Table Of ContentMore Praise
for‘Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets
“I’m the author of Guerrilla Marketing for Job hunters 2.0 and the Wall
Street Journal labeled me the ‘Rogue Recruiter’ because of my unconventional
tactics. Well unconventional is now the new NORMAL so step up. I am an
industry `insider’ and I’m telling you Skip’s book nailed it.
“Skip tells you in hard-hitting, straight-to-the-point language, how to position
yourself to win this new game.
“As a ‘headhunter’ who’s completed more than 1,000 assignments for every
position from entry level to CEO, I know what it takes in 2010 to get a candidate
placed. Skip does too. This is not another ‘me too’ book. It contains the
relatively unknown techniques we use as headhunters every day to place people,
and Skip clearly tells you how to employ them for yourself.
“‘Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets is a MUST read. Ignore it at your career peril!”
David Perry, Co-Author, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0
“Skip has expertly identified that a quantum shift in the rules of the hiring
game occurred in 2009. Play by the old rules and be penalized. Play by the new
rules and get hired. Adding the three-point shot to basketball in the ’86-’87
season changed the game forever. The same thing happened in 2009 for getting
hired.”
Pat Scopelliti, Consultant to the Executive Search Industry, Awarded Best
in Class Consultant 2009 by MRI Network
“A high-octane, must read for every job seeker.”
Dale Collie, President and CEO, Courage Builders
“An extremely practical handbook that will empower you for the life of your
career! Most of us will be looking for a job at some point in our careers.
Everyone needs to get a copy and keep it as a handy reference manual.”
Brent Darnell, President & CEO, Brent Darnell International, author of
The People-Profit Connection: How Emotional Intelligence Can Maximize
People Skills & Maximize Your Profits
“Skip’s ideas are impressive, backed by years of experience and clearly not
commonly practiced. This book will not only open your eyes, it will also change
your whole perspective on your job search.”
Shelly Rosenberg—“To the Point” Editing, Proofreading and Resume
Services
“Skip’s book provides an abundance of real-world experience and perspective
that both new college graduates, as well as all job seekers, really need. I highly
recommend it!”
Ellen Cross, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management and
Entrepreneurship, Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University
(Georgia)
“Most people now change jobs every three to five years. Having excellent job
change skills can make the difference between success in life and financial ruin.
‘Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets is an outstanding guide to the ‘inside game’ of the
new world of job search success.”
Mike Seagraves, Creator of the award winning “Mastering Executive Job
Change” workshop series
“I just finished reading ‘Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets for the second time. It
contains powerful guidelines for navigating the new hiring landscape. In this
new decade you never know when you will need it.”
Bob Hayllar, Co-founder www.jobchangecenter.com and
www.jobnetworkingcenter.com
D
EDICATION
This book is dedicated to the men and women worldwide who have valiantly
struggled through the worst job market since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
If this book helps just one person regain employment, or helps someone pursue
the job or career of his or her dreams and desires, then I will consider it to be a
tremendous success!
A Special Thanks
This book involved the efforts of a great number of people. Many people gave
selflessly and freely of their time and made the effort to provide invaluable input
and remarkable insight regarding the published product. The suggestions they
made for improvements, clarifications where needed, as well as a whole host of
other extremely helpful, valuable information added immeasurably to this book.
I want to thank each and every one of them for their assistance.
Everything we do in life is, in essence, sales. I want to thank my good friend and
colleague, Paul Jensen (CEO, HALO Maritime Defense Systems), for his
influence in encouraging me to go into the profession of sales. Job hunting is
sales, and as Paul emphasizes, “Hope is not a strategy!” One must learn, follow
and implement a successful process. His strong influence and powerful input
into this book will help all job seekers in this or any economy.
Caroline Taylor Player and Tiffany Norman (Career Services, Georgia Tech
Alumni Association), spent valuable time providing relevant input that will
certainly increase the probability of job seekers more strongly positioning
themselves as top candidates for consideration by a hiring company when they
apply the concepts. Ellen Cross (Senior Lecturer and Professor, College of
Business, Kennesaw State University - Georgia), provided validation that the
“real world” examples and guidance in the book will help new college graduates
immeasurably. Caroline, Tiffany and Ellen give unselfishly everyday to dozens
and dozens of students and alumni and I want to especially thank them for their
selfless service.
George Thornton (a recent job seeker) provided inspiration to publish the
book when he told me in an unsolicited email, “Skip, you don’t know me but I
just got the job I wanted and I have you to thank in many ways. I bought your
eBook, followed the principles and scripts throughout your book, and was able
to find the right answers when I needed them most. Very cool! Thanks again.”
