How One Recruiter Bills $1,000,000 a Year

How One Recruiter Bills $1,000,000 a Year Recently I was one of 4 judges asked to select “Australia’s Best Recruiter 2013”. The calibre was high, drawing responses from all over Australia and New Zealand. The judging panel interviewed a shortlist of 4, and Peter Murphy, from Davidson Recruitment in Brisbane, was selected as the worthy winner. Peter has an exceptional record in our industry, but I feel he won this award more for his attitude to our business, than his undoubtedly superb billing efforts. I interviewed Peter, and pulled no punches in the questions. He pulled none in his replies, and it’s a compelling peek into the thinking, habits, attitudes and tactics of an exceptional individual in our business. Why do you still love recruitment after all these years? What drives the passion? I love recruitment because a fundamental driver in life for me is to help others. Recruitment allows me to get paid for listening and speaking to people, which I love. I am the luckiest bloke in the world. Each day I go to work I achieve enormous personal satisfaction and fulfillment by truly helping others. I love the stories of every new person, candidate or client, it makes each day a new and exciting adventure, as you don’t know what stories you are going to hear. You cannot succeed in recruitment if you genuinely don’t have an affinity and empathy for people. Tell me about your measurable success as a recruiter in terms of fees and/or placements over the past few years? I have always set myself the personal benchmark of delivering revenue in excess of $1million in a year, which I regularly achieved. A change in focus several years ago resulted in my billings dropping to $500,000 p.a. as I shared revenue with consultants I was mentoring and developing. In August 2012, I returned to a revenue-focused role and have invoiced $500,000 in the six months. My average fee is $30,000 and I aim to make one placement every two weeks, which equates to $780,000 per annum. If you genuinely want to be at the top of this profession you shouldn’t be aiming to bill less than $1 million. Putting dollars and numbers aside, how else do you measure your success as a recruiter? Success has to be measured from both clients and candidates point of views. The reality in the market today, is that clients can find average executives. To be a success, I find them exceptional senior executives who will deliver outstanding results over the period of their employment. With candidates, I judge success through the quality of career advice I provide. I am successful when a candidate achieves career enhancement by being placed in a role appropriate for that stage of their career. I regularly advise candidates that I don’t care whether I place them, but do care that if they move to a role that enhances their career. Turning candidates into clients is further evidence of success, as it is proof that my advice is valued, honest and of assistance. What percentage of your assignments are exclusive (or retained)? How do you achieve that? I estimate 98% of my work is retained or exclusive. I always asked for a retainer, and gain it 90% of the time and use exclusivity as my fallback position. I do not work on contingent assignments. If a client is not willing to commit to working in a true partnership, they don’t value my work and I won’t waste time on an “if and a maybe”. What is the most satisfying piece of business you have ever won or delivered? I hate losing any assignment, as I believe I deliver an exceptional level of service, so each and every win is satisfying. The one freshest in my mind, as a sports obsessed Aussie, is winning the assignment to recruit the new CEO for Swimming Australia. Some Board members believed a Queensland based recruiter couldn’t handle this assignment, yet I convinced them to appoint me to the assignment over large international competitors. This has been enormously satisfying, and it has been a rewarding assignment to know I have played a small part in continuing our proud sporting heritage in swimming. We all get pressure on fees and margins these days. How do you overcome or respond to a client who pushes to reduce your fee? There is always pressure on fees and margins from clients. My first response is to demonstrate the value being delivered. In the end, if a client is only interested in the fee, I will walk away as they don’t value my work, or I will enquire as to which part of my process they want cut. Very occasionally I will provide a reduced replacement guarantee. I believe the industry must change its own mindset to one that values the service and work we deliver. If we as the provider don’t value our work, why should a client value it? If fees are the sole focus it will be a race to the bottom and no one wins. Don’t undervalue what you do. Who do you respect, admire or look to for leadership in our industry?   