Jungle Out There Headhunters are on the prowl, luring top talent for Northwest companies. Washington CEO Inc. Prowling headhunter Sandy Gould of the Career Clinic confers with a client. Gould says the recruiting business is so competitive, he's been recruited nine times himself during the last six years. It can mean exciting promotions, thousands more in salary and the all-important stock options.
Bidding wars can erupt.
It can make someone a star. No, we're not talking about Hollywood, we're talking about executive recruiting. In this time of explosive growth in such fields as software, biotechnology and telecommunications, recruiting top talent has some of the trappings of sports drafts and show business about it with virtually every firm searching for members of a small pool of proven, experienced executives who have that rare mix of understanding the technology and being able to manage people. Of course, most top executives would give up their ticket to the company parking garage before admitting they got their new power position with the help of a senior executive consultant or a headhunter. But the fact is just about all firms use executive recruiters, and a growing number of top executives are employing senior consultants to hone their ability to market themselves.