"I have worked successfully with Dave Staats for around fifteen years. His professionalism is impeccable, and the quality of his placements is something that I have learned to count on. It may sound cliche, but Dave is a partner, not just a recruiter."

In 1985, tired of working as a road dispatcher and dock supervisor for trucking companies, Dave Staats answered a newspaper ad placed by Kendall & Davis Associates. He was interviewed by K & D long-timer Clyde Donovan who convinced him that the search/placement business might just fulfill his desires to get out of a typical dead-end situation where others determined how much his efforts were worth.

After 5 years with Kendall & Davis, Dave started his own firm before joining Southwestern Professional Services where he has been since 1995. Southwestern has about 60 consultants and about 20 other employees, including administrative support and research associates, numbers which will probably increase by about 30 to 50 recruiters and associated support people next year. For the first 12 years of his career, Dave admits to being a somewhat average performer with billings ranging from $125K to $230K. He is currently the Technical Recruiting Manager responsible for a group doing about $1.5 million for the year 2000.

TFL: How were you trained initially?

Mostly by Clyde Donovan directly who used techniques of Larry Nobles, Pete Leffkowitz , Danny Cahill, Tony Byrne, Steve Finkel and others. K&D was always good about sending us to seminars and NAPS (NAPC back then). I got my CPC in 1988 and went to my first NAPC conference in Chicago in 1987. I made my first placement in about 6 weeks.

TFL: Do you continue to get training? Sources?

I use all of these sources in training my recruits and myself. Our most consistent source of materials is The Fordyce Letter. Newer trainers with great ideas are Mark Bassett and Jeff Skrentny. Bill Radin has a good book. Charles Wadlow’s approach is interesting and engaging, if a bit disrespectful. There are just so many sources available to those who make it a mission to look. I love “big biller” panels at NAPS and conferences like that. Things like Rap Session look new every time I get them out of the training cabinet.

TFL: Do you specialize in any specific areas?

We have nearly as many specialties as desks, but my management group of 5 (soon to be 10) is involved in software engineering. We have 2 who only do defense related software engineering placement. One who is strictly working people with NSA clearances and 2 who do Consulting Software Engineers and their management.

TFL: How about typical assignments handled and average salary levels?

Senior Consultant or Managing Director of Consulting. Salaries average 100k and 150k respectively. This year I have also done Exec VP Sales, VP Ops, Director of IT and others.

TFL: Do you consider yourself a searcher or a placer?

I’d say this is about 80/20 search/placement. Interesting question though. I try to keep several clients with similar needs so that when I find a candidate I can put him/her in one of them. Clients see this as search and candidates kind of see it as placement. About 70% of my business is repeat due to design and my chosen market. I have some clients who have been constant for 10 years. Marketing is OK but I don’t do it when I don’t need to.

TFL: Are you retained, contingency or combination?

Almost all engaged with ¼ of the fee as a non-refundable deposit. We then roll over the engagement fee each time a placement is made or we balance bill them and are finished. This is just my scheme though; we have many in my firm.

TFL: What’s your average fee?

Average fee for the past two years has been about $25K. My largest fee to date is $45K. Our normal fee is 25-30%. As far as discounts, these only involve rebates where I send a check back after cash is received and it will amount to a couple of points off, i.e., 30% to 28% or 27%. I’ve had no collection problems in 15 years (knock wood) and only have about one falloff a year. Our guarantee averages 45 days since about half the time I give our normal 30-day replacement guarantee and sometimes I’ll extend it to 60 days.

TFL: Do you require signed agreements with clients?

I never used to but in the past 3 years I have gone to about 90% signed agreements split between theirs and ours.

TFL: What’s your average time to fill an opening? Number of sendouts/interviews to make a placement?

It’s about 30 to 60 days and my ratio overall is about 7 to 1 right at the moment. It has been as low as 5 to1 but it does not vary much. I have one person on staff at 3 to1 overall. For single discrete searches I am at about 3 to 1.

TFL: Are your activities primarily local, regional, national or international?

National with a little bit of international (one client needs some international people). We have a London office I can work with on these.

TFL: Are your activities full service or do you offer to unbundle any of your services?

I still only charge one fee and I rarely discuss the details of my service with clients. So I guess the answer is no. I don’t unbundle and I can’t even remember being asked to. I can’t think why I would want to but if some trainer makes a case, I’ll try it.

