A favorite lesson from the classics of cinema can be found in "To Kill a
Mockingbird," the 1962 film starring Gregory Peck. At one point, Uncle
Atticus tells his young daughter, Scout, that she will get along better in life
by learning one simple trick: You only really understand people when you
consider things from their point of view - when you get into their skin and
walk around in it. Similarly, to best understand and appreciate the value
of "relationship maintenance," it is helpful to have a feel for what goes on
in a headhunter's typical day. So, let's explore the nature of the beast
you are courting -- or being courted by.
Recruiters organize their days in various ways, all centering around certain
basic activities. A headhunter, you might say, manages the flow of several
pipelines, which must stay full, alive, and vibrant if the business is to be
successful. With any of these pipelines out of commission, the headhunter is
out of commission -- and, consequently, earns no commission. A recruiter
focuses on balancing these activities and increasing the flow in each of the
following pipelines:
Searches: Searches are the lifeblood of a recruiting organization.
Without specific positions to fill, the headhunter is out of business. Therefore, a
major thrust for a recruiter is continually obtaining searches through all manner
of marketing, cold calls to potential clients, existing client account servicing,
referrals, and advertising.
Candidates: Of course, without qualified and appropriate professionals
to fill those openings, a headhunter is headless. So, recruiters constantly and
vigorously pursue all avenues to add heads to their storehouse of possibly placeable
professionals. Whether a candidate is sourced (obtained) indirectly through a Web
site, newspaper ad, or referral, or directly through that always exciting cold-call to
an unsuspecting professional, a successful headhunter is unceasingly managing a
flow of contacts, relationships, and resumes of viable candidates.
Send Outs: It's great (and essential) to have an ongoing flow in the
first two pipelines, but if they are not coming together as Send Outs, you're
looking at one inefficient, ineffective recruiter. Send Outs are exactly that: sending
out a viable candidate on a viable search. The initial hurdles of the placement process
have now been cleared:
A company has found a presented candidate interesting enough to interview
A candidate has found a presented employment opportunity interesting enough
to interview for
A recruiter, who has done all the presenting, has established a specific time and
place for the interview (The ultimate matchmaking, yes?)
Placements: Placements are what a headhunter's life is all about.
We enjoy developing relationships, having fun, living our daily lives, but we are
in the business of, and stay in business only by, making placements. In a perfect
world, placements are those magical moments when, as in dating, everything
clicks so well with both parties that two pieces of the puzzle snap right into place.
Unlike marriage, the candidate and company are not committed to spending
their lives with one another, yet they are definitely going steady. Unfortunately,
the placement process is not always so “magical” and requires the experienced
mediation, management, communication, and even arm-chair-psychologist skills
of a recruiter - not to mention sales ability. Making placements and closing deals
is a headhunter's all-encompassing pipeline activity.
[Note: it takes a greater volume in the first pipelines to result in any volume
in the last. Because of the sieve effect of the first three pipelines (Searches,
Candidates, Send Outs), there must be much more activity in them to net
any Placement activity.]
An added dimension to this process is the cumulative effect of recruiter “networking.”
Headhunters can't always rely on their own storehouse of heads/clients to provide
either the right candidate for a particular search or the right search for a particular
candidate, so they often work deals with each other. Just as real-estate agents split
commissions on home sales when representing buyers and sellers, headhunters split
placement fees. For example, if I provide a candidate whom another recruiter can
place, or vice versa, we split the fee, 50/50. This type of networking occurs both
on the inside, within small or large recruiting firms (where headhunters in the same
company split deals), as well as on the outside, between independent and separate
recruiting firms. Quite simply, a recruiter's pipeline management is not based solely
on personal activity (obtaining searches, finding qualified candidates, and arranging
Send Outs), but is exponentially increased by the amount of networking in which
the recruiter engages.
This process may all sound foreboding and requiring an Act of God to have a
placement occur. The truth is that they occur all the time. Considering the management-,
professional-, or salary-levels of searches a headhunter engages in, he or she can
place anywhere from two to six individuals a month. Yet for two to six solid placements
to materialize from that intricate network of leaking pipelines, an enormous amount
of “substance” must continually be going through the system. A successful recruiter's
office, you would think, must be a literal hub of activity, a huge transfer facility, so
as to direct enough substance into these pipelines. You are right! So, next time you
call into a recruiting firm to chew some fat about yourself, remember that you just
dialed Grand Central Station!
It is important for you, the candidate, to understand this movement within a recruiting
organization to determine how to best position yourself to utilize this resource.
Understanding the flow that a headhunter is attempting to manage daily allows
you, to a certain degree, to step into the headhunter's shoes and walk around a
bit. Between the ongoing activities of a recruiter fishing for searches, sorting
through resumes, hunting new heads, arranging interviews, and consulting/counseling
both clients and candidates in this important decision-making process -- most of
which takes place on the phone -- you want to slip in as smoothly as possible.
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
