Book Review: “Work from Home Headhunter” by Diane O’Brien
“Work from home Headhunter”: 6 Things I love about this book
Would you like to work as a headhunter from home? There are many books out there on recruitment, but this is the only one that I came across which tells you how you can succeed as a headhunter by working from home. In this book review I would like to highlight the 6 things that I love about the book “Work from Home Recruiter” by Diane O’Brien.
# 1 — The author’s personal experiences.
Learning about a subject and being knowledgeable about industry-specific things is one thing, but learning from other peoples’ experiences (who have already gone through it) is priceless. The author Diane O’Brien shares many personal experiences in how she got started, what mistakes she initially made, how she approached certain challenges, how she juggled family and career, what strategies she applied in order to convince clients and candidates, how she achieved her goals in a smart way, how she felt at various stages etc. All these stories make the whole experience more memorable for the reader. And not just that, it saves the potential headhunter also time and money in the long run. It would take years for other people to learn this wealth of insider information. You can learn it by reading this book in a week’s time (that’s what it took me to read it for some hours every day).
# 2 — The writing style.
I liked the way this book “Work from home Headhunter” was written. First of all, because if you are — like Diane O’Brien — a woman, wife, mother and career-minded person, it feels as if you would get personal coaching sessions that have been written just for YOU. Secondly, she takes you through the different stages in the process and also shares how she felt in moments when things didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to turn out. Her encouraging words inspire and motivate the reader not to give up in this new adventure.
# 3 — Samples of documents, checklists and other written/oral communication
Many important and useful documents have been provided. For example: a contingency search firm agreement, a retained search agreement, terms and conditions for contingency recruitment services, exclusive or contained example contracts, an exclusive recruiting agreement, a job order checklist and an invoice. I personally preferred to skip this more technical part of the book initially and leave it for the end.
Since the author, Diane O’Brien, is American, a Non-US reader needs to bear in mind that these templates are customised for an American audience and that certain business terms and conditions, the language etc. need to be adjusted for their own particular country.
Other helpful information and guidelines are provided with regard to: how to give a client elevator speech, how to check a candidate’s references (what questions to ask), what interview questions to ask job candidates in a face to face interview, how to write an email blurb and how to conduct a prescreen phone conversation. Very practical and highly useful!
# 4 — Great advice.
The author reveals in her book “Work from home Headhunter” some industry specific details and shares her honest opinion on various matters. You will find answers to: which kind of industry to focus on in order to make quick matches between companies and candidates, which candidates to send first to a client, how to set up your business with regard to equipment and other resources, how to manage your time and workload effectively, what obstacles you might face, how to make sure that you don’t get fooled by clients and do the paperwork correctly (right from the beginning), how much you can realistically earn (and how not to feel guilty about asking for higher fees!), how to market yourself, why it is important to ask certain questions and much more.
# 5 — The self-promotional strategy.
Working in the recruitment industry means being good at SELLING, convincing clients as well as candidates. The author mastered it very well to sell her expertise, knowledge and experience throughout the book while advising at the same time the reader on how to succeed in this particular industry. The use of testimonials from clients as well as other home recruiters was a smart strategy to promote herself as an expert in this field.
# 6 — Structure of the book.
The book is very well structured by outlining clear tasks and timeframes in which certain goals should be achieved. It equips the reader with a realistic step-by-step guide to follow in order to avoid to lose focus.
How would I rate the book “Work from home Headhunter”?
I would give it a 9.5 out of 10.
Would I recommend this book “Work from home Headhunter”?
Yes, definitely. If you are unsure whether working as a headhunter from home is the right career choice for you or not, this book will definitely help you to find an answer to your personal career dilemma (with its insights and questions that you will need to ask yourself). Don’t embark on this career path without first reading this book! Focus on the content and try to look beyond the mistakes you occasionally will come across. I wished that for every job in the world there would be a resource like this! It would help people enormously in figuring out what they would really want to do in their professional lives! I appreciate the fact that Diane O’Brien made this kind of information easily accessible to a global audience.
Book Title: Work from home Headhunter — 10 Week guide to six-figure success
Book Author: Diane O’Brien
Year of Publication: March 2014
Pages: 318
Price: UK (Amazon £ 15.28), USA (Amazon $ 26.85) Buy from Amazon
ISBN-13–978–065910895 (Paperback)
Publishing House: Luxton Press
Content of “Work from Home Recruiter”:
Introduction
You, the Recruiter
The Clients & the Job Order
The Candidates & the Resumes
Marketing Clients & Candidates
Matchmaking & Send-Outs
Six Sigma Process
The 7 Week Itch
Get the Offer, Close the Job
Tools of Trade
Differentiate & Life Balance
If you know anyone who could benefit from this book “Work from home Headhunter”, make sure you share it.