Shelly Rosenberg (To the Point, Editing, Proofreading and Resume
Services), who has helped a number of our candidates craft resumes with impact
and stand out from the crowd, stated after her review, “I work with job seekers
every single day and I am here to tell you, most of these concepts are not
commonly practiced. You need to get this book out there sooner rather than later
in order to get this information into the hands of as many people as possible.”
George and Shelly, thanks for the inspiration.
Human Resources is involved in all corporate hiring at some point in the
process. Both Tim Schira (VP of HR, MetoKote Corporation) and Buddy
Key (VP of Talent Acquisition, major engineering firm) are involved in
hiring people almost every day. I want to thank both of them for their powerful
suggestions that were incorporated into the final product. Their suggestions will
help the readers of this book to more effectively apply the secrets to truly
differentiate themselves from other job seekers, a critical factor in successfully
landing a new opportunity today.
Tom Koentop (a colleague with Lee Hecht Harrison, a Worldwide provider
of outplacement services) has been involved in successfully coaching
candidates every single day for the past seventeen years. Tom’s review
confirmed that this is a guidebook that will add value to the marketplace and not
be just another “me too” book. Tom helped us refine some points and affirmed
that the materials contained within provide a solid guide to today’s job seeker in
this vastly different hiring environment. Thanks, Tom, for your help for today’s
job seeker.
Recruiters work with candidates and clients all day every day. Two exceptional
coaches and trainers to the recruiting industry, Scott Love (President & CEO,
Great Recruiter Training, High Stakes Achievement and game theory
expert) and Pat Scopelliti (sixteen-year consultant and coach to the
recruiting industry), provided powerful suggestions for further refining how a
recruiter’s techniques can be directly and effectively modified by job seekers to
position themselves as TOP candidates; in other words, how job seekers can
become their own “headhunter.” Today, many job seekers, either directly or
indirectly, owe their success to Scott and Pat and we all thank you.
Hillary O’Keefe of www.indeed.com took valuable time to provide additional
tips and information relevant to all job seekers, enabling them to differentiate
and separate themselves from the pack. Her recommendations have already
proven to be invaluable to many job seekers we work with. Thank you, Hillary.
Dale Collie (President & CEO, Courage Builders) is somebody everyone
should get to know and you can get to know him by signing up for his
“Courageous Leadership Tips” newsletter at www.couragebuilders.com.
Whether you are employed or unemployed, today’s world is stressful. His book,
Winning under Fire, teaches all of us how to turn stress into success. Dale shared
some very compelling thoughts with me as he reviewed the book and we wove
them into the text. We feel these will indeed help you “win under fire.” Dale,
you are a true inspiration. Thank you.
“All things being equal, the people who excel in the workplace and beyond are
the ones with higher levels of emotional intelligence.” Colleague Brent Darnell
(President & CEO, Brent Darnell International) has had a profound influence
on the direction of our book. Looking for a new job/career opportunity is not
only stressful, but emotional. Brent’s work in the field of emotional intelligence
weaves itself into the very fabric of networking and a successful job search
campaign. Brent, thank you for your input and for the help it will bring to many
job seekers.
Mike Seagraves, creator of the award-winning “Mastering Executive Job
Change” workshop series, and Bob Hayllar, Co-creator of
www.jobchangecenter.com, offered their many years of experience in job
change success to help us not only bring this information together in its final
form, but to get it in front of as many people as possible who can use this
information. Bob and Mike, thank you for your ongoing support.
And a very special thanks to my Princess who gives me inspiration.
© Copyright 2010 by Skip Freeman. All rights reserved.
Except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews,
no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
taping, or by any information retrieval system, without the express, written
permission of the copyright owner.
FIRST EDITION
Also available as an eBook at http://www.headhunterhiringsecrets.com
ISBN: 978-0-615-34621-2
E-Book ISBN: 978-1-61789-245-5
Printed and published in the United State of America.
Library of Congress registration pending.
Edited and designed by Michael Garee
Cover design by Michael Little, University of Alabama
All photographs and illustrations used in this book, including the cover
photograph, are licensed for use by www.istockphoto.com.
The “Rag Man” drawing © Syd Yeager and used by permission.
Legal Disclaimers: The views, opinions, comments and suggestions in “Headhunter” Hiring
Secrets are strictly those of the author and not of any company or individual who may recommend or
endorse this book. Also, no portion of this book is intended to be construed as legal advice. The
information presented is based upon years of experience and observation of how the hiring game is
played and is intended only to provide you with additional options for consideration in any current or
Description:Find your next job like a headhunter does! I’m a headhunter of 15-years. Back during the recession, every interview counted. You couldn’t afford to make a mistake when you had a shot at one of the very few jobs available. To help the candidates I was representing, I created a manual to guide the
