I’ve been writing this blog for over a year, and during this period have commented on executive candidates, executive clients, executive interviews, executive CV’s (snore), and although I continually have new and fascinating tidbits on these topics, I’ve decided to go for a radical change and talk this week about….executive headhunters!
Let’s be honest, it’s not the hot career of choice when you’re at school or university. You never hear a proud mother saying ‘my son is studying to be a headhunter’, and I’ll bet it’s not even itemised on the career counsellor’s list.
And the reality is that there is no specific academic path or foundational career that is prescribed for a career in executive search (aka headhunting). A whizz round the room at a headhunting convention (yes, even headhunters convene) and you’ll discover people from every possible academic background and prior career specialisation.
The most common story is that people ‘stumble’ into this career by chance (I certainly did!). And for some, like me, the pursuit of mastery of the million and one facets to this job is the ultimate challenge. (I can’t deny that the ‘power-broker’ status is pretty cool too!).
But what do we do?
It seems that most people out of the know think that we spend our time lunching, wining, dining, schmoozing, boozing, golfing, and other similar activities with corporate executives. Well, that’s not it (at least not on my watch at Jack Hammer). Others out of the know assume that we spend all day finding jobs for people who are looking for jobs. That’s definitely not it. And I’ve been told that there are some people (also out of the know) who believe that we spend our time plotting to ‘steal’ people.
Aside from being completely, absolutely NOT IT, this last opinion is one that fascinates me. The idea that someone can be forced to send his CV and then interview with a company against his will, resign from his employer against his will, and sign a contract of employment with a new employer also against his will is quite bizarre! So….NO…that’s not what we do either.
And now, after this long preamble, I’ll finally share with you a typical day in the life of…….
But that would be telling…..
