to. If your skills fall outside
my area of expertise, I'll steer you to another headhunter who can be of assistance, or
provide you with some general coaching which I hope will be of value.
Always look for a headhunter who takes an interest in - and understands the value of -
your background. The last thing you need is to pin your hopes on someone who's not in a
position to help you. Be prepared for mixed reviews when you talk to recruiters. You might
very well receive a brush-off like, "I'll call you in a week to 10 days"; or bad
advice, such as "You'll never find the job you want with the background you
have"; or discouragement like, "Nobody's hiring now." Just keep plugging
away at your job search - and never take "No" from a headhunter.
Of course, even the most qualified candidacy is subject to the whims of a supply and
demand job market. In many cases, a headhunter simply won't know what your chances of
getting another job might be until he or she puts out feelers or sends you out on an
interview. To work most efficiently, invest your time with a recruiter who really wants to
help you.
Sigmund, Sherlock, and Donald
Headhunters come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and exhibit the same range of
personal merits and character strengths as the rest of the human race. The majority are
honest, hardworking entrepreneurs, who work diligently to help candidates find meaningful,
rewarding jobs.
I've found that headhunters can be divided into three different personality types:
[1] The Sigmund Freud headhunter is a kindly, wise, and empathic counselor. He or she
listens carefully when you describe your values, your job preferences, your personal
goals, and your family commitments. The Sigmund Freud headhunter wants to place you with a
company you'll feel comfortable working for, and will spend lots of time getting to know
you.
[2] The Sherlock Holmes headhunter is a clever, relentless, goal-oriented detective,
who'll track down and contact every company which might provide a match for your skills.
This type can be quite creative in discovering aspects of your background which can be
successfully marketed to companies off the beaten track, or only peripherally related to
your present industry.
A perfect example of the Sherlock Holmes headhunter is Norman Roberts, who works out of an
office in Los Angeles. It was his ingenuity that led to an unlikely (but highly
successful) match in 1984. He took an unknown travel industry executive - Peter Ueberroth
- and placed him as the head of the U.S. Olympic committee.
[3] The Donald Trump headhunter is the consummate deal maker. This type is less concerned
with whether you're a round or square peg, as long as you can be crunched into whatever
hole may be available, or convenient. Headhunters like this tend to give the search
industry a bad name because of their insensitivity to the true needs of their clients and
candidates; and although they can often produce positive results, many times their high-
pressure tactics lead to short-term employment.
While personality and style are important aspects to consider when selecting a headhunter,
you should also evaluate the headhunter's past results. Assuming you feel a modicum of
comfort with the person you're dealing with, it's a good idea to check into their track
record and experience level. If you discover a consistent pattern of success, you're
probably off to a good start.
Otherwise, you might find yourself stuck with the fourth type of headhunter: the Inspector
Clouseau. This type embodies none of the above personality traits, only the endearing,
bumbling incompetence of the movie character portrayed by the late Peter Sellers. In his
Pink Panther movies, Inspector Clouseau was able to crack the trickiest cases; but only
through sheer serendipity or plain dumb luck.
The Two-Party System
You've probably heard of the so-called schism in the world of legal search between
"retained" and "contingency" headhunters. True, differences exist,
especially in regard to billing methods, candidate salary levels, and operational
procedures.
However, I prefer to think of the entire search industry as a microcosm of the American
political system, in which both Republicans and Democrats live in peaceful coexistence.
"Gee, that's a far-fetched analogy, isn't it?" you ask.
No, not really. Republicans and Democrats are both loyal Americans; they just have
different views concerning society and the way the country should be run.
The same could be said of the retained recruiters (who get their fees paid in advance and
work to fill higher level positions) and the contingency folks (who only get paid once
their candidates are hired). Each serves a different slice of the employment population,
and each has a different concept of how the search business should work.
Interestingly, the lines of demarcation have begun to blur in recent years. Just as
Republicans and Democrats have crossbred portions of their constituencies, so have the
retained and contingency headhunters. Although the traditional break point in salary is
around $100,000 (with retained above and contingency below) it's no longer unheard of for
a contingency recruiter to place a CEO at $200,000 a year; or a retained headhunter to
place a manufacturing manager at $55,000. What's more, each camp will, if the situation
warrants, borrow from the other's method of billing the client. Lately, I've heard stories
of contingency recruiters charging partially retained fees, and retainer headhunters
accepting assignments "on spec."
As the search industry continues to evolve, it'll matter less and less how the client is
billed. Currently, there are about a dozen different billing schemes, from flat fees to
hourly fees to itemized service charges. One clever recipe combines contingency with
retained to produce - voila! - "contained" search.
Understanding these broad divisions will help avoid confusion and save you time if your
salary level is fairly polarized. That is, if you're currently earning, say, $90,000,
there's virtually no chance you'll be working any time soon with a retained headhunter.
Similarly, if you're earning over $100,000, the odds are, the headhunter you work with
will be retained by the client company.
Both contingency and retained recruiters play for big stakes. Fees generally run from
twenty to as high as thirty-five percent of a placed candidate's first year compensation.
With that type of arithmetic, it's easy to see why headhunters develop ulcers, not to
mention a healthy skepticism towards their clients and candidates. All it takes is for an
employer or candidate to change his mind at the last minute, and the headhunter has lost,
say, $20,000 or $30,000 in personal income for months of work.
Some Common Sense Ground Rules
Let's talk turkey for a minute about what to expect from headhunters, and how to establish
some common sense ground rules. Here are seven issues you'll want to discuss before you
set any relationship in stone:
[1] Compatibility - Make sure you feel comfortable with the style, personality, intensity
level, and integrity of the headhunter. As in any other business relationship, you want
the other person to understand your needs and act accordingly.
[2] Confidentiality - Make sure your resume isn't going to get plastered all over town
without your knowledge. An inept (or anxious) recruiter can overexpose your candidacy; or
worse, reveal your intention to change jobs to your own company.
[3] Good Judgment - Make sure you're being sent to interviews that match your background
and interests with the needs of the recruiter's client company. The most common complaint
from both candidates and employers is that recruiters "throw candidates against the
wall to see what sticks."
[4] Honesty - Make sure there's either a bona fide job opening or an upgrade possibility
where you're being sent to interview. Otherwise, you'll be spending your valuable time on
one wild goose chase after another.
[5] Tempo - Make sure to let the recruiter know at what pace you want to proceed in your
search for a new position. If you're not ready to make a change until a later date, or
simply want to explore the market, don't let the recruiter waste your time by sending you
on an interview.
[6] Arm-twisting - Don't be pressured into accepting a position or a compensation package
simply to please the recruiter.
[7] Exclusivity - It's fine to work with a recruiter on an exclusive basis, as long as you
feel comfortable with the arrangement, and the recruiter has earned the right of sole
representation. On the other hand, you might not want to limit your options. Despite what
you may be told, no recruiter has the exclusive "ownership" of your candidacy.
By the same token, you must be fair with headhunters. For example, if you're pursuing a
job search on your own or through another party, keep the headhunter aware of your
activity, so you don't cross paths. A recruiter's time and reputation are his most
valuable commodities; he or she deserves better than to be manipulated or left in the
lurch.
Recruiters can't work miracles by waving a magic wand over your resume; all they can do is
match your background with a suitable opening, and help guide you through the job changing
process efficiently and competitively. While it's true that headhunters have their
limitations and can't be all things to all people:It
makes good sense to build a solid relationship with a competent headhunter. |
