Head Hunters (headhunter, employment, compensation)

[tad5117]

Has anyone had success finding employment thru a particular head hunter or agency? My husband will be looking for a job or a career change when we come down. He has worked in brokerage in NYC for 20 years now. He has experience in trading and finance but is open to just about anything. Thanks for any help.

[black_fx_35]

Just a friendly piece of advice... "career change" and "headhunter" don't typically go together. Here is the deal, a headhunter is paid a significant fee to find talented individuals. In today's market, they are still commanding fees of 20-25% of first year compensation. That means, if your husband is looking for a job that pays 100K, the company who hires him through a search firm is cutting a check for $20,000-$25,000 to the headhunter. Obviously a company isn't going to pay that type of cash to find someone who isn't an expert in a particular field (I am assuming he isn't an expert because he is looking to change careers). They are looking for someone who is the best of the best in that field, and worth paying 25,000 bucks to find that talent!

So, set aside the headhunter aspect, and we can discuss the career change for someone who is relocating. I am not saying this is impossible, but it is surely more difficult than if he was a local candidate. Someone looking for a career change has one strike against them (almost by default). Someone looking to relocate with out a job also has a strike against them. Its just too difficult in an already saturated market.

So what do I suggest? Have your husband look at jobs that are 100% aligned with what he has done thus far. What is he an expert at? Look for jobs here doing the same thing. Once he gets here WITH a job, doing what he is good at doing (not doing something new just because he wants to change), and he gets a job with a good organization, it will make it so much easier to do something different in the future when he doesn't have all of these strikes against him. IMO he should look at Trading and Finance roles (Wachovia/BofA???), which will leverage his skillset.

One of the challanges you are facing....both Wachovia and BofA (and many other financial institutions) aren't hiring as aggressively due to poor (poorer than expected) Q1 performance...keep that in mind.

Best of luck with the job search and move!

[Swimmom32]

Right on Mark Blk....

[Ameil]

I suggest that you and your husband look into building a business that creates jobs. That way if people are doing the work for you there would be no need for any more dramatic changes! Moderator cut: tos violation

[Swimmom32]

changing careers in this market is tough, especially with your dh's backround...My dh is in IT on the business side, and does business development and let me say in general Jobs arent as easy to come by as a few years ago, since everyone does the same thing, there is alot of very qualified people looking for jobs who either have lost them, or are moving here or just looking for a new job in general....My dh has 20 yrs experience in management which is what had helped him...I wish your dh alot of luck