Headhunters and How to Use Them

By N Garrison Jenn

Allen & Unwin, 2005

$59.95

This guide for organisations and individuals provides a clear overview of the executive search market, with specific guidelines on using headhunters – or executive search consultants – effectively.

Garrison Jenn shows how to choose a suitable firm from the thousands available worldwide and how to use them to best advantage whether you are looking for a new employee or a new job.

The author provides insight from initial client meetings, letter of engagement, writing a job description, to running through the search firm’s database and external research, screening potential candidates, interviewing and shortlisting.

She also takes an international perspective showing why the more senior the position, the more inclined companies are to engage a headhunter. As a result individuals and employees, particularly experienced managers hoping to progress, will find the chapter offering advice to candidates very useful.

There is a handy chapter dedicated to leading executive search firms worldwide. However, this section is hard to navigate. The absence of an index is also a shortfall in this well researched but sometimes hard to follow book.