A Kick In the Career: Heads Will Roll

Headhunter:  Noun

1. A recruiter of personnel 

2. A savage who preserves the heads of enemies as  trophies

                                Source: The Free Online Dictionary

I’ve sometimes wonder how the term headhunter evolved from its violent original meaning into what I do for a living, which is mostly talking on the telephone. I think I’ve figured out how that happened. Let’s face it: if I seek you out in the hopes of hiring you away to a new position, you don’t tell your friends that you have been contacted by an executive recruiter -- you say you’ve been contacted by a headhunter.  Why? Because it sounds so much cooler! 

That’s right, the concept of being pursued by a headhunter gives one much more street cred than simply being wooed by a flimsy little ‘search consultant.’ But what does that say about prevailing attitudes not only business, but also throughout our culture?  It implies that aggressiveness is an authorized, impressive, and respected technique for engaging with a potential new hire. Who would you want working to take your life to the next level: a boring old executive recruiter or someone who, in a previous etymology, commemorated a new, ahem, acquisition by decapitating and displaying it for all to see? Just try walking by that booth at a convention.

This universally accepted perception of what I do does give me a little vicarious thrill. Yes, I know that my website has to identify me as an executive recruiter. Labeling myself as a headhunter on my business card would not look right. The term has a negative connotation for those who want to preserve the respectability and dignity of this profession. But it’s a bit of a smokescreen, isn’t it? We know that everybody likes to call us headhunters, and we know that it is actually far from demeaning. It indicates, far more than any staid little definition of what we do, that we are prepared to come at your career with both machetes blazing, doing whatever is necessary to present you as the prized trophy to your new employer, and with your head still intact on your shoulders. But we are, no doubt about it, taking you into a new environment. We aren’t doing it without losing a little blood, although we end up sweating it.

So please, come to me for all your executive recruiting needs. But tell your friends you’re working with a damn fine headhunter.