Executive Recruiter An executive search consulting company can be a low-maintenance, and lucrative, start-up.
By Mike Besack
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Part of an executive search consultant's job is to findprospects who are happy employees simply looking to further theircareers. But maybe if those on the happy list knew more about thejobs of these "headhunters," they would consider dumpingtheir gigs for theirs.
That is, if this type of career sounds good: working out of yourhome, setting your own hours, being your own boss with practicallyno overhead or start-up costs, helping others become moresuccessful, and enjoying a cozy starting salary of more than$100,000 a year. Appealing? Nah.
Executive search consulting has become one of the mostsolid-and lucrative-start-up businesses you could own,whether you've got a background in HR, have worked forplacement agencies, or have no experience at all and thoughtheadhunting was only for bail bondsmen. Odds are, you'vealready got all the equipment it takes to get started: that is, aphone, a computer and e-mail. "No one even takes faxesanymore," says David Lee, a 30-year-old search consultant inNew York City. "You don't even need paper."
Like many search consultants, Lee started his one-man show,EZDNYC Inc.,after leaving a recruiting job. Lee takes as clients companies thatare looking for a certain type of applicant, and when they findsomeone who fits the profile, it's payday. And with a littlepatience and a lot of hard work, it can be a nice one, too.Typically, a search consultant will make anywhere from 20 to 33percent of the employee's first year's salary. And with nooverhead (outside of a measly phone bill), the money's forkeeps.
According to The Fordyce Letter, the industry's mostwidely read newsletter, the average fee per placement last year wasmore than $15,000, and the average annual billable income forexecutive search consultants was $197,000. Like many in the field,Lee, who founded his company in January 2000, says he cruised pastthe industry standard first year's salary of $100,000.
According to Michael Bloch, a search consultant in Rochester,New York, the amount of money made is proportional to the amount ofwork done. "I don't advertise at all; everything'sover the phone," Bloch says. "Honestly, that's aboutall you have to have equipmentwise. But the key is to have theknowledge of how to do it."
Bloch says being well-organized and having an interest inhelping others succeed are a must, as are constant calls toclients, prospects and references. He warns, however, that inaddition to learning to work on your own, it's also importantto know how to be a salesperson and budget your money. It could bea long time between paydays.
Paul Hawkinson, publisher of The Fordyce Letter, concurswith Bloch. "The failure rate is horrendous in thisbusiness," he says. "It looks easier than it is. Somepeople are not sales personalities, and this is a sales job nomatter how you look at it. It's an easy-entry business, andmost easy-entry businesses are easy-exit businesses."
According to The Fordyce Letter, engineering andtechnical positions are the most popular among recruiters. Manysearch consultants stick to what they know, concentrating on theirown specialties.
Lisa Olson, 29-year-old owner of Mio CreativeSolutions, works from her home in Dallas and focuses on themarketing and advertising fields. Though she started from scratchlike most other homebased search consultants, she had an edge:After one year working for a recruiting firm, her department waseliminated, and she was allowed to take her clients with her.Instead of moving those clients to another agency, she decided toput her five years of recruiting experience to the test and gainedthem as her first clients. Now, two months later, she's well inthe black. "I felt I owed it to myself to give it ashot," she says. "Taking that actual risk is scary, butit just kind of happened for me."
You've Got What ItTakes
Don't worry about overhead. Odds are, you've got the righttools for the job at home already-and most of them youwon't even need:
Multiple-line phone with headset Computer withInternet access and e-mail Voice mail Printer Fax machine(rarely used) Taperecorder A desk, filingcabinet and organizational skills-always used
