Jay Wren: The World’s Noblest Headhunter

Jay Wren: The World’s Noblest Headhunter

On the first day that I worked as a corporate recruiter, I sat down at a desk that had a telephone, a stack of 5 X 8 file cards, a legal pad, and a copy of the Directory of Advertisers.

I had no clients.  I had no applicants.  I had a very short list of contacts from my brief career in sales at Procter & Gamble and Polaroid Corporation.

Another recruiter in the office had claimed Polaroid as a client before I arrived at the firm.  Therefore, he had staked out the best potential client I might have.

Over the next 30 years I would recruit for Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Nestle, Clorox, Del Monte, ConAgra, Mobil Consumer Products, Quaker, Tambrands, Unilever, Reckitt-Benckiser, Maybelline, and many other equal and lesser-sized companies.

Even before the arrival of online networks, I had developed a file-card database of 12,000 contacts.  Today, with LinkedIn, I have the same 200 million contacts as everyone else.

I first published this website April 15, 2005.  I began to publishing a newsletter later that year.  My newsletter helped my business immensely.  Often people would save a copy of these newsletter as a record of my contact information.

Some recruiters hate the term headhunter.

I find the term amusing.  I find it even more amusing to know that some recruiters take offense at the term.  But in the recruiting world, I was a headhunter.  I actively contacted new candidates before they began to look for a job.
I adopted the title of “The World’s Noblest Headhunter.”  The title worked as an icebreaker.   It also helped me to develop a brand.

The Exciting and Painful Beginnings of a Wonderful Career

Starting a new business is exciting and yet often painful and full of uncertainty.  My start as a recruiter was typically painful.  I had beginner’s bad luck before I had beginner’s good luck.  Three after I started to work, another recruiter copied contact information from my files and placed one of the candidates.  The first candidate I placed accepted the job.  Then the candidate quit the first day on the job and returned to his previous company.

It was probably six months before I had a steady stream of business.  This was a scary period.  However, it was a period that led to over three decades of a highly rewarding career.

Published
Categorized as Success

By Jay Wren

During my career as a corporate recruiter, I conducted recruiting assignments for over one hundred companies. The success of my referrals often established the profile my clients used for future hires. At the same time, I helped thousands of people build more successful careers. “Building a successful career is a lifetime process. My book, “Best Jobs. Brightest Careers.” enables you to start from where you are today to begin the journey to where you want to go. Methods in this book have helped thousands of people build the confidence and skills for writing resumes, interviewing, networking, collaborating with headhunters, negotiating job offers, resigning, starting a new job, or becoming an entrepreneur.” EXPERIENCE Jay Wren Author: Best Jobs, Brightest Careers Contract recruiter for over one hundred manufacturers and suppliers Polaroid Corporation Sales Procter & Gamble Sales United States Navy, Lieutenant • Promoted through 3 Pay Grades in 3 Years • Bridge Officer of the Deck (Fleet) • Public Affairs Officer, The Bob Hope Show, The Miss America Armed Forces Tour, Recognized as the leading correspondent, Pacific Fleet, combat press releases EDUCATION University of Houston, Graduate, (GPA 3.75)

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