Do you have any mentors? What’s the biggest thing you learned from them? Greg, attending one of your seminars in Sydney back in 1998 (?) convinced me that this was an industry I wanted to remain in, and impact. I have attended several since and like the consistency and simplicity of your message. I also look for inspiration from mentors outside the industry who will not naturally accept my point of view and look at an issue from a different angle. My father, who is a practising lawyer at 77, has been a significant influence and mentor for me. He has shown me that you must strive for professional excellence, and be prepared to give back not only to your profession, but the wider community. It is from this that I have had significant involvement in charities and was in Nairobi when you interviewed me recently. Two other individuals, Wayne Patterson and Phil Marwedel, are both exceptional mentors, as they are excellent lateral thinkers who advise me to temper my expectations, to be more realistic, and to often adopt a bigger strategic picture rather than a limited self-interested point of view. The biggest lesson I have learned from all is to be true to myself. That is why I love the poem “The Man in the Mirror” (which I carry in my wallet), as it challenges you to look at yourself and be happy with what you see looking back at you!! What do you think the future of our industry looks like?   What are the threats and opportunities? I have been hearing about the demise of the recruitment industry ever since I joined back in 1993. Sure, it has changed and will continue to do so, that is the only constant. The future â€" if you are a true recruitment consultant, and not a transactional recruiter â€" is strong as long as you add value. The sophisticated clients will use external agencies less, but the unsophisticated portion of the market will need assistance and value it, so they will pay. If you are adding value to your client through giving them access to candidates they will not find themselves you are not at risk. However sending a CV and demanding a significant fee for a simple email is unsustainable.   The personal touch, engagement and knowledge will always be valued and well remunerated.

Beware the Outplacement Cookie Cutters! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Beware the Outplacement Cookie Cutters! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Outplacement is a service intended to provide support for people who have lost their corporate jobs. Since the former employer pays for such services, job seekers are sometimes confounded by the actions of their outplacement providerespecially the larger ones. This confusion can be eliminated by reading a 2009 Wall Street Journal article titled Outplacement Firms Struggle to Do Job which noted that Employers say they offer outplacement to protect their reputations, forestall lawsuits and minimize unemployment-insurance payments. Few outplacement companies track their results and virtually no employers ask for any statistics regarding success or failure rates of the job seekers they refer. What does that tell you? One of the biggest challenges in working with larger outplacement companies is the cloning that takes place due to their cookie cutter service delivery models. Job seekers are made to look similar due to rigid processes for dispensing information (group training classes, etc.) and restrictive access to personalized coaching resources. Like many hiring managers and recruiters, I have seen so many mass-produced resumes and marketing plans that I can spot certain companies products immediately. Without your awareness, such cloning of your materials and personal messaging can have a negative effect on your personal brand and job search results. So whats the answer? My first suggestion from Chapter 11 of Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!) is for those who know they will be leaving their job but are still employed: Before you sign your next separation agreement, consider asking “Can I shop around and pick the outplacement services vendor I want as long they stay within your budget?” If they agree, then ask “What is your budget?” This will equip you to go shopping for the best services you can find. For those who are reading this article too late and are currently in an ineffective outplacement program, my second suggestion from my  book is: If you are not making progress in your program or feel you are not receiving proper support, you have a few options which would be reasonable escalations: (1) Ask for a different coach if yours is not helping enough, (2) complain to the manager and explain exactly what you want from them, and (3) if all else fails, recognize that “this is what you get” within the program that was provided free to you and seek out more effective resources such as an independent career coach/consultant of your choosing. Your outplacement is a sunk cost and it isn’t even your sunk cost. You are NOT doomed to look like millions of other job seekers. You CAN change your job search results by avoiding the cloning of your personal marketing materials and your verbal messaging. These items, done properly, can insure your distinctive positive qualities are showcased and recognized! What have been your experiences with outplacement programs? Have you felt like cookie dough in a cookie cutter, or not? Id love for you to share your experiencesgood, bad, or indifferent. Author: Richard Kirby  is an executive career consultant, speaker on career strategies, and author of Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!). Richard Kirby’s earlier experience includes managing engineering, human resources, marketing and sales teams for employers that ranged from a Fortune 100 to a VC-funded entrepreneurial startup. For the past 11 years at Executive Impact, Richard has helped hundreds of executives and professionals successfully navigate today’s transformed 21st century job market and achieve better employment for themselves. Richard’s expertise includes career assessments and goal setting, personal marketing/branding, resume enhancement, strategic networking and job interviewing, and “contrarian” job search methodologies. He is a Board Certified Coach (in career coaching) and a Certified Management Consultant (recognized by the ISO).

