Getting on the List

Australian Financial Review Weekend, 24 February 1995 p. 8

"The best thing is to be known in your industry through industry associations and through participation in industry groups, by getting out and about and developing a reputation", says Andrew Horsley of Horsley & Company, an independent management consultant.

While those impatient to move on can put their names down with recruitment firms or make themselves known to search consultants, this can work against them if they are thought of as too restless or a "job hopper".

"The trick in executive search is that unless the consultants have the mandate from a client for a particular assignment they can do nothing. That's why people have got to cover a number of bases," says Horsley.

"However, if they just become prostitutes and spend all their time trying to be noticed by the headhunters, it becomes counter productive as they get shopped around town".

While Horsley's consultancy covers searches for general managers, chief executive officers, non executive directors, heads of business units and senior staff in advisory roles - with salaries upwards of $100,000 - he is also interested in the next generation.

"I am always on the lookout for emerging talent" he adds.

"I always like to see people who are on the way up rather than those who are sitting pretty. I would much rather have the young thrusters - who are going places and have fresh innovative ideas and challenge things - than complacent blobs".

However, performance - a strong commercial reputation, good judgment, respected acumen and prowess - must underlie the rhetoric. Too many talking heads - big on selling themselves but sketchy on delivering the goods - had alarmed industry by taking the money and running before being found out.