A headhunter I've worked with for more than 10 years who's placed me three times asked if I might want to become a headhunter and work for him. I respect him as a responsible professional. I know he has several employees who have been with him for several years, one for at least 10 years. I had never thought about it before, but I am now. So, I'm wondering: How does a person know if he or she would be a good headhunter?

That's a magic question that search firms would love to have the answer to! It's a question I've asked myself many times over the years. And it's worth exploring because headhunters sometimes hire their own candidates—it's not uncommon.

Here's what I think reveals the makings of a good headhunter.

You must be a good listener who's truly interested in the domain you'd be recruiting in (e.g., IT, sales, finance). You don't need to be an expert in it, but you must be interested in it.

Being an expert in the field can actually be a disadvantage because it might lead you to get into too much detail—so much that you inadvertently start making judgments about matters that are the candidate's and the client's responsibility, not yours.

You have to be able to handle "No." This business is 99.9 percent "No." If you can't bear to hear it and move on, you'll never make it. The key in this business is that you need to hear "Yes" only a few times each year to be very successful. People understand that intellectually, but many can't deal with it emotionally.

You must be able to drop the "I am an expert" wall that can prevent you from learning something new. You must leave your ego at the door. If you're a developer, for example, your software skills mean little in headhunting, especially if you're working with developers. (I know that sounds odd, but remember that headhunters don't program; they place people. The skills are different.)

You probably don't have the skills you'll need, and you must acquire them by working with a good headhunter that you can trust: someone who will take you by the hand and show you how to find clients and candidates and how to close deals.

If you let your ego get in the way, you'll fail. If you can open yourself up to someone else's expertise, you can acquire the sixth sense it takes to succeed in this business. Few can do that.

You must be honest, trustworthy, able to keep confidences, and capable of negotiating for seemingly opposing parties while keeping everyone's interests in mind. This isn't easy, but it's very rewarding.

You have to be patient. You must know when to wait.

You must be a bulldog. You must know when to snap at everyone who's involved in a deal and get them to act when the time is right, because everyone wants "just one more day to think about it."

Finally, you must be able to afford a dramatic career and income change. You can make a lot of money headhunting, but you will make very little as you get started. You must accept the risk without letting it adversely affect your motivation and willingness to work hard to get your business going.

There's more, but I'll leave you with this much to think about. I wish you the best, and I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Nick Corcodilos

Ask The Headhunter®