Are YOU Still Laboring in Stable Misery Why! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Are YOU Still Laboring in Stable Misery Why! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career One of the great ironies of life is that, while so many of us both fear and dread change, it is really the only genuine, reliable constant in our lives. Some people will suffer almost any indignity and/or inconvenience and go to virtually any lengths to avoid making a change in their livesno matter how miserable they may be in their current circumstances. A job that has become miserable, nearly intolerable, is a good case in point. Today there are literally tens of millions of men and women who say they have become so dissatisfied, so miserable with their jobs, that they would do practically anything to find a new one. Except, that is, actually make a change, or at least make a major change. The cause of such widespread dissatisfaction? Actually, much of it stems from how significant numbers of employees were treated by their employers during (and for some years after) The Great Recession. Here is what I am talking about: While having to witness their fellow employees lose their jobs through downsizing or layoffs, many of these men and women ended up doing not only their own jobs, but also the jobs of two (and sometimes even more!) of the people who were let go. All, of course, for no additional compensation and little if any gratitude for their extra efforts! Not only were many of these surviving employees not shown any degree of appreciation by their employers for their extra efforts, many were treated with either a lack of respect or outright disrespect. Indeed, many were constantly reminded about how lucky they were just to still have a job! Coming out of the recession, in response to increased demand for goods and services, many employers began ramping up production and thereby increasing income. Did this translate into increased hiring to take at least some of the burden off the overworked employees? Well, actually, no. Most companies used the increased revenues to fatten up their bottom lines and continued to take a wait and see attitude about hiring new staff. Some employees who found themselves in such situations have in fact moved on to new, better, more fulfilling careers since the job market began to turn around, albeit still somewhat slowly in some sectors. Most beleaguered employees, however, continue to keep on keepin on. Most are continuing to do what I refer to as laboring in stable misery.' Does this term describe you and your current employment situation? If it does, you might be interested to learn TWO facts: 1.) The Great Recession is over! and 2.) you really no longer have to accept your fate! And thats particularly true if you can count yourself among, and have branded yourself as being among, the TOP candidates vying for an expanding number of jobs in many industry segments. (I am assuming that, since you were among the survivors of the great job washout during the recession, you probably are certainly somewhat above average.) Why the Reluctance to Seek New Career Opportunities? The obvious solution for those still “laboring in ‘stable misery’” would be what? To find a better, more fulfilling job and advance their careers, right? Right! Then, why don’t they? There are a number of reasons: Many of these employees seem to still be suffering from a form of “survivor’s guilt.” They still are buying in to the “you’re lucky to have kept your job while so many others lost theirs. . .” litany. They still believe that there are “no jobs out there.” (Actually, there are now plenty of jobs “out there” today, especially for TOP candidates in a wide variety of key professions. That, however, is grist for another time, another post.) Despite how poorly they themselves were treated by their companies during the recession, many of these employees say they would feel “disloyal” if they even considered leaving for another job! Many employees believe, instinctively, that work is not supposed to be fun or “fulfilling.” And, of course, the list of reasons hardly ends here. It goes on and on. The bottom line seems to be this: For many men and women a known job situation, no matter how miserable it makes them, no matter how utterly awful it may be, is perceived to still be better than an unknown, new job situation, no matter how promising and fulfilling it may be. Without question The Great Recession wreaked havoc with the economy in general and the job market in particular. Those were frightening times for millions of men and women, who either lost their jobs or were forced to survive under vastly reduced employment and lifestyle circumstances. To be sure, millions are still struggling to get back in the game! NOW is the Time for WINNERS to Get Back in the Game! For those who remain so frightened, so intimidated and so professionally paralyzed by bad career experiences during the recession that they won’t even consider how they might now be able to advance their stalled careers, well, there is not much anyoneâ€"including me, of courseâ€"will be able to do or say to convince them otherwise. (As a professional “headhunter,” each and every business day I talk about exciting