The Headhunter's Edge

By Jeffrey E. Christian

One of the world's top headhunters reveals his most valuable techniques for getting the best jobs and finding the right people. The most important thing you'll ever do if you are trying to build,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375505431
• ISBN13: 9780375505430
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.1" x 1.0" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Essential reading for all managers

This book is called "The headhunter's edge" but Christian's mission is to make any hiring manager "Think like a headhunter" Now Christian is not just ANY headhunter. He's the founder leader of Christian & Timbers, the pioneer in recuitment firms that focussed on IT industry and was the person who showed Carly Fiorina to HP In the book, Christian looks at what managers need to do, "look for talent" most of the time and shows that what differentiates good organizations is talent. He seeks to define what talent and leadership is, he says it is NOT a good education or experience but mostly "soft" factors that one needs to sense like integrity, humility, intellectual firepower and others. He also believes that talent is contextual, and that good leaders spend an inordinate amount of time pursuing great talent, or ensuring that great talent does not leave their doors. So, its not a book just for headhunters, recruitment people or CEOs. Even a manager who has the final decision on who gets on his team will benefit from this book. I would recommend reading this book with more academic articles on leadership and EQ. Then Christian's examples will put things more into perspective. What is more interesting is the example of top CEOs who put a great focus on recruitment process for their organizations like Bill Gates, Jack Welch and even VCs like Vinod Khosla.

Do not have to be a CEO to benefit here

At first glance, it would seem that this wonderful read was intended solely for those running billion dollar companies (those multi-million concerns can get by without a ferocity for talent). Glance again. Everything Mr. Christian says is just as true for the 150-employee distributor or metal-stamping company as it is for the colossal tech firm. Human beings ARE the corporation. They dictate the momentum a business pushes against or gets swept away by.In a fell-swoop, Christian validates the entire headhunting industry at its core purpose-to find the MOST appropriate candidate for the position. There is a world of difference between great and irreplaceable. Yes, a small percentage of concerns have the luxury of hiring an "outsider" to find their next star. Yet, this book isn't so much aimed at the IBM and Dell's of the world as it may first appear. Christian implores UNIQUE WIDGETS INC. to do everything in its power to grab, and hold onto, persons who MAKE the company.Again, this is as much for the corner barbershop as it is for a company bent on cornering the market. No business person can afford to disagree with this man.

Required Reading

If you think you will ever switch employers, be promoted, mangage or hire (in other words if you can fog a mirror) this book is required reading.