Harper's Rules (8 page)

“I have an interview for you. We just need to pick a day that matches everyone's schedule.”

“But why golf? It can't be that much fun for you to see me make a fool of myself.”

“It's not only not fun for me, it's excruciating. But necessary.”

Harper looked behind me and smiled the smug smile of someone whose plan was being executed without flaw. An older man, immaculately dressed, was walking to the practice bunkers with a sand wedge and a small bucket of balls. Harper waved to him, and the man came over to us. They exchanged the obligatory male trash talking, and then Harper introduced me.

“This is Casey Matthews. Casey, Wallace Avery.”

“So you're Casey? Harper didn't say you played golf.”

“Well, it's been a while. Trying to get back into it.”

“My advice would be not to bother. But then, you know what? Once in a great while, one of the little white suckers actually goes where you aimed it, and it's all worthwhile. Nice meeting you, Casey.”

And he walked away. Nice guy. Had a charm about him, a breezy sort of confidence. He was downright sexy, and he had to be close to seventy. I have been alone way, way too long.

“Who is he, Harper?”

“He is the exec VP and a major stockholder in the software company you're interviewing with. InterAnnex Software.”

“That's why we're here? You knew he'd be here this time of day?”

“He's late. I thought he'd be here two buckets ago. Let's go eat.”

I used to think golfers sat in the grill rooms at their clubs in order to recount shots that everyone around the table already saw and to drink rather than go home to their families.

I still think so.

But as Harper and I had lunch and he positioned his micro recorder on the table, I understood what Harper was after by bringing me here. I recognized three of my old customers, presidents of banks I had sold enterprise-wide software to; two IT directors who had run seminars I had attended; and a couple of competitors of my old company. All in the same room, in good moods. Harper lured all of them over and introduced me. He never said I was looking for a job; he never even said what business I was in. None of them recognized me, even the customers I had met several times and relieved of millions of their company's dollars. When Harper found his opening and made it clear I was a client, “a former superstar at SAP,” they gave me business cards and asked for my number.

I had done a month's worth of networking, and all I had to do was sit there and occasionally say things like, “So, who won all the skins and greenies and sandies?” My only gaffe occurred when my cell phone went off at the table. The golf course and grill room were the last refuge from otherwise constant connectivity. I looked down quickly at the number. Peter Bonetti again! How the hell did he get my cell phone? This geek has crossed over from tenacity to harassment. I powered down my cell as Harper cleared his throat and began his chapter.

“So what's the first lesson of finding your own job, Casey?”

“Uh, get a job as a cart girl?”

“Gee, I'm sorry, I thought you were unemployed and needed help. When is open mike night?”

“Okay, Harper, the first lesson, obviously, is you need to leverage your contacts before you send out résumés to people who know nothing about you.”

Harper shook his head and leaned in. He really was passionate about this stuff, even after all these years. Was he this passionate at home, with his wife and daughter? He clicked the power button on the micro recorder without losing eye contact.

HARPER'S RULES
Finding Your Own Job—High Touch and High Tech.

The first lesson in finding your own job is understanding that high touch comes before high tech.

Tactic 1: Before you turn to the Internet postings or the Sunday classifieds, you put your personal supply chain on notice.

Everyone has a personal supply chain. We think of supply chains as things companies have when they want to schedule, distribute, track, and ship product. Walmart uses a vendor supply chain to make product and get it in the stores.

And that's true of every working professional on the planet. You have a supply chain of vendors who have a vested interest in your welfare. If you're like most professionals, you have a supply chain already in place. A travel agent? Personal trainer? Jeweler? Real estate agent? An accountant? A lawyer? A psychologist or therapist? Housekeeper? How about all of your doctors? Your dentist, your vet? The guy who set up your high-def TV?

Every one of these people should be alerted to your need for a job or a future relationship. Any one of these people could refer you to someone who knows someone who might be ‘the someone' who could hire you or fix you up.

“Sorry to interrupt, Harper; I know you're making this up as you go along. But how does telling my housekeeper or the guy at Jiffy Lube help me get a job as a senior sales rep, to say nothing of how they would know the kind of person who is right for me to date?”

Harper sat back stiffly. “You, Casey Matthews, are a snob.” He leaned in toward the recorder again.

Six degrees of separation doesn't discriminate. It knows no boundaries. It has no attitude. You don't know who people know. You think they don't have a sense of judgment because they have low incomes? You think their powers of observation are limited by their station in life?

“Okay, enough. I feel terrible about myself. I will contact my personal supply chain and let them know what my needs are. But it's hard.”

“Sure, because you're proud. How's that working out for you? Let that go and you'll be surprised how much more help you'll get from people and how much more they'll like you.”

I thought of all the nights since the divorce, and more nights since I have been unemployed, when the phone hasn't made a sound. I have made it a lifelong habit to convince those around me I have no needs; they all assume I'm okay. I instantly made a pact with myself to come clean with everyone in my personal supply chain as Harper continued.

“People want to help, but the power of word of mouth has to come from you. You have to be willing to ask the two questions that have made me wealthy: Can I ask you for some help? Who do you know?

Tactic 2: Call your professional references. Let them know that you are active in the job market and ask them if you can count on them for a recommendation.

Do this for
all
of your old jobs. These people could hire you back or recommend you for a position they know about.

It's wise to include colleagues as business references. Do you know why? Because they receive recruiting calls from headhunters like me! Seventy percent of the time they hear the headhunter out and even send a résumé out of sheer curiosity. But they don't take a new job; they flirt. They may even interview, but they turn down the eventual offer. They are the bane of any good headhunter's existence, but they are useful to you. If they have turned down an offer, they feel guilty and want to help the headhunter out. If they know you are looking or have your résumé in their email, you may get a position on the rebound.