career opportunities to people who have these exact same feelings and attitudes, and sadly, many show little or no interest.) However, if you are one of those men or women who have been waiting for “just the right time” to get out of your foxhole, to get your career out of the “stall” mode and begin exploring the many new, exciting opportunities that can await you, NOW indeed can be “just the right time”! The job market still is mighty challenging but is nonetheless steadily improving in many key sectors across a wide variety of professional disciplines. Companies that have long been among the leaders in their respective market segments, and that want to retain that preeminent position in order to effectively compete in the worldwide marketplace, are now aggressively seeking out TOP candidates to fill critical positions. If you can demonstrate, in a substantive way, by the use of dollars and cents, percentages and similar quantifiable measures, that you are one of these TOP candidates, the time for you to move is NOW. So, if you have been “laboring in ‘stable misery,’” and are continuing to do so, STOP! Take the time to investigate how you might be able to get your career out of the “stall” mode and headed for the stratosphere! ________________________________________________ This post is a modified excerpt from Skip’s latest book, Career Stalled? How to Get Your Career Back in HIGH Gear and Land the Job You Deserveâ€"Your DREAM Job!, part of the “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets Career Development/Management series of publications. Available NOW on Amazon.com, in both paperback and Kindle editions, at special introductory prices. Going on a job interview soon? Know someone who is? Learn how to ACE the interview the way SuperStars do! Download Skips FREE PDF How to ACE the Job Interview! by clicking HERE.

Pay it Forward Leave Me a Small Business Tip

Pay it Forward Leave Me a Small Business Tip Hello readers! Remember me?  The person who started this blog but never seems to find time to write on it?  Yeah, hi In the spirit of attempting to keep you updated on my life as an entrepreneur, heres a post!  Life has been busy over here at MCG Media.  Im getting comfortable selling my service (which is  SEO Copywriting / Digital Content Creation for those of you who dont know) and Ive finally instated some process and quality control.  Ive been doing some speaking gigs, our website is being worked on and we have a few new clients who are doing awesome things too.  Clients like these always make work a bit more fun! On the event front Were prepping for Ms. Career Girl Connect which is next week, Thursday 3/15, in Chicago.  This quarters event theme is Health Wellness and like every other event Ive hosted-  Im going crazy hoping people will come!  As always, Ms. Career Girl Connect  will have complimentary food, champagne and gift bags. Want a glimpse of what used to be the only free space in my house?  See below.  What a mess!  My fiance is not pleased (AT ALL) with the mess, but I, on the other hand, am totally pumped because over 30 companies have donated to our swag bags and the stuff is great!   Ill link to all the donors in a post before the event. At the event well have a special guest who will be sharing how he lost over 100lbs the natural way! Um.. how/wow!?!  Well also have a panel discussion featuring Stephanie Mansour  (Fitness Realty TV Star and Body Image Coach),  Samantha Borrow   (Holistic Health Coach),  Steph Turner   (Personal Trainer Extraordinaire),  Brooke Schantz, RD Registered Dietitian, Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) and blogger at BitchinNutrition. If youre in Chicago next Thursday, please join us! Register here.  Or, if you want to help us promote the event well give you $5 per ticket sold!  Get your unique affiliate link here. Ok so back to the title of this post- leave a small business tip for me and others Ive written about it several times before being Ms. Independent is a sure way to fail.  Owning a business that actually pays you is NOT something you can do alone. I dont care how smart you are or how much start up capital you have either! Start a Pay it Forward movement and leave a small business tip or word of advice in the comments section below. Id love to get your small business advice because I have a feeling it will help tons of others too.  Even if you havent started your own firm, leave us something your professional expertise will undoubtedly help.  Ive often said yall are my cheerleaders, I want to look back at this post and feel some RAH RAH I CAN DO THIS energy! Heres my little small business tip of the moment In preparation for our Ms. Career Girl Connect event (and in my general pursuit of networking more) I placed an order for post cards, business cards and flyers a few weeks ago.  Perhaps this seems like a lame small biz tip, but for people like me who are constantly printing promotional items, its actually quite useful to have a great  online printing  referral. I always seem to do my printing jobs last minute and on a tight budget.  