Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters [Paperback]

Darrell W. Gurney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

WANT TO BE A HEAD ABOVE THE REST?
THIS BOOK SHOWS YOU HOW!

Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters, by Darrell W. Gurney, Certified Personnel Consultant and 14-year search industry veteran, de-mystifies the world of executive search. This empowering and witty guidebook exposes the inside workings of the recruiting industry so professional job seekers can reap the most rewards from this viable avenue of career transition. Far from self-serving, it gives both the scoop and the poop on the business of executive search. Headhunters Revealed! shines a light on a dark and mysterious world to reveal tips and techniques for commanding the attention, and even "career partnership™," of professional recruiters.

In today's frenetic and ever-changing employment e-world, perhaps the recruiter remains the best long-term booster for a person's career. But, recruiters can't "place" everyone. Some estimate that only 10-15% of those utilizing search firms actually land a job that way. Though the best professionals in any field (the top 15-25%) are always more "marketable" from a recruiter's perspective, the truth is that anyone stands a better chance of being placed if they play the game right.

This book teaches the game: how to differentiate the wizards from the rogues of recruitment; how to play placement "politics;" how to design one's resume for today's computerized databases; and how to enlist the equivalent of one's own lifetime Hollywood agent -- a "career manager." Chock-full of resources, any career professional will benefit from having Headhunters Revealed!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Friendly, concise...a welcome resource. Gurney explains in upbeat, chummy prose all there is to know about the recruitment process." -- Publishers Weekly

"Gurney reveals why recruiters exist and what they do...and offers Web-savvy tips throughout." -- American Library Association's Booklist

"Most narrow-niche recruiter books fail to provide simple, meat-and-potatoes directions to develop career-productive relationships...Headhunters Revealed! is an exception." -- LA Times Syndicated

"One guide to stock up on, ...offers clear advice on the best way to find a recruiter/put them to work." -- PW Daily

"Topflight recruiting authority...explains why, given a choice, you should remain gainfully employed until you find your next position." -- LA Times Syndicated

From the Author

Excerpted from the Introduction to Headhunters Revealed!:

The purpose of this book is to empower working professionals to reap every bit of potential career support from the executive search profession -- and to protect and enhance your self-esteem in the process. Securing your right livelihood is an intimate activity of paramount importance, and it is easy to take everything personally. However, getting the most out of a headhunter means knowing how to manage that relationship professionally. Most of today's professionals have interfaced with a headhunter: some have contacted a recruiter for assistance, some have been recruited, and some have been "placed" -- more than once! But there's little awareness of how to milk this free service for all it's worth-not just for a quick job, but for lifetime career management™. Professionals don't know exactly what headhunters do, why they do it, or how the search industry can best help them. Yet such understanding can impact success with recruiters -- and, therefore, a successful career.

Here's an insider's perspective of the business of placing you in business. I hold nothing back -- no trade secrets, no hidden agendas. My purpose is to give it to you straight in order to foster more open, sound partnerships between career-changing professionals and those in the recruiting business. The idea is this: when you know how headhunters operate, it will not only make sense, but you'll join them at the controls -- for your own best interests.

Happy Hunting!

Darrell W. Gurney, CPC

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Hunter Arts Pub (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967422906
• ISBN-13: 978-0967422909
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,299,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Darrell is the Founder of CareerGuy.com, an Executive/Career Coach and a 25-year career-industry veteran. He supports people at all levels to make profitable work transitions or create thriving businesses. He is the author of the award-winning "Headhunters Revealed!Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters", which may be the only self-published book ever reviewed in Publishers Weekly,as well as his newest, highly-endorsed book, "Never Apply for a Job Again: Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest". A personal and business brand strategist, his Stealth Method for networking has helped folks expand their reach within career paths and new client circles. He speaks for various organizations on natural and non-lethal networking and leads workshops and programs to transform career possibilities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A job-seeker lifeline, May 13, 2002

By 

Carothers Consulting Associates (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters (Paperback)

In a turbulent economy with continuing waves of unemployment, Darrell Guerney's book is a lifeline for new job-seekers and those in career transition alike. Headhunters Revealed offers concise, practical advice on how to search and assess professional recruiting firms. The checklists at the end of the chapters provide organizational incentives for those starting struggling with the job search process. Guerney writes with a bright, accessible style, but always with an underlying empathy, honesty and concern for both the headhunter and the client, stressing the value of the individual and the value of the work. The quotes,from Desiderata to Drucker add perspective and humor. An excellent resource. I recommend it to my own clients.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Perfect, but a very good resource nonetheless, September 29, 2003

By 

Jonathan Lee (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters (Paperback)

While, as some of the previous reviews note, this book is guilty of dispensing some fairly obvious information (the most efficient headhunters have computers, for example) and the hypothetical exchanges featuring a fictitious headhunter and some fairly heavy-handed humor do little to keep you turning the page, if you evaluate this book strictly on the usable information contained, it is a very good value.

Inside information, such as how to increase the likelihood that your resume will be read and how to format your resume for cut and paste email are two items that I do not recall seeing elsewhere and are very much on point for an effective career search campaign.

If you look past the "humorous" vignettes (as Gurney actually is an effective and witty writer otherwise) and I found this to be that fairly rare commodity that delivers what it is supposed to.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drop kick me, D.G., through the goalposts of a great search!, December 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters (Paperback)

Darrell Gurney is an amusing writer, who judiciously utilizes humor at a time when many of us need it the most: "Ugh! How am I ever going to find a job in this economy?" Well, if you "walk the talk" this book serves up, you're halfway there.

As a child I was told, half in jest, that the mark of an intelligent person was his or her ability to follow directions. The first step is: BUY THIS BOOK. The second is stick to the program -- this guy definitely knows what he's talking about.

Remember, you can lead a horse to water, but the hard part is getting the bathing suit on. Darrell helps you through the hard part --- what more can you ask for?

p.s. I look forward to another book by Darrell Gurney. I have no doubt that when you hit the playing field with Darrell as your coach, you'll score touchdowns you never imagined.