Tactic 3: You need to be working with two headhunters that specialize in your niche, market space, or industry vertical.

Why two? Because no one headhunter has access to all the opportunities. But limit it to only two reputable firms.

Never
shotgun your résumé to every headhunter posting you see online. Headhunters, especially those working at the contingency level—they only get a fee when the placement is made and the candidate has begun work—all have the same jobs. You'll dilute your own efforts and become persona non grata.

“So, Harper, you're saying I need to be working with another headhunter besides you?”

Harper clicked off the recorder and glared at me again.

“You're riding Secretariat, love. You don't need to get on the merry-go-round.”

He reached over to click the recorder back on, but I had a question, so I placed my hand over his, and there was a weird moment where we both realized we were touching each other.

“Harper, I know you because you came after me a long time ago. But what about the people who are going to read your book who don't know who the connected headhunters are?”

He pressed the
RECORD
button.

Insider tip to find the best headhunters:

Call the VP of human resources at any of the companies that compete with your last place of employment. The amateur move is to ask them who they would recommend you work with as a search firm; headhunters call HR all the time. But the insider move is to ask them which headhunters they really hate. Who are the ones that try to circumvent them and go straight to the line managers? Who are the ones that have stolen their best people? The headhunters that the human resources people hate the most are the ones you want working for you.

“Okay, you ready? High touch before high tech, tactic four: the big one—the secret of how headhunters get jobs! Learn this skill and you'll never need me or Internet job postings or classified ads again!”

He looked so serious that I had to consider if Harper no longer being a necessary part of my life was something I wanted or not. Without me in job crisis, would he care enough to stay in touch? Before I could decide, Harper pulled out his vibrating Blackberry. He clicked, read for a few seconds, and then shook his head slowly. I have been in sales long enough to know he had just lost a deal.

“This clown is a director of marketing in Redwood City, making 160K. I got him an offer for 240K, but the commute is an hour longer. He's turning it down.”

“Quality-of-life issue, right?” I offered.

“Nah, it's an excuse. He's scared.” Harper signed the check and stood up. “I gotta go deal with this. You know, Casey, that's another way relationships and jobs are the same: If you love someone, you don't tell him he lives too far away so you can't see him anymore. You drive faster.”

“Hold it, Harper. You can't make me keep my cell off while yours was on, promise an interview about which I still know nothing, tell me you're about to share the secret of finding a job, and then ditch me. What if you die on the Merritt Parkway on the way to your office? I won't get my interview, the secret will die with you, and I could be unemployed forever!”

“And . . . there'd be the tragedy of my demise.”

“Oh, right. That too. Give me the PowerPoint version right now.”

Harper sighed and sat down.

“Let's role-play it. You are the senior VP of sales and marketing at a major software company. Your goal is simple: drive revenue. You are sitting at your desk. The phone rings, and here I come: ‘Casey, my name is Harper Scott. Have you heard of me? I'm a headhunter who focuses on your industry; I've built sales teams for your competitors: people like Jake Malcom at Intellivision and Bob Peters at Odeon Systems. I'm reaching out because I've recruited a killer, one of SAP's big stars: a woman personally responsible for scoring accounts like Amex and Deutsche Bank, sales of over 12 million dollars in two years. She is putting out feelers to make a move, and I wanted you to have a shot at talking to her. How did I do in getting your attention?'”

It was strange to realize that Harper had just pitched me to me—even stranger to realize I was impressed.

“That's what you do, Harper? That's how you get your work? I guess I thought it was more glamorous.”

“Do I make smart calls to my network first? Sure. But I still do cold canvassing because it generates new work, keeps my skills sharp, and exposes new niches and trends in the marketplace. Basics, baby. For most headhunters, fifty calls each morning to start the day. It's called ‘prime calling hours with an MPC.'”

“MPC?”

“That's you, kiddo. Most Placeable Candidate.”

Tactic 4: How headhunters get their search assignments, and how you can cut out the middle man and do it for yourself.

Headhunters' Most Placeable Candidates are:

1. Most talented (verified by quantifiable track record)
   
2. Most available and motivated to take a job
   
3. Most skilled in presenting themselves physically (It's a shallow world; what can I say?)
   
4. Most flexible in the way of location and commute
   
5. Most reasonable in their compensation parameters
   

Once they have their list, they gather a list of companies who are most likely, based on your work history, to be interested in your background, and they pitch you by voice mail, live connects, and email, fifty times a day.

And that is Tactic Four. No headhunter should be more effective at doing this for you than you! A headhunter works with many different MPCs and many different search assignments at any one time; you only get a fraction of their attention and time. You just have to have the guts to make the call!

To make your own MPC call, follow these steps:

1. Generate a list of companies (competitors) that should have an interest in your background, based on your last five years of work history. You can use Internet tools as generic as Google or as specific as Hoovers, Broadlook, or Zoom Info.
   
2. Find the line manager you would report to. See if her profile or direct number is on the website before making the call.
   
3. As a backup, you can go to the human resources department . . . but only as a backup.
   
4. You will probably get a voice mail. You must leave a compelling message that is thirty seconds, tops! The goal is a call back, not applause.
   
5. Present your background in a highlight-film format. Three bullet points of accomplishments and achievements. Let them know you are reaching out to a few players you respect and would like to talk to them about their needs.
   
6. Keep the enthusiasm high and the vibe positive. You are not making this call out of need; you are exploring options!
   
7. When they call back, close on an interview. “When can we talk about this live?”
   
8. Don't discuss salary or anything of personal convenience on a phone interview or via email. An MPC's goal is to get an interview.