最近我的同事们总是跟我提一个电视剧，叫《猎场》。感觉猎头这个行业几乎是第一次被放到聚光灯下。他们告诉我网上对我们行业的大部分评价都很负面。我一点也不觉得惊讶。从1994年我创办王李亚洲资源公司到今天，我已经在中国的招聘行业工作了二十多年。我的同事们很想知道，关于媒体对我们这个行业的看法，我是怎么看的。
首先我想说的是，大家对我们行业的所有负面评价我都可以理解，我也从来没有想去反驳或者试图改变大家的看法。因为确实有很多不专业、低技能、完全以销售为驱动，为了赚取佣金而不择手段的同行。英语里“猎头”这个词的意思本身就不是很正面。基本上，“猎头”代表我们做事不择手段、不计后果，只想赚钱。但是就跟任何其他行业一样，他们只代表了一部分招聘人员，并不是全部。
你可能还没见过这样的猎头，但不管你是否相信，我们行业中的确有些顾问非常看重自己的专业素质，并且能够为求职者提供有价值的服务。除了帮助大家寻找新的工作，我们还努力提供合理的职业指导和建议，来帮助求职者找到更合适的工作、更好的公司以及更优良的行业环境。除了推荐那些能让我们赚取佣金的工作之外，我们还试图帮助那些有职业发展和职业能力的人，去实现他们的职业目标。虽然我们现在做的可能还不是很好，但我们正在努力做得更好。
Larry关于猎头的视频链接戳这里：
http://v.qq.com/x/page/v0156it55b7.html
我告诉我们的员工，不要把自己当成“猎头”，除非你真的是这样看待自己的。我告诉他们，我们是招聘顾问，我们是专业人士。我们也许会因行业原因而被误解，但我们的行业并不能定义我们是谁以及我们做事的方式。
如果说王李亚洲资源做的只是“猎头”，那我当初就不会创立这家公司了。我对推销一点都不感兴趣，我想要做一些高质量、有价值的、会对其他人的成功产生巨大影响的东西。而这就是我创办王李亚洲资源公司的初心。也正因如此，我所提供的专业知识和建议才会受到大家的尊重。
是的，推销的确是我们在这个竞争非常激烈的行业中所需要做的一个重要组成部分，但这并不意味着我们不能用咨询顾问的方式来为我们所服务的候选人提供优质的服务、就业市场的专业知识以及相关职业建议。我们要为每一个客户提供有价值的服务，这就是我们公司的座右铭和价值观。
因此，当我们联系求职者时，我们会先询问他们目前的工作情况、职业发展遇到的挑战以及他们的职业目标。我们这样做不仅仅是为了我们的客户，还为了给候选人介绍合适的工作和职业环境，而这些正是最吸引他们的。
当然，公司付给我们服务费。满足他们的需求是我们的首要任务。但是对我们来说，我们要帮他们找的不仅仅是富有经验和技能的候选人，还要是真正对他们公司平台感兴趣的人。我们现在可能属于少数人，但在行业里我们并不是唯一一家信奉这一方法论的公司。一份好的生意能够让参与其中的各方达成共赢。
曾几何时，在世界大部分人的眼里，中国制造并不是一个正面的词汇。在海外，中国产品过去曾经以质量差、做工不好、价格便宜而为人所知。这也影响了世界对全体中国人的看法。当然，有一部分中国生产商还是非常关注他们产品的质量。一开始，他们只是少数派，但正是因为他们不懈的努力和付出，现在在世界其他地方，中国制造不再是劣质品的代言词。
因此，尽管今天我们的行业声誉很糟糕，它终将会改变。中国经济已经从制造业主导迅速转向消费者和服务业主导，求职者对我们的专业知识以及我们所提供的价值的期望值在不断提升，社会整体对服务质量和用户体验的日益重视，都将迫使这一行业改变现状。越来越多的招聘人员会成为真正的专业人士，在我们行业里不愿做出改变的人会发现，不关心服务、价值和质量而仅仅为求职者强推职位，会越来越难以获得成功。
所以下次如果有猎头向你推荐一个与你的专业背景完全不相符的职位时，你就告诉他请做好功课再给你打电话。如果你觉得他的推销方式太强硬，请告诉他停止用这种方式来骚扰你。或者，如果有人对你说了一些不太靠谱的关于某个职位或公司的信息，告诉他你对他不专业的行为和废话不感兴趣。对这些人必须严厉的批评。
但是如果你碰巧遇到了一个非常专业的猎头，对你，对他所推荐的公司和职位都非常了解，并且为你提供了一次很好的服务体验，请给他一点鼓励。告诉他，你很感谢他为你提供的价值和高品质服务所付出的努力。在我们的行业中，有一些人正努力往这方面去做，我们还有很长的路要走。所以尽管现在大多数人对我们的行业以及行业人士有非常低的评价，我们仍然希望能够获得你们的支持和鼓励。
Recently, our colleagues have been talking about the TV show, Game of Hunting. So almost for the first time in China，headhunters are in the spotlight. They tell me that many of the comments on social media about our industry are pretty harsh. Not surprising. Being part of China’s recruitment industry for over 20 years and founder of a recruitment firm, Wang & Li Asia Resources, they asked me for my overall thoughts about how our industry is viewed.
