posted
I'm considering a job offer at an attorney recruitment firm. The pay is ok and people are nice. My basic duty would be to contact attorneys and asking them if they would like to move to a different firm with better hours/pay/benefits.
The firm's partners told me no cold calling is required and we do get a nice base salary of 80-100k. But they were somewhat (if not deliberately) vague on exactly what type of contact we need to initiate.
I've never done any sales before but I do consider myself a people person. I'm a patient and understanding listener. But I am not pushy nor do I enjoy imposing on people's time.
I know there are a couple of sales gurus here (Dan is one if I remembered correctly, and at least one other person here was a telemarketer). How do I know if I have what it takes for a sales position?
posted
"The firm's partners told me no cold calling is required and we do get a nice base salary of 80-100k."
Good lord. This is a nice base salary? For calling random people and asking them to jump ship?
I had no idea that headhunters got paid this well; I always figured that they did it for the love of the temptation.
The whole time they're calling me saying "and the base salary is a very respectable $65K a year," they're secretly laughing up their sleeves at me, thinking, "Gee, sucks to be him."
Look at it this way: even if the job blows, you can make as much working there for two weeks and then never mentioning it again, even on your resume, as many people make in half a year.
But the pay worries me a bit. WHY would they pay me (or anyone) so much to be a head hunter? Like you, I also never imagined that head hunters make so much money. There seems to be a catch....
Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
I have sales experience, AND am willing to move...
Sales in general is OK, as long as there is no cold calling. Also, with that type of job I bet there is an expense accpunt as well, which is always a nice bonus.
On the down side, I would enquire about the amount of time most of their employees have worked there....a high turnover ratio is a sign that their quotas for this type of position are unreasonable.
alos, as mentioned before, ask how long ybefore you qualify for the "base salary", and how long the lerning curve for this job typicaly is, as well as how long the offical trining period is.
I know jobs pay better ion LA, but when adjusted for COL, I bet it is a good salary...but probably close to what they were offering TomD.
posted
Well, if you aren't being asked to do anything fishy, I imagine the job would also be full of nice lunches and comfy travel, plus a nice opportunity to build a pretty solid network. If it does feel unethical, none of that might be worth it.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Thanks for brining up questions about the "qualifying period" for the base salary. I just assumed one automatically qualifies for the base salary, but after read Tom and Kwea's comments I am beginnig to have some doubts.
I don't think there is anything unethical about this job, unless you consider pestering attorneys unethical. Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
Headhunters get anywhere from 20-30% or more of the placement's annual salary paid to them by the hiring firm.
You could easily pay for yourself by getting 3 to 4 placements a year.
It's a little nasty in that you do have to be a bit clandestine in your methods of contacting the prospective placement, but the majority of the job consists of being able to do a great job at networking.
The headhunter we use is a joy to work with both as a hiring firm and as a prospective employee. She is sort of a matchmaker and she knows she's good at her job. The only way to make sure she won't cherry-pick your firm is to hire her yourself.
Posts: 2425 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Headhunters get anywhere from 20-30% or more of the placement's annual salary paid to them by the hiring firm.
Wow is that how that works? I always thought it was somewhere around 10%. Now the salary makes sense.
rivka, I never pictured myself as a home owner. I guess I have to accept the fact that I'm not a college student anymore. Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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Wow is that how that works? I always thought it was somewhere around 10%. Now the salary makes sense.
