Secrets of the Executive Search Experts [Hardcover]

Christian Schoyen (Author), Nils Rasmussen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

Headhunters have a knack for making "miracles." Out of seemingly thin air they locate star job candidates, folks who rarely materialize using the usual recruitment sources. How do they do it? This compelling book reveals the strategies used by top-ranking executive search professionals. It focuses on the crucially important research process, explaining how to maximize the power of both traditional and online resources. Readers will discover:

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christian Schoyen (London and Los Angeles) is managing director of Executive Search Research (ESR) Limited and has prior experience with two leading head hunting firms, Ward Howell International and A.T. Kearney.

Nils Rasmussen (Los Angeles) is research manager/USA for ESR and is a specialist in online research, the Internet, and corporate intelligence.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814404952
• ISBN-13: 978-0814404959
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,356,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Over hyped & out of date, March 12, 2001

By 

Reader "kpcetal" (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secrets of the Executive Search Experts (Hardcover)

First, to be fair, this book is from 1999. So the fact that recruiting sites like monster.com aren't even mentioned can be blamed on the cruelties of time.

But the rest of this books (many) limitations are harder to forgive. The entire back half of the book consists of descriptions of a number of foreign markets that are on the level of a 5th grade research project: lots of data, most of which is irrelevant, and a few tiny cultural references.

The front half of the book is very pedestrian- I didn't see anything that isn't in any basic 'how-to' of recruiting, much less any "Secrets" of the "Experts". Since the people credited as the authors are from big-name companies I would guess that they had their underlings cobble together some bits & pieces from corporate publications, industry journals, etc. into a book.

Save your money.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only the first 100 pages are useful to U.S. recruiters, November 10, 1999

By 

Daniel Sullivan (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Executive Search Experts (Hardcover)

The book offers an introduction to recruiting, with some good suggestions. However, more than half of the book deals with international recruiting and is therefore not that useful for recruiters dealing mainly with the U.S.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful guideline for recruiters, April 18, 2001

By 

Andrew Garrison (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Executive Search Experts (Hardcover)

This book provided a great presentation of the executive search process. Being a recruiter for the last five years I have been missing a standard in the market such as the one presented in Secrets of the Executive Search Experts. The book was written in a unique way as it combined the best from several search firms such as Korn Ferry International, Ward Howell and A.T. Kearney and thereby created a plain and simple recruitment guideline which was based on the experience of more than 150 recruitment professionals within these firms. The mistake I have seen on most books written about this subject is that it's usually based on just one recruiters experience, which was not the case here. Personally I have not yet found a book that explains the process as detailed as in this book.

I have feel that more info should have been included on trends within the recruitment industry such as where the market is heading within the next few years. More information could also have been covered in the internet section of the book. But, as this was a book about executive search it would be wrong to present to much info on variuos job sites as these are meant for jobseekers, which is another industry than headhunting which focus on the candidates that are not out there looking for a new boss. Bottomline; great book.