One (More) Headhunter “Secret”: “See Me”

An Ifugao warrior with some of his trophies; I...

There are “secrets” in the executive search trade that anyone who hopes to be headhunted (or hire a headhunter to fill an opening) should know.

A set of 10 tips are here; another 7 more are here.

Here’s an 18th tip: what you do in the search process can stick with you for a lifetime.

While the world is incredibly small – Wendy Yanowitch’s saying that “The world is made up of (just) six people and lots of mirrors” is pretty true- what you do in the search process or even what you do outside of the search process can find a home in any record a search firm keeps.… Read the rest

Are You Interviewing the Candidate or Just Checking Their Pulse?

The interviewer with a candidate at the Starbucks in Hong Kong Central seemed nice, bright and engaging.shutterstock_117963070

She was, unfortunately, conducting a train wreck of an interview in front of me; when she asked early on, “You’re not a micromanager, are you?” I thought she was a goner.

When the candidate smiled, said “Of course not” and she smiled back, I knew she was dead on arrival,

She had just confirmed that the candidate had a pulse and an IQ (e.g.Read the rest

Mostly in the Wording: When Would You Like Me to Start?

I had coffee with a colleague I’ll call Andy; he’s got a problem.

You might have the same problem too.

Subject? How to (finally) get an offer from a firm that’s been courting him for  10 months. Position scope change, multiple lunches and interviews, headcount freezes and freeze liftings have all come and gone without “the offer we’ll be giving you” actually happening.… Read the rest

Hiring Season: Can I Be Asked If I’m a Gamer?

Yes. No. Maybe?

You can tell when the economy’s improved because there’s an uptick of interviews. More experienced managers revisit what they’ve done before that’s worked well when hiring and novice supervisors surface this season’s new crop of oddball, silly questions.

“Can I be asked if I’m a gamer?” will likely be one of the tamer examples.

Candidates invariably want to know what can be asked.… Read the rest

Should You Hire Your Own Boss and Other Mistakes

Like dipping into the summer water of Northern California (Wow! Pretty cold!) if you’re teaching someone to swim in the San Francisco Bay, I spend time for the executive and career coaching part of my work with recruiters, executive search consultants, and sometimes applying for jobs.

How else to know how the job market works if you don’t experience it first hand?… Read the rest