5 Tips For Selecting A Dallas Headhunter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 23, 2009 -- Companies and organizations in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, Austin and other business centers in Texas and across the country know that one-of-a-kind and leadership positions are hard to fill. As a result, many are choosing to engage headhunters to help in the recruitment of these key positions.

The question is - with so many headhunters, executive search firms, executive recruiters and search consultants how does one choose the right person or firm with which to work? Below are five criteria to look for in the selection process:

1. Expect Professionalism

Find a headhunter that really understands the fact that you expect to be treated with the utmost respect and highest level of client service. This sounds like a given but after 20 years in the industry you'd be surprised by the stories I've heard.

2. Experience, Experience, Experience

Finding and attracting the best people is more art than science and experience plays a critical role. Always seek a veteran headhunter or executive search firm with a long proven track record and many client references and case studies. In the case of firms with many headhunters, ensure that the person that will be assigned to your search has real experience and he/she is not just hiding behind the reputation of the firm.

3. Safeguard Your Company Reputation

Have you considered how your company's reputation is affected by the candidates who are contacted by your recruiting agents? Often, these people are asked to consider an opportunity within your company, and many of them are invited for interviews with one or more of the company’s representatives.

Unfortunately, many candidates are oversold or misinformed about a particular opening they are asked to consider. Other candidates are not provided meaningful feedback regarding their candidacy, and some candidates receive no communication after an initial contact or even after an interview.

This lack of communication and/or mistreatment reflects badly on your company. You should engage a headhunter who not only protects your organization's image in the marketplace but also enhances its reputation in the marketplace.

4. Customization

A very important position needs to be filled within your organization, and you need to make sure you pick the best person for the role. While some titles, positions, and industries may share similar backgrounds and capabilities, you still have a unique organizational culture. When selecting an executive recruiter you should insist on a custom made search effort designed to address your specific need, not a canned response based on assignments completed for other clients.

5. Off Limits Policies

Off limits policies are simply assurances that the headhunter firm will not recruit people from the client company during the assignment. This policy is usually set for a designated period after the assignment is concluded.

These off limits policies become a challenge with larger executive search firms which may have hundreds of clients. If there are off limits policy agreements in place with most of these clients, then can these firms truly provide a new client with a thorough and objective search? The same problem arises with smaller specialized search firms that have so many clients in a particular niche discipline or practice area that they are also blocked from providing a new client with a thorough, objective search.


About the Author:

Carl Taylor is the president of Carl J. Taylor & Co., an executive search firm based in Dallas. For over 20 years, the firm has successfully completed challenging search assignments for clients of all sizes in Texas and around the country. If you would like more information about this or other executive search related topics, please call Carl Taylor at (972) 490-7697 or email him at ctaylor@carltaylorco.com. The company website is http://www.carltaylorco.com.

More information can be found online at http://www.carltaylorco.com

Dallas     executive recruiter     executive search     headhunter     headhunters     recruiters     texas