It's not what you know but who you know
When I first became a Head Hunter I was completely terrified as I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do. The role sounded glamorous and I flew through the interview process at a rate of knots. The interview process was lengthy but my passion for people and helping them succeed put me in a position to secure the job. On paper I had all the necessary skills and ticks in the box but not particularly in the right order and that is when I knew the learning curve would be steep. But hey " I do love a challenge" and it appeared that so did my employers . One major bonus about my employer was that they had all been through the same situation and knew exactly how to engage those fears. They handled my fear in exactly the same way that they had handled theirs and threw me straight into the deep end. The deep end wasn't the one you imagine in the crystal blue waters of a large swimming pool on your exotic holiday but the one you see in a swamp that is swimming with alligators and god knows what else. Not an ideal training programme but they got results and in my case the right one as I had no intention of being eaten alive in public.
I remember my first day as it is not often that your boss asks you to come to the board room with your personal diary and address book so it sort of stood out a bit for me. She then proceeded to ask me to make a list of all my family members that I could place in a job ????? That is where the first problem occurred! I have a very small family and it extends to 5 people including me and if that was going to be my client base then I was definitely not onto a winner here. Then she asked me to list of all the friends that I call could call who had hiring authority and who might be interested in taking one of my family members on in their company !!! I must admit I was waiting for Jeremy Beadle to pop out from under the table so she could claim her £250 but alas he didn't show up. My heart sank, my chin hit the floor and the tears welled up in my eyes. I know what you re thinking and no she didn't stop there !!! She passed me the phone and said " you have 7 weeks to bring in £18,000 from this customer base" and added " if you can't do this then you will never make the grade as a headhunter" and left the room. I suppose I should have been glad she did this in the boardroom and not in front of the rest of the team as that was the only positive I could see from what has just happened.
Needless to say I did it and learnt a lot from that moment but wouldn't use that process on any person again...I have left that technique firmly behind in the boardroom of 8 years ago as that is where it belongs.
It is comforting to know that I had a good support network then as without those people I wouldn't being doing what I do today. I also believe that your network grows, shapes and changes as you grow and seems to lead you to meet the most extraordinary people just when you needed them the most. For any of you who have read "The Celestine Prophecy" then you will know what I mean.
I really value my network, as you do yours, so if you can think of anyone who might benefit from a career lift or a great job and I succeed in providing that support then I will offer you the chance to take part in our referral scheme....to find out more please email me emma@matchsticks.biz
Have a great week
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