The first thing I’ll say is that the negative things that people say about our industry are deserved. We’ve earned our reputation for being unprofessional, low-skilled, sales-driven and full of people who will do anything to earn a commission. That’s the repeated experience people have from countless encounters with headhunters here. But while this describes most recruiters, like any other industry you can generalize, it doesn’t represent everyone.
You may not have met such a recruiter yet, but believe it or not, there are some of us in our industry who do care about our professionalism and the value and service we deliver to candidates. Beyond just getting people to change jobs, we try to provide sound career guidance and advice to help those we work with get into better fit job, company, and industry situations. Beyond just pushing job descriptions that can earn us commissions, we try to help people with their career development and ability to achieve their career objectives. We may not do these things that well yet, but we are trying to do them better.
Related video of Larry talking about recruiters：
http://v.qq.com/x/page/v0156it55b7.html
So I completely understand the crap reputation of our industry and the people in it. I never feel defensive or try to change people’s minds about this. We’re called headhunters. To overseas audiences, the reference is not a flattering one. Basically, it implies that we’ll do anything just to get a result and earn a commission, with little consideration for the way we do things.
I tell our people to never refer to yourself as a headhunter, unless that’s how you really see yourself. I tell them that we are recruitment consultants. We are professionals. We may be defined by our industry, but our industry doesn’t have to define who we are and the way we do things.
When talking about our company, I also say that if what we did was just headhunting, I never would have started Wang & Li. I’ve never been interested in hardcore selling. I want to deliver something of quality and value that can have a big impact on the success of others. That’s always been at the core of what I want to do. So is being respected for the expertise and advice I’m able to deliver.
So, yes, being sales-driven is a big part of what we need to do in our highly competitive industry. But that doesn’t mean we can’t use a true consulting approach to deliver great service, job market expertise, and career advice to the candidates we work with. We provide value to everyone we encounter. That’s our company motto and philosophy.
So when contacting candidates, we ask them upfront about their current job situation, career development challenges, and career objectives. We do this not just for our clients, but so we can introduce candidates to good fit job and career situations that match what’s most attractive to them.
Of course, employers pay our service fee. They’re our first priority. But to us, the best way to get a great result for our clients is to not only identify candidates with the experience and skills they’re looking for, but who are also genuinely interested in their platform. We may be the small minority right now, but for sure, we’re not the only ones in our industry who embrace this kind of approach and objective. Good, smart business creates win-win situations for everyone involved.
One last thing. Not long ago, Made in China meant something very negative around the world. Outside of China, Chinese products were known for being low quality, poorly made, and cheap. This reputation defined everybody here. Of course, this didn’t defined many people here and what they stood for. At one point, they were the small minority too. But that didn’t stop them from caring about quality and excellence. With their sincere desire and efforts to do things better, Made in China no longer means something that’s not so good to the rest of the world.
So as crappy as our industry’s reputation is today, it will change. The massive shift to a consumer and service-driven economy, rising expectations among candidates for value and expertise, and growing emphasis on service quality and user-experience will all make it change. So will the growing number of recruiters who want to be viewed as true professionals. Those in our industry who don’t change will find it increasingly difficult to be successful by just hustling positions to candidates with little regard for service, value, and quality.
So the next time a headhunter describes a position to you that doesn’t fit your background at all, tell him to first know who he’s approaching and what he’s talking about before calling you. If one gets too aggressive or pushy with you, tell him to stop hassling you with his hardcore sales approach. Or if one says something to you that you don’t believe is credible about a position or company, tell him you’re not interested in his bullshit and lack of professionalism. They deserve and need the direct feedback and harsh criticism.
But if you happen to encounter a recruiter who is very professional, knows what he’s talking about, and gives you a very good service experience, give him a little encouragement. Tell him that you appreciate his efforts to deliver something of value and high quality to you. There are some in our industry who are trying hard to do this. We have a long way to go. But right now, when most people have such a low view of our industry and the people in it, we can use all the support we can get.