Diary of a Desperate Headhunter

Headhunter has not really ever been my favorite term for the job that I have been performing for what it seems like most of my life; however, it is a term that everyone will immediately understand. Personally, I think that we, the employment counselors, personnel recruiters and employment agency people consider ourselves as service representatives trying to fulfill a service for both the applicant and the hiring company. It is up to us to gather all the information from both these parties and ensure we are fitting the needs of both, which believe me, can sometimes require a bit of juggling and creative thinking on our part. However, as long as everyone is happy with the end result, we have done our job, and look forward to getting our reward.

It is sometimes annoying for the potential client companies that receive phone calls from people in our business all day long and especially now with our job market in such a mess. However, we have been trained that if we are not on the phone making those 50-100 calls a day, we will not produce results and it is very true and proven by statistics. And, because most of us only make our income by a completed connection between an applicant and a job order, we really don't have a lot of options but to make those calls to those hiring authorities. So, I do apologize for making those calls but we do have our bills to pay too and please remember we are offering you a service that you will only pay for if we perform to your satisfaction. :)

All through college, I supported myself by working temporary employment and became very familiar with employment services from that standpoint. As a graduate, I went to work in my chosen field as a social worker for special needs children. Soon, it became very evident that I would not be able to support myself doing social work so I became a teacher in special education. Not being a good disciplinarian, after about five years of children running "amuck" all around me, it became evident that I needed to find another form of employment but still I was hoping to continue working in the service industry. That is when I had the "bright idea" to become a personnel consultant........... i.e...........help people get jobs and make money too..... good idea......... right????

Well, when I applied at a couple of the large agencies in my town, the first thing they did was give me a test to see if I had the aptitude for it............ and ..........the results were that I was not money oriented enough and that my social work personality would get in the way of making money. Hmmmmm. Obviously, I needed to make money, so I didn't quite get it. I found a small agency that hired me. She showed me the desk and the phone and said, "Now, make money!!" That was the extent of my training. And, I did!!! I made inside sales and outside sales calls, interviewed the applicants and sent them off to jobs. It was actually fun and I did feel that I was helping people and making money for myself. The companies were happy with me, the applicants were happy and I was happy. Then we had a market adjustment.

Not to bore you with all the details, but there have been several market adjustments through my career. I have had times where I would come back from lunch and there would be over 200 qualified applicants that called during the lunch hour for one job and then I have had experiences where I felt more like I was taking applicants to the electric chair instead of helping them find a job. This may sound very odd in this economy, but it is still very hard for many of my recruiter associates and myself to find really qualified applicants to fill some of the positions we do have open. Granted, companies are being very specific in their requirements with us but also many of the applicants are not being that flexible either.

To get back to the job that a headhunter performs, it is important that people understand that not only does that recruiter get the job order but then he or she needs to find the applicant that fits the job order. This is a daunting tasks in any job market. If we post the jobs on the internet or in the newspaper, which believe me is not a cheap thing to do, we then have to sort through sometimes hundreds of resumes of people that have no connection to what the job requirements are just to find that particular needle in the haystack that still may or may not fit due to money, location, or any number of other factors. The same goes for searching on the internet sites or other resume sources. Of course, the better we get with our keywords the more we can pin down our needle. Another way we can find people is to actually recruit employees from competitors of the type of company where we have the job order. This is where I think the idea of a "headhunter" comes into existence. This also requires some research on the part of the recruiter.

Adding to all this, the recruiter also has to critique the resume, assist with the rewrite and coach the applicant to be sure he makes the critical first impression. This is crucial no matter what type of job the applicant is seeking. The headhunter is the middleman between the company and the applicant and is the individual that best understands what each is seeking from the experience.

Because of all the recruiter networks that I have belonged to and the many individual recruiters I have spoken to over the years, I have always felt that if there was ever to be a sitcom based on experiences from recruiting agencies it would be an immediate hit. There is just no end to the truly unbelievable stories that would have you rolling on the floor laughing and sometimes crying. (I am hoping to start a blog site where recruiters can go to tell their stories soon.. I think we could all use a good laugh and hear that we aren't alone at this point.) A recruiter's day can go from devastating to delightful with just one phone call. He can go to sleep on Friday thinking that he has made that huge fee he was hoping for and by Monday morning find out that the whole world changed over the weekend. Because he or she is dependent upon two totally separate entities doing what they say they will do, many times a recruiter's life is totally unpredictable. So, to all those partners and spouses of recruiters, please be understanding of your mate's mood changes.

In recent months, although we have found that perfect person that the company wants to hire and that perfect person wants the job, the company ends up putting a hold on hiring that individual. In some cases, I have had this drag out for 3-4 months. Kind of puts a crimp in all of our budgets. Recently, the company called back after 3 months to see if the guy still wanted the job and the person did want the job, but then the company went back on hold again. In some cases, we can't get the company to call us back and in other cases the applicant won't call us back.

Please understand that the headhunter usually has done his best and deserves to know what is going on, please keep him informed. If you are the applicant or the company, please be honest and let your recruiter know what is happening. Most of the recruiters I know do work very hard and in many cases are independents or on straight commission, so don't just let them hang on hoping that something will come together. Go ahead and call them "headhunters" if you want but they do deserve to be treated with some respect. Helping companies and candidates is their livelihood.

Everyone Wins - When Recruiters, Applicants and Companies Work Together !!!!