Usually this means paying crazy rush fees (Hello Zazzle.com and Moo.com) and not having time to perfect my designs. Or, it means going to Kinkos and spending $70 on a few sheets of labels (dont get me started- true story)  I have to say after plenty of printers who have let me down, I got my last batch of promo items from UPrinting  and am VERY pleased.  Below is a picture of a post card and new business card that just arrived!   UPrintings platform to design your marketing collateral is super easy to use if you dont already have files pre-made.  In addition, there are plenty of paper choices which is much nicer than being stuck with one thats  either  way too flimsy or way too expensive. Turns out UPrinting does a lot more than just professional business cards. Does your small biz need door hangers?  Labels for jars? Full size posters? Window clings? Yard signs?  UPrinting can do it.  Pretty cool!  Now Im tempted to go crazy on promotional items!  Um oh yeah that other little thing small business owners have to deal with the budget Leave your small business tips below and well create a little movement out of it.  Im going to book mark this post for some good karma! In the meantime, hope to see many of you at Ms. Career Girl Connect next week! Cheers, Nicole

How to Begin a Career in the Hospitality Industry

How to Begin a Career in the Hospitality Industry Hospitality in conjunction with tourism happens to be one of the fastest growing industries in the entire world.Together they create more jobs each year with an astounding turnover in terms of revenue. This being the case, there is a global need for a large number of people especially those who are proficient in one or more foreign languages in addition to their mother tongue Each of us wants to commence our career within familiar surroundings, around familiar people and skills, preferable closer to our homes, our hometown, home state or within the confines of the country itself, familiarity is kind of reassuring and we tend to stick to the tried and tested.evalWell this is particularly helpful during the early stages of our careers, and is a natural extension of our sheltered school or college life. So far so good, even though the strategy might seem to be working fine for a while it is detrimental to our professional wellbeing in the long run.If we do not aspire for certain things and do not set goals we end up going nowhere. This goes against the grain for the very simple reason that as we go through the motions, life passes us by and we are left in a quandary. We find ourselves in a catch 22 situation.2. Financial GoalsIt is a classic case of use it or lose it, much like using muscles or letting them atrophy. Same is true of brain power that happen to behave much like muscles, use it optimally or else you risk losing the same.As we go through the journey of life, we require to touch base with various milestones, it may be easily understood with learn, earn and then finally call it quits triad, but not before making a decent living and having planned for your retirement.3. A PolyglotWell towards this end you may be required to leave the familiar home port and set sail with favorable winds. And when you leave the boundaries of your native land or your home country one thing that strikes you, that too in a big way is the necessity to be able to communicate wit h the people of your adopted country for the time being.The best thing is to be a polyglot that is easier said than done, the next best thing is to be proficient in a language that is spoken and understood all across the world. Well when it comes to interacting with guests on an international platform, English is the language of choice.You can and must always aim for the sky, and it is entirely possible that you would be able to accomplish the same, and in this case you need to be proficient in the global language that English has come to be recognized as over the centuries especially in the context of hotel and hospitality Jobs with frequent foreign travel.4. Daunting TaskevalFret not if you are not a native speaker or English is not your first language. For some people mandarin or Chinese is indeed a tongue twister and a tough nut to crack, ask any Chinese kid and they will say it as easy as a fish takes to water, or for that matter a duck waddling in water.Do not make it way too complicated, worldwide millions of people do it every day, they are not intimidated by the prospect of familiarizing themselves with a seemingly daunting task of mastering an entirely alien sounding language, instead, they act sensibly and apply the same natural principles that they followed while mastering their very own native language and they come out with flying colors.evalClosing WordsHaving said that, besides mastering your soft skills, you need to get your hard skills in order as well, with requisite qualifications and experience under your beltâ€" you are bound to go places, with attendant perks like travel, culling a huge network of co-workers, friends and various guests as well who could be instrumental in giving you unheard and unimagined leads for your next career move, needless to say a great future awaits you in this ever growing industry with so many diverse career opportunities in allied sectors as well like cruise liners, airlines and many more, always meeting new people, learning new things and earning more money.