Becoming a Singapore headhunter in Singapore is fairly easy, as long as you have you necessary qualification, a fairly good communication skill, There will be many existing headhunting company willing to hire you.
There is always headcount available for most headhunting companies as this is considered a “Sales” role, which means that you are like a Salesmen serving two types of clients: The companies and the candidates.
Interestingly the lifespan of most of the headhunters in Singapore to stay in one company is usually quite short, a range from 3 months to 8 months on average and after which the same headhunter will be moving to another company. Well I will not touch base on why they moved to another company as this is not the topic I want to talk about hence I will touch on what are the key factors you need to be successful to become a great headhunter. Our definition of successful headhunter is : Ability to close at least 2-3 high level position every month continuously for at least 12 months.
1) Understanding the market – Whether you are a local or foreigner doing headhunting in Singapore, you MUST know the culture, the industry, the pricing and the sentiment of being a headhunter. Read plenty of magazines, go to trade shows and exhibitions. Research who are the competitors, the different types of sector within the industry you want to focus on and not forgetting the “Lingo” the people use. Failure to make preparation will show to your clients and candidates that you are an absolute novice in the industry.
2) A fairly older age – This is debatable and many will argued about it, but you see, if you are a 25 years old chap and you are expecting to work on a headhunting assignment to look for a Managing Director, the fact that the potential Managing Director will not even entertain you at all. Please do not argue that you have some years of experience, yes you may have but the fact is that it usually does not happen that way. As a general guide, put 10-12 years on top of your age on the type of position you want to do. If you are 35 years old, you can work on position that are about 47 years old.
3) A good company brand – If you join a new company, your chances of surviving will not be high unless the company has a realistic understanding that they will not make profit in the next 12 months and you will be given ample time to perform. However, most new headhunting company will give you only 3-6 months to perform, sometime even shorter,,,If the company is not putting any budget on their branding, you will not be successful.
4) Your own branding – Make an effort to create your own website using your own name such as mine which is at www.dougleschan.com, put your face, put all your social network, write about things within that industry and show to the public you are the expert, after some time, you will start to have your own personal fame and branding and you will start get more clients and secure more deals.
5) Good office address: If the company is not located in prime area, you will be judge below par at the first impression, new clients will not give you the business. Period.
6) Excellent communication skills: I stressed to all the students when I was teaching them that communication skills is number one. Without that, you will not be able to get new clients and candidates. What I have done is that I rehearse them with VIDEOS and spot their weakness and work on their strong point, from there, going through at least 20-30 rounds, they will be able to see a great difference compared to the first time they had done the presentation.
7) A never say die attitude – Headhunting is TOUGH, I repeat that, it is VERY TOUGH, many people will fail and only the tough one will survive, after they survived, they will start to gain momentum and eventually become a great headhunter. Hence, no matter what happen, never gives up and let go. Sometime success is just a few inch away.
Good luck in your journey to become a successful Singapore headhunter!
An article by Dougles Chan. The Recruitment Business Guru, A Master Headhunter Singapore. Author of Financial Success in Recruitment Industry & Job Seekers Power Manual. Creator of C-Marketing, V-Marketing, T-Marketing, Market Tumour, and the exclusive training program Recruitment Apprentice.
