A career in executive search might not have crossed the minds of many people. There are various misconceptions about the work we do.

Some of these are:

• It is simple work – what can be more difficult than matching key words in CVs and job requirements?
  
  
• It is boring and unchallenging – all that recruiters do involves meetings and phone calls.  There are hardly any hard skills needed to go beyond the limited scope of work.
  
  
• It is a HR role – recruiters essentially deal with human resource matters and can hardly develop any other skill sets outside of HR work.
  
  
• It is mysterious and unfathomable – headhunters work in a discreet and low-key manner, and it is hard to understand how they source for candidates or even to make a successful placement.
  

However, the truth about executive search is it is:

• Not simple work.  Matching keywords can only take a recruiter as far as what a search engine or computer can do.  To be a successful recruiter requires one to be self disciplined and well versed on the job roles he or she is searching.  Job matches typically go beyond what a written CV says, and recruiters have to be able to pick up what lies between those lines to get the best job fit.
  
  
• Not a mundane job.  There are a host of variables involved in the job of a recruiter and no two days at work are identical.  Along with the interesting (and sometimes difficult) people whom recruiters meet with on a daily basis, this job requires someone who is able to think out of the box and to come up with creative solutions.  Things get even more exciting as one approaches a successful job offer, where negotiation and influencing skills of the recruiter become all the more critical in closing the deal.
  
  
• Not a HR role.  Many successful recruiters do not have any formal HR training or experience working in a HR field.  Rather, this role requires someone with good intuition and people skills, rather than HR administrative expertise.  A successful recruiter is someone who has strong networking skills and marketing abilities.  On top of that, he or she must possess strong questioning skills to uncover implicit information which are often not stated in the written CV.
  
  
• Neither mysterious nor unfathomable.  In fact, successful recruiters adopt a tested and disciplined approach towards generating leads and expanding their network of candidates.  They are also highly methodical when it comes to selecting their shortlist of candidates which often result in higher probability of successful placements.  Hence, it is not just a matter of luck to be good in this business.

Getting past the misconceptions brings us to what is takes to be a successful recruiter with WMRC.  Our organization values people who are entrepreneurial, hardworking and keen to learn.  You may not have any prior experience in recruitment but that does not mean you will not succeed in this business.

We look for people with the following attitude and personality traits:

• Positive and seldom take no for an answer
  
  
• Friendly and able to relate well to people from the professional fields
  
  
• Natural ability to present ideas and articulate value propositions
  
  
• Proactive and operate with a clear vision of the end goals

In return, WMRC offers you the unique opportunity to work with some of the most exciting assignments and well-known clients in the industry.  A year spent with us opens up your eyes and minds to how some of the most successful companies in the world go about hiring the best talent in the market.  You will quickly learn intricate details of these companies, e.g. how they operate, the key management team, work culture, business performance, and various job roles and functions – things which you couldn’t possibly learn by working with a single company at any one time.

On top of that, we provide you with the critical market knowledge needed to succeed.  Instead of developing a single functional expertise in most jobs you would have done in the past, you will discover yourself gaining understanding and appreciation of a much wider scope of job roles and functions in the sectors of clients you cover.  How well you attain this knowledge directly determines how successful you will be in putting together a right job match for our clients and our candidates.

The financial rewards are there.  Apart from the intrinsic job satisfaction you derive from helping someone finds a job or further develops his career, you will find executive search work to be one that gives transparent rewards for hard work and performance.
   
If you think you are up to the challenge, email our Managing Director, John Koh at john.koh@wmrc.com.sg (if you are based in Singapore) or john.koh@wmrc.com.hk (if you are based in Hong Kong).