Becoming an executive recruiter means being ready for a life of stress where you would have to be totally aware of trends in the labor market and aware of the particular skills required for different jobs or positions. It's not all fun, and requires both dedication and solid planning.
You need to work hard for becoming a headhunter who is appreciated by employers, and you need to plan ahead consistently for future needs. On the job, you would need to be aware of each new project of the company as soon as it passes planning, and assess whether the project would need recruitment of manpower for implementation. You would need to assess the skill sets needed for required new workers as well as the implementation schedule of each project.
For becoming a good executive recruiter, you would need to be in constant touch with hiring managers, as well as firms and contacts that facilitate both direct and lateral recruitment. It is not easy to find and recruit the right people on short notice, but hiring managers often have such needs. And the fact is that only those companies hire an employee for becoming an executive recruiter, which frequently face situations involving the hiring of people with widely varying skill sets, and on short notice.
However, it is the stress and fast pace of decision making, and the challenge of influencing people to take a major decision like that of switching jobs, that attracts many towards becoming an executive recruiter. Becoming a headhunter means having direct impact on the success or failure of projects and business.
Becoming an executive recruiter means you will be directly out there in the front lines, researching, and interacting with potential candidates to fulfill your company's present and future needs. You have to have an eye for judging people and a knack for social interaction and networking. Good headhunters are known to follow the careers of potential candidates for years before reaching out to them or making an offer. Every good recruiter has lists of people who excel in their fields, and keeps tabs on their career growth and personal interests.
Becoming an executive recruiter means being able to think ahead and visualize each proper opening that may be filled by a candidate on your lists, and unless the opening is there, you do not approach the candidate. It takes thorough groundwork to be able to bring two parties together on short notice and lead them to agree across the table, and for that, one needs to work throughout the year. Becoming an executive recruiter does not mean that you work only during company recruitment sessions, but that you work hard every day building acquaintances and working closely with the market.
