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We Don't Need 'em Anyway
Career Advice
Recruiters? We Don’t Need ‘Em Anyway
By Dave Hardie
April 7, 2003
Let’s say – just for the sake of argument – that you don’t want executive recruiters to help with your career. You’re a go-it-alone, do-it-yourself kind of person. Maybe you’re incredibly lucky, and the right opportunities will just show up. Or maybe you just know you will retire from your current company.
Anyway, your objective is to make sure you never, ever get a career opportunity through an executive recruiter. If so, live by these easy and foolproof rules:
- Make sure you don’t have a resume . We can’t help you if you’re not ready to communicate your background.
Some executives think a resume makes them look desperate. Or that not having one makes them look busy or important. In truth, having a resume – or at least a thorough bio – just says you’re interested in your career.
- Make sure your assistant is an impenetrable wall . Nobody likes a power-grabbing assistant, and many of us will not resort to subterfuge.
Recently an assistant made it clear I wasn’t talking to her boss, even though I’ve known the guy for years. Luckily I had his cell number, but others might have called someone else. Why not tell your assistant that recruiters will call, and that you try to help them with referrals? At a minimum, authorize your assistant to put callers into voicemail, where we can leave a detailed (and confidential) message.
- Cancel a meeting that’s scheduled – and the later the better . We absolutely hate to waste our time and our client’s money.
Last year I flew to a city, planning to meet a candidate for breakfast the next day. Unfortunately, his plans changed – a meeting with his CEO had not gone well, and it would reconvene the next morning. Okay, that happens. But he should have done more than ask his assistant to leave a message on my cell phone that evening. Wouldn’t common courtesy suggest a message at the hotel, a message on my office voicemail, maybe even a personal call of apology?
- Exaggerate your credentials . We will check you out, so don’t poison the relationship by trying to slide things by us.
In a recent interview, an executive discussed his college and field of study, many years ago. When I explained that we verify all degrees, he didn’t even blink. But two hours later he called in a panic. He had lied – not only did he not graduate from that university, but he never even attended. Perhaps he changed his resume later to be accurate, but I’ll never call again.
- Play games with your compensation . After all, it’s only money.
We must know your compensation to advise our client … and you. Recently a candidate lumped all kinds of things – such as a retention program and stock options – into her base pay. Luckily, I had talked to enough executives from her company to know the basic parameters, and we ultimately presented things accurately. Lay out everything that’s important to you, but base is base and bonus is bonus. By the way, “I don’t really know my compensation” is a pretty poor answer.
- Have an inflated sense of your qualifications . Nothing makes it more clear that you lack perspective about your career and our client’s need.
A talented executive recently told me he was the perfect candidate for my CEO search at a public company. He could be right … some day. But today’s reality is that he has never held a general management role of any magnitude. A big marketing position was a much better fit, and that’s what he found eventually.
- Go around us to the client . Nothing destroys trust faster or more completely.
I recently met an executive who clearly did not meet my client’s specifications. After spending more than an hour with him, I explained the mismatch. Later he wrote to the client, convinced he could sell himself if he only could bull his way in. The client declined to meet, and now all my partners avoid that candidate too. In fact, his last name has became part of our vernacular – it’s a verb meaning “to pull an unprofessional fast one”.
- Assume you don’t need relationships until you need them . We’re in this for the long haul, and you should be too.
In a very funny episode of “Third Rock From The Sun”, the aliens apply for insurance after totaling their car. After all, they didn’t need the protection while the car was running. Too many executives use that approach with recruiters – they fail to be responsive and helpful until they are unhappy … or until there’s a great opportunity they really want. And they certainly don’t forge the ultimate bond by hiring the recruiter to fill a leadership need.
There you have it – eight rules for doing things without a recruiter’s help. Of course, it’s even simpler if you value our help and counsel – just be courteous, trustworthy, and helpful when we call. In other words, treat us the way you want to be treated.
Dave Hardie is a Managing Director at Herbert Mines Associates, a senior-level executive search firm. He focuses on the consumer products sector, where he worked for 20 years before becoming an executive recruiter. He can be reached at dhardie@herbertmines.com.
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