How do you become a Headhunter?
I got in the headhunting game by fluke. I was getting ready to graduate from The College of Wooster with a degree in Business Economics and the reality of getting a job was setting in. Fortunately, I had a college friend who was a Headhunter in Northern Virginia and I reached out to him asking for help. He introduced me to the company that eventually hired me in the spring of 2000. I’ve never looked back since that day.
Most Recruiting/Staffing companies that hire headhunters are usually, always looking for new blood. There’s a lot of attrition in this business because a lot of you reading this who want to get in the business do so for all the wrong reasons. I’ve interviewed a lot of people who were wannabe headhunters and most of them wanted to get in the business because they heard that there’s a lot of money to be made in this business.
If you want to work in this business just because you think you can make a lot of money, let me be the first to tell you to walk away. Most people are not cut out to be a headhunter. Don’t waste your time or money on buying e-books or other work from home schemes that promises to “show you the ropes” of headhunting.
On the other hand, if you’re genuinely interested in becoming a Headhunter or Recruiter there’s plenty of opportunities out there. Remember, the first couple of years are going to be hard, suck it up for the rewards will follow.
Identify your niche
What’s your current background – are you in Administrative, Finance, Law, IT, Healthcare, Construction or are you just starting out? If you’re just starting out – then what type of industry would you like to focus on?
Develop your pitch
Now that you’ve identified what industry you would like to focus on – work on your elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a 30 second personal sales pitch that you will use.
Google local Companies
Now that you have an industry and a sales pitch, Google Staffing & Recruiting companies in your local area. Call all of them. Ask to be connected to the Lead Recruiter or the Recruiting Manager. A chance of you being connected to these folks on the first call is slim to none. At this point, you’re telemarketing. Leave the sales pitch on their voicemail.
Follow up and be Persistent
It’s imperative that you do not lose steam at this point. A lot of Recruiting Managers might and may not respond to your voicemail. The reason is that they want to see if you will follow up with them and show persistence in getting an audience.
Get an interview scheduled
Once you get the manager on the phone, you don’t want to keep them guessing. Let them know why you’re calling and that you would like to get on their schedule for a meeting/interview. Remember, becoming a headhunter is all about being persistent and having patience. You’ll hear a lot of “no, thanks”. Get used to it – that’s part of your daily life now. Once you score an interview, show up, be prepared, and be ready to take on the challenges of this new, exciting business. Oh, and leave your ego at home.
When you do land a job using the techniques detailed here, send me 20% of your first year’s loot because I helped you find a job. Just kidding!!
Congratulations! You’ve just become a Headhunter. How do you become a successful headhunter? Keep coming back…one of these days; I’ll let you in on that secret as well.
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Comments
[...] a Successful Headhunter – Part 1 I’m assuming that you’ve read one of my previous posts How do you become a headhunter. If not, then please read it. I’ve detailed on how you can become a headhunter/recruiter [...]
Hello Kaushik Rathi
Thank you for the message / article, quite useful. I am wondering however, what excactly, in practical terms do you mean when stating: Oh, and leave your ego at home. Culturally what does this mean, practically, what do you intend to convey by this? Please, please, respond. Thank you!!!
A little Ego is a good thing – however, in the Recruiting business, if you let your ego take over, you will not be successful. We deal with a lot of different situations on a daily basis where you need to think things through to make sure everyone wins. If you let your ego take over situations, you will not be thinking logically.
I have over 35 years in the aerospace/composites aerostructures world, I would like to take my experience and knowledge in the field and my thousands of contacts and put them to use as a Professional Staffing Type. I have already help place friend with Professional staffing Outfits who promise comissions (never happened) , so I decided I should give it a whirl.
Dave
How do you become a Headhunter?…
Have you ever wanted to become a recruiter or a headhunter but had no idea who to get started? Keep you day job until you read this….