TFL: Any preferred provider agreements in force?

Not officially but I did complete a rebate program with one client last year. Interestingly, when we got to 500k and finished it they did not come back to do it again but we are still making placements at the regular rate now….Not complaining…

TFL: Any other billable activities? Temps, executive temps, contract, consulting, etc.?

I had one contractor on billing for about two years and even though it was lucrative I just try to stay out of that business. It is not what I do and setting it up was a huge pain compared to making placements. We do have a separate division that feels the same way about what I do that is quite successful in contracting though. I felt like a baker cutting meat. Both are great businesses but they are different. I am sure there are top “blended” producers though.

TFL: How about your Internet usage?

I use it quite a bit. I am still experimenting but there are a few good niche job boards for placing ads and some for finding candidates, particularly the “blind” ones where one can find a higher level of expertise and quality. These places are also good for research and referraling. Internet is also great for learning about clients and their competitors. I am a traditional headhunter but I won’t turn my nose up at perfectly good candidates my clients can’t otherwise find. HH.net=good, 6figurejobs.com=good, Monster=bad.

TFL: Belong to any local, regional or national associations?

We belong to NAPS. Our Theresa Oldfield is on the board. I try to go to the conference each year and set up trips for my people as incentives.

TFL: Although your production had been fairly good throughout your career, the past couple of years you seem to have gotten a booster shot. Last year (1999) you billed $535K and you’re on track to surpass the $700K mark this year. What changed?

Clyde Donovan and Greg Boucher (my current manager) are the main reasons for my success. One taught me the business and the other taught me how to be me. I also have to mention that one of my recruiters, Shunil Joseph, asked me about three years ago why I did not step up to the plate and lead by example. That question shamed me a bit and had a good effect. It also made his revenues double the next year. There is also nothing like family to make one want to produce. I got my two daughters from China in the past three years. I have also finally done something with my burning desire (which used to be just a nagging itch) to be at the top of my industry. I want to be in the Pinnacle Society by the end of next year. What sets me apart? Now, I think it is my adoption of a lesson learned from Mark Bassett of Hobson Associates that he borrowed from another top producer - “Great recruiters say into the phone what others say right after they hang up.” That and my attempt to listen to lessons of others and put them into use seems to have set me apart from the old me. I don’t know for sure if this is the only thing that sets me apart but I love this business, and the people in it, and what I do. I just want to learn more so I can pass it along to the people I train. I have not yet completed next year’s revenue plan but I will be shooting for some personal increase while training about 7 or 8 new recruiters.

TFL: Why do you think others don’t reach your level of achievement?

This is a great mystery of the industry and if I figure it out there will be some happy people in my wake. It might have something to do with written goals and commitment to them and good committed trainers. I have long believed (since Clyde told me) that there is no competition in this business except that with oneself and one’s own personal dragons. Now that I have achieved what still seems like only modest success it seems pretty simple. I scratch my head a lot about this question. I cannot stress enough the importance of tracking numbers and ratios and personally knowing them beyond what any manager may want to see. We need to develop a desire to understand and tweak these things in our new recruiters.

TFL: Any great “war stories?”

I can’t answer this without a beer, a cigar and a roomful of headhunters to swap stories with. Though, the time I made an ass of myself at one of Danny Cahill’s presentations comes to mind. (I asked a question he had just answered due to “after party effects”).

TFL: Where do you see the industry going? Next year? Five years from now?

I only see it getting better while the labor pool is still shrinking (about 20 more years). We are “right place, right time” information brokers. Nothing that happens on the Internet will be able to supplant our clients’ need for us to do things for which they have neither the time or ability. It is possible, I suppose, that I might have to eat these words but these new schemes just don’t seem to have the ability to hurt us. Some might work but there is still going to be a need for speed and accuracy in placement.

TFL: Do you think the business is overpopulated? Too many recruiters? How will you market yourself to remain successful?

I think there is always room for one more successful recruiter (and I am always trying to hire them). I try to act as though the ones who aren’t as successful will just help me look better when I perform. I have no plans other than to deliver to make myself successful. I like to just be able to tell my prospective clients to call my current ones without warning and ask them what they think. If I do all my business with this in mind I feel safe.

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