ECMG is a business and we offer a service. Those people who feel that paying someone to help them land a new and better position is NOT something that "is done" in the job search world, need to think again (especially if they are not getting or finding the right situations/opportunities). No, we are not MIRACLE WORKERS (although I do wish we were), but we are a service and we have a job to do. There is some train of thought out there still that "Joe Company" MUST PAY to hire them (whether that means via an online search method or a via a traditional search firm). I say this over and over: Who says that that is the rule? Can I tell you how many companies (99.9%) tell us that it is a about time THE CANDIDATE invest in himself/herself - especially in THIS market. Not to mention that most (AND I say MOST) VC or Private Equity firms DO NOT pay for talent - they use their own network or they hook up with us (or someone who will point them in the right direction - sans the fees).
Paying someone to perform a service (including a doctor, attorney, child care worker, assistant etc.) is not new. I know I don't have time to clean my house or take care of my kids all day long, thus I pay a premium to have the services in place to help me. This is how we work too. We are paid to help our clients find the audience they need to get the opportunities they want.
As publicists we are paid via retainer (monthly) -- publicists do not work on commission. Publicists are producers and creators and their time (real time) is MONEY.
As Agents we are also paid on a percentage (of the opportunity we help our client land) --then our retainer is essentially backed out ot of the final percentage.
We do not work like Real Estate Agents and paid on straight commission because for one thing, our clients are not houses and they are NOT sold. Secondly, HOUSES can be SOLD IN 60 DAYS and in our world, it can take a lot longer to find a CEO a new opportunity. We also pay for a lot of services to conduct our campaigns (it's not just our time, even though that is also valuable, it's the fact the we invest in specific tools and subscriptions that allow us to do our work) for our clients. We have no guarantee that a client will stick with us when it comes to accepting their next job offer. MOST of our clients usually do stick with us (20% of our clients in the almost 8 years I have been in business doing this have resigned and they have resigned due to accepting an offer from a company they had interviewed with prior to hiring us or due to the fact that they decided that finding a J.O.B. IS NOT what they wanted to do). However, you just never know and so we need to have coverage of our costs while we are conducting a campaign (job search) and yes, that includes SOME of our time. We make our real/true profits via commissions (% of the base salary the client accepts -first year base salary). Then again, you are not ever guaranteed that a client will pay their final placement fee either - although that has only happened one time in eight years.
Here's the thing: I think that executives (talented executives) need to be treated and respected as stars. With that said, they need to hire the people to help them better their image (beyond the resume) and build the buzz (about their talent) that will attract the right people with the right opportunities. This is not as easy as posting or sending out a resume one time to see who will call back. This is why we run campaigns for our clients (they are actually productions for that matter). Job searching is a process and the ECMG process pays off for everyone in the end. As I mentioned in my previous posting, hiring an expert to help you land the opportunity you want, is an investment.
Keep in mind that I am also not going to sign anyone who simply throws money at me (ha-ha) - for the sake of taking the money. I have to be relatively comfortable from the start that we can successfully help our clients out and get the job done. I love to make money (I like my Mercedes after all), but money is not the only thing I care about either. I (as well as my entire staff) care about clients and their futures first and foremost. Not to mention that we LOVE what we do. When you enjoy what you do... (you know the rest).
