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Permalink Reply by Michael Sullivan on March 25, 2009 at 8:32am

This post shows to me a great deal of wisdom of doing business in these troubled, or any other, times. It is incredibly difficult to move from a highly competitive model to a collaborative or, god forbid, a collective (semi-socialist?) model. I've heard people talk about it, but how many people have "the actual courage to do it."

Being a recruiter (headhunter?) for the last twenty five years I have seen recruiting go from it's wild west days to a much more mature, perhaps over digitized (and alienated), model For the last four years I have almost worked exclusively with splits where the issues alluded to above are truly pushed to their limits (e. g., trust issues are particularly put to the test). Particularly when headhunter's/recruiters often, or at least used to self identify themselves as "lone wolves."

As much as I like what is said above, and maybe this is implied in the the statement "be flexible", I feel one at all costs try to avoid an absolutist, rigid, all or nothing attitude. Each point, in itself, can be excruciatingly difficult to realize given our cultural, including corporate, conditioning of rugged individualism, an attitude which globalization is making increasingly counter-productive. I don't mean to sound preachy or pedantic, and I feel at an essential level, we are all in this together which the underlies the "the spirit" of the above statement.

Personally I am in the initial process of integrating career/life (and perhaps corporate) coaching into my recruiting practice. This is very challenging and the above principles, if I can call them that, are extremely helpful in moving towards my goal

This is my first posting/reply in this forum and I hope what I am saying is not inappropriate.

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Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on March 25, 2009 at 11:42am

Mike, your final remark was inappropriate. Fretting about a straight-forward comment like yours seems - how should I put it nicely: overly nice and therefore less sincere than I assume you mean to be.

The same phenomenon is seen throughout your comment.
collective (semi-socialist?). recruiter (headhunter?)

You've been in the business 25 years; are you still not certain whether it's okay to use the colloquial term, headhunter? I suspect that in your work as a life coach you do not advise your clients to be so meek and hesitant. Why do it here?

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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on March 25, 2009 at 12:58pm

Michael~

Thanks for commenting here and I appreciate the reference to "Principles." No one said it would be easy. As a matter of fact, I believe we will see a sloughing-off, if you will, of recruiters that can no longer be a "lone wolf." Jason Davis has shared many times about the need for speed in this business. The time for working alone may be in the past because the competition is so great and reqs are being filled in record time because of the incredible collaboration that is taking place.

Programs like Splits.org will continue to evolve and change the pretty face of recruiting.

Best of luck in your own on-going transformation. The coaching side is very rewarding and I suspect the wisdom you have gained over your 25 years will aid in your quest.

~Rayanne


Michael Sullivan said:

This post shows to me a great deal of wisdom of doing business in these troubled, or any other, times. It is incredibly difficult to move from a highly competitive model to a collaborative or, god forbid, a collective (semi-socialist?) model. I've heard people talk about it, but how many people have "the actual courage to do it."
Being a recruiter (headhunter?) for the last twenty five years I have seen recruiting go from it's wild west days to a much more mature, perhaps over digitized (and alienated), model For the last four years I have almost worked exclusively with splits where the issues alluded to above are truly pushed to their limits (e. g., trust issues are particularly put to the test). Particularly when headhunter's/recruiters often, or at least used to self identify themselves as "lone wolves."
As much as I like what is said above, and maybe this is implied in the the statement "be flexible", I feel one at all costs try to avoid an absolutist, rigid, all or nothing attitude. Each point, in itself, can be excruciatingly difficult to realize given our cultural, including corporate, conditioning of rugged individualism, an attitude which globalization is making increasingly counter-productive. I don't mean to sound preachy or pedantic, and I feel at an essential level, we are all in this together which the underlies the "the spirit" of the above statement.

Personally I am in the initial process of integrating career/life (and perhaps corporate) coaching into my recruiting practice. This is very challenging and the above principles, if I can call them that, are extremely helpful in moving towards my goal

This is my first posting/reply in this forum and I hope what I am saying is not inappropriate.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Sullivan on April 21, 2009 at 7:35pm

I really appreciate your feedback. I think you perceive my ambivalence about my total dedication to headhunting at this point in my career. Perhaps I have become too idealistic for this very pragmatic and rewarding field. However, I love blogging (which I just got into), and coaching- just started a blog.
For me 9/11 and the dot com bomb transformed my worldview, following my most productive years.
My reference to collective refers to my local recruiting network in Boston, which is great. I wouldn't say I am meek, but rather sometimes I tend to think when I should act. But when I'm pushed to the wall I will retaliate (too bad I'm not more proactive- I'm certainly trying). I am also tenacious which helps my headhunting . Thanks, again for your feedback. You are a very perceptive person and, my feeling is you are probably an excellent recruiter. Recruiting Animal said:

Mike, your final remark was inappropriate. Fretting about a straight-forward comment like yours seems - how should I put it nicely: overly nice and therefore less sincere than I assume you mean to be.

The same phenomenon is seen throughout your comment.
collective (semi-socialist?). recruiter (headhunter?)

You've been in the business 25 years; are you still not certain whether it's okay to use the colloquial term, headhunter? I suspect that in your work as a life coach you do not advise your clients to be so meek and hesitant. Why do it here?

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