Confessions of a HEAD HUNTER.

Rainforest headhunters decapitate their human prey and preserve the assorted skulls as trophies. Corporate headhunters may cope with crania more compassionately, but their methods still can be pretty ruthless. After all, it's a jungle out there.

We won't say all headhunters are Boy Scouts. Some have been known to double-bill for travel involving two clients. Some are so-called "ratcheters" who try to raise a proposed candidate's salary so they, in turn, will receive a higher commission. Some are "stoppers" or "lobbers," shooting a few resumes over to a corporation when they learn another search firm is up for an assignment, hoping to land the business. Still others are "resume floaters," who just distribute resumes on the off chance that they'll score. It's no wonder, then, that we've also been called body-snatchers and pirates.

So we acknowledge the existence of some bad apples. But most of us are professionals who subscribe to the Association of Executive Search Consultants' code of ethics (visit www.aesc.org for a member list). And we want to come as close to perfection as we can when matching a candidate to a company. That's why we're sharing the benefit of our experience with you.

Part I: If a Headhunter Calls For You

If one day your phone rings and the person on the other end says he's a headhunter, here's your to-do list.

There are two kinds of corporate headhunters: retained and contingency. A retained headhunter usually is paid by a company year-round, regardless of whether the company is searching. Thus, a partnership develops between the headhunter and the client firm. When a client firm needs to fill a particular position, the retained headhunter is the only one working on the search. His or her attitude toward job-seekers is, "Don't call me; I'll call you."

Headhunters who work on contingency are paid on commission, job by job (typically at about one-third of the final candidate's compensation). Like realtors with a multiple listing, they're the ones who cast a wide net in the hope of catching something. They don't have the same in-depth relationship with the hiring firm, so the contact is more impersonal. And since contingency headhunters are all fighting over the same pool of potential candidates, the pace is more frantic.

So make sure you know your caller's position. You can do a little reconnaissance in The Directory of Executive Recruiters (fondly known as the Kennedy Red Book) published by Kennedy Information. It's a standard reference that lists recruiters by whether they're retained or on contingency; by geography; by specialty area; and by salary range for the positions they fill. Entries are voluntary.

Look up your headhunter's specialty areas. Ask your friends and colleagues whether this person recruited them and, if so, how the transaction went. There's nothing like a good recommendation from somebody else.

Remember: Recruiters can be very friendly and charming. But they're paid by the company doing the searching, so don't relax too much and don't tell them anything you don't want a potential new employer to know.

The other side of the coin, though, is that you never want to burn your bridges by turning away a headhunter. Be friendly and charming back; you always have the option to refuse whatever they're selling. If you're not interested in the position (it's in Chicago, say, and you don't want to move from Los Angeles), it still pays to invest the time in learning about it, because you always want to know what's out there. But if you do say no, try to recommend someone else for the position; recruiters remember when you refer quality people and network with them - and they'll probably call back when they have an opportunity they think you'd be good for.

And it's always helpful to have one or two recruiters in your back pocket; the employment landscape shifts so quickly, you never know when you might need them.

If You're Doing the Hunting

Though it generally doesn't hurt to cold-call a headhunter if you're looking for a new job, you may need a referral to actually get through. Many retained firms discourage cold calls due to the volume of outgoing contacts they make every day. If you can't get through, don't be a pest. Same goes for e-mail. Even a small firm can get upwards of 50 resumes daily.

Keep in mind that there's a fine line between being assertive and appearing desperate. If you're qualified and the firm thinks it has something for you, it'll contact you. If not, it'll put you in a database and call when something comes up.

And despite all the skill sets, state-of-the-art resumes, sparkling interviews and spit-shined shoes in the world, it's the candidate who has chemistry with the CEO and who shares his or her vision who's going to get the job.

Part II: Fending Off Raids on Your Staff

There's no way you can be sure your employees don't connect with a headhunter, but you can set some obstacles in their path.

Train the receptionists and administrative assistants in your office to screen calls for potential headhunters. Have them ask who's calling; headhunters frequently say, "It's personal."

Researchers for headhunters have salesman-like personalities and are good at extracting information. One key for them, though, is getting past the telephone screener. When a researcher calls on a name-gathering expedition, he or she may engage in what's known as rusing. The researcher may, for example, pose as a student doing organizational research, and ask for names, titles and organizational charts. In such cases - especially in the IT department, where there's tremendous demand - train the people who answer the phone to say, "We're sorry, but we're not allowed to give out that information."

The bottom line here, though, is proactive retention. People will be less likely to listen to the siren song of a headhunter if they're happy where they are. So take surveys, keep your ear to the ground and treat your employees well. Some firms have gone as far as committing resources to retention by hiring a manager of retention in the HR department.

In other words, the best way to fend off a headhunter is to create an atmosphere in which people want to work for you.

Headhunter's Glossary

Here are some terms to help you sling the lingo like a pro.

Blockages: Places where recruiters can't look for candidates to fill a position. Usually refers to corporations that are off-limits because they are, or recently have been, clients of the search firm. Cf. Candidate blockages: Candidates who may or may not be considered for a position because they are active candidates in another search.

"Con-tainer" search: Fee arrangement that combines elements of retainer and contingency methods of payment. Usually involves an initiation payment and progress payment(s) that may not be refundable, with a "success" or "completion" portion due only on actual hiring.

Fallout: Term popularly used to describe the following condition: After a placement has been made (or during the assignment), the client decides to hire one or more additional candidates who surfaced and were recommended by the recruiter. Some search firms demand full fee for each such additional hire; others will not accept a fee. Most frequently a matter of negotiation dependent on the time frame, client relations, etc.

Greenlighting: When companies merge, this is the signal given to a manager to start looking for a job, because his counterpart in the other company will assume his role for the combined firm.

Leaving money on the table: Outside search consultant's lament when placed executive gets higher first-year compensation than was estimated and fee was fixed, not percentage.

Stalking horse: A candidate submitted relatively early to test, confirm and fine-tune specifications. Not a uniform practice and frowned upon by some as unfair to the candidate.

Stick rate: Term sometimes used to describe effectiveness of executive-position matches, whether through search or otherwise. No real statistics yet on whether searched executives last longer in new posts. Not to be confused, however, with success rate (i.e., underperformers can sometimes stay in the job for a long time!).

Unbundling: Separating the key elements of full search and offering them individually, i.e., research, interviewing, etc., sometimes "demanded" by aggressive clients, sometimes offered aggressively by entrepreneurial recruiters seeking additional revenues.

- Source: The Directory of Executive Recruiters 1999