Lesson No1/Student’s File

1. What profession/professions are the following quotes about?

a) “… it’s incredibly cut-throat and can be deeply unethical.”

b) “… many people thought of them as pimps (=сутенер), bloodsuckers…”

c) “In this business there are three areas of job satisfaction. The first is the thrill of the chase; it’s a hunt, after all. The second is the thrill of a deal. The same thrill as in investment banking, only a bigger pay-off. And third, … we can feel we’ve actually changed somebody’s life for the good…. Maybe we can help somebody who feels he’s reached a dead end.

d) “It can be very absorbing….”

e) “It’s a very profitable business and sounds satisfying.”

f) “It sounds a rather noble career.”

g) “… it’s a rather silly job. All you seem to do is talk to people, introduce one set of people to another set and take a fat fee for it. It seems, frankly, parasitic.”

2. Read the following definitions.

a) Headhunter=a savage who collects heads of his enemies as trophies (Oxford English Dictionary)=охотник за головами/скальпелями

b) Headhunter=an informal name for an employment recruiter=a person or company who is engaged in the process of attracting, screening, and selecting a qualified person for a job. In most cases the term “headhunter” is synonymous with the formal term “executive search consultant”=a company that specializes in recruiting executive personnel for their client companies in various industries. (Wikipedia)

Dwell on the following:

a) What does a headhunter do?

b) Is a headhunter an in-house or outsourced recruiter?

c) How is his/her job paid?

d) What is their clientele like?

e) What segment of labour market do they work on?

3. Read Text 1and find the answers to the above questions.

Text 1

What You Should Know About Headhunters

Executive recruiters can usher you into the corner office or leave you stranded after the fourth interview. Here's what to expect

by Joseph Daniel McCool

Executive recruiters—or headhunters as most businesspeople know them—are especially influential agents of executive mobility and management-career opportunity.

They are powerful ambassadors of hiring organizations' brands and cultures, and their work lubricates the wheels of corporate growth, change management, and leadership like no other external business advisers. Their actions can shape corporate performance, because they hold the keys to most of the world's highest-paying management jobs by virtue of controlling access to them.

Collectively, executive recruiters network their way to millions of experienced managers around the world each year to identify the most promising candidates. Their judgment determines who deserves to be introduced to client hiring organizations.

The truth is, whether you're building a company or your own senior management career, you can't get anywhere in business without the headhunters.

Candidates Shouldn't Pay to Play

It's important to understand that not all executive recruiters work from the same sheet of music. Theirs is an entirely unregulated business pursuit with no barrier to entry, and given that there are distinct differences between them and other, unrelated parties like so-called executive agents and coaches who would seek to support your career choices, it's especially important that you understand what you really need to know about headhunters.

For starters, you should know that no one in the business of executive recruiting should ever ask you for money to facilitate your next management-level career move. If you've already held a management position, let your experience, credentials, and references do the talking for you. You don't need to open your checkbook to get ahead.

Having now addressed what executive recruiters are not, let's delve deeper into the kinds of executive recruiters who may, if they haven't already done so, reach out to you.

Executive Recruiters

Two types of executive recruiters work from outside the hiring company to facilitate the recruitment of new executives.

The retained executive search consultant is engaged on an exclusive basis by a hiring company to identify and assess candidates to fill senior management positions typically paying a salary above $150,000. These consultants typically recruit for strategic executive jobs and are paid a fee for the search, usually without regard to its eventual outcome. Executive search consultants recruit most of the chief executives and other C-suite leaders for the world's largest companies. Given their deep relationships with hiring organizations, they are acutely aware of which companies are growing, the talent those organizations need, and what they are willing to pay to attract top-notch executives.

The contingency headhunter is contracted nonexclusively and often is in competition with other contingency-fee search firms to identify potential candidates for lower-level management positions that usually pay a base salary of $75,000 or more. Only firms that identify candidates who are ultimately hired get paid a fee for their services. The contingency headhunter is much more likely than the retained executive search consultant to distribute your résumé to as many potential clients as possible because it increases his or her chances of making the right introduction and, ultimately, of getting paid.

A small but increasing number of especially large corporations have entrusted the sourcing of executive-level management candidates to their own internal sourcing teams. That means an initial recruitment call may come from a member of a corporate executive staffing team (essentially an in-house management search unit).

Running the Interview Gauntlet

Whether you're initially contacted by an internal staffing coordinator or an external agent, you should expect to answer questions about your background, credentials, and management experience so the recruiter can gauge whether you should be a candidate for the open position.

If the headhunter thinks you're deserving of a shot at the job and a good fit with the hiring organization, you'll likely be invited to engage in either a follow-up telephone interview or a face-to-face interview at the headhunter's office or at a public venue, such as a hotel lobby, club lounge, or private conference facility.

If you pass their litmus test and meet the requirements for the job, you may be invited to interview with the client hiring organization, which represents your first real interaction with your potential employer.

It's important to remember that the external recruiter is paid by the hiring organization. The recruiter's interests lie in closing the search assignment to the client's satisfaction, not yours. Sure, the headhunter wants to orchestrate a mutual engagement process that gets both you and the hiring company to fall head-over-heels in love with one another. But at the end of the day headhunters represent and are paid by the hiring company. That may explain why far too many management job candidates are left at the altar of the executive search wondering—without a clear answer from even some of the most influential headhunters—why the courtship didn't result in an offer of employment.

Joseph Daniel McCool is a writer, speaker and advisor on executive recruiting

From Bloomberg/BusinessWeek

4. Match the following words and word combinations from the above Text with their definitions.

to be stranded	to be subject to the same rules; to play by the same rules
by virtue of smth./doing smth.	a high-ranking manager in a company
a judgment	the first of a series of facts, questions, opinions, etc.
to work from the same sheet of music	unable to move from the place where they are [= stuck]
for starters	an opinion
an executive	by means of smth.
to open a checkbook	to asses
to delve into smth.	top/senior/executive (leaders)
C-suite (leaders)	to try to find more information about smth.
top-notch (adj.)	one detail that is examined in order to help you make a decision about how suitable or acceptable someone or something is=лакмусовая бумажка
to run gauntlet	to suddenly start to love smb. very much=влюбиться по уши
credentials	the period of time during which a man and woman have a romantic relationship before marrying
to gauge	to pay
a public venue	smth. of the highest quality or standard
a litmus test	a place where people gather
to fall head-over-heels in love with smb.	to be criticized or attacked by many people
courtship	smb.’s education, achievements, experience etc.