Next Generation Headhunter

Between half past five and six in the morning, the lights go on in Barbara Wieser's office. A cold chocolate and a bite to eat, the first e-mails are sent. The fact that Wieser's apartment is just one floor up from her office comes in handy. "Ten meters to work is incredibly convenient. No time is lost there."

The young headhunter is enterprising. And even more so since she started her own business, Digital Heads. "I go full throttle every day." After one year, the 33-year-old can already present a decent list of completed mandates. Among other things, she has found a CEO and a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) for an e-commerce portal, filled the position of CPO (Chief Product Officer) at a media group, and found a new Managing Director for an international agency network. She is currently looking for a Product Manager E-Commerce for an online marketplace and a Chief Technology Officer for the central digital advertising marketing of a large Swiss media group.

"A headhunter needs charisma, joy and love for people."

Wieser seems to have the right nose when it comes to matching companies with the right people. The headhunter asks the crucial questions and has an ear for her clients. "Barbara works in a structured manner, follows up, clarifies open points immediately and fills positions effectively. Thanks to her great commitment, her expertise and her good network, mandates are handled quickly and competently," says Manfred Strobl, CEO of the media agency OMD, which has already awarded several mandates to digital heads.

"Barbara doesn't beat around the bush, but looks for concrete clues and solutions. She gives feedback and doesn't leave you in the dark. That's goal-oriented," says Urs Schweizer, Head of Print/Services at the NZZ Media Group. Wieser does not want to waste time. When companies part with top management or specialists - and vice versa - there is usually little time left for succession planning. Wieser is prepared for speed in the recruitment process. "We are very flexible." In the search, however, she is meticulous. Even if a valid candidate is already in the portfolio, she scans the market again from the beginning. "There's always another new star emerging somewhere." If her gut tells her there's a more suitable candidate out there, she's happy to put in an extra round.

Sometimes a candidate profile is particularly difficult to find. Then the recruitment process is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Other times, the difficulty lies in convincing the desired candidate to move to Switzerland from an attractive position abroad. That's where Wieser's sales flair comes in handy. "I experience Barbara as a positive and open person who approaches others. She has a very winning manner," says Schweizer. "You can tell right away that Barbara does her job with great enthusiasm," says Strobl. She is charming and persuasive, but remains persistent.

"As a headhunter, I have to have a good elevator speech in store and generate interest in candidates within a very short time - even when cold calling."

If a mandate was particularly challenging, the joy is all the greater when the deal is a success. This was the case, for example, when she recruited a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for a German company. In the course of the search, the candidate profile had to be adjusted again and again, and new parties were constantly making demands. It took four months to sign the contract. A test of patience for the headhunter. "Normally, we are much faster."

Wieser is well established in the media and online industry. She started out in communications at Zurich Airport and then worked at Swissport Zurich. As trade fair manager at Maurer + Salzmann, she got to know the entire communications claviature until she was "discovered" by a headhunter - at just 26 years of age. It was Hans Hofmann, recruiting for the media and online communications world.

At Hans Hofmann & Partner, she learned the headhunter's trade from scratch. The research area, the direct approach, dealing with clients. At first, she worked as a consultant in the younger executive sector, and in the last two years, as Managing Partner, she covered the search for specialists and executives in the new media. "Hans and I were a good team," Wieser says today about her former partner. After seven years, however, she still wanted to stand on her own two feet. Headhunting is a people business. She wanted to prove that clients and candidates believed in her - without the umbrella of Hans Hofmann & Partner.

The headhunter carefully cultivates her network. She is present at important industry events, seminars and client events and makes herself visible to marketers, media agencies, online portals, advertising agencies and media companies.

"The peak is never reached. The network can always get bigger."

The fact that Wieser is extremely young for the headhunting profession comes in handy when recruiting younger specialists. Here, she effortlessly manages to establish a rapport. But age doesn't seem to be an issue for her clients either. "She's mixing up the scene, which is a good thing," Schweizer thinks. Her proof of performance is in place. Over the years, Wieser has developed her own methodology for the recruiting process. Today, she focuses particularly on interpersonal factors - listening, feeling, sensing. She makes heavy use of online media and social media for research to come across candidates and get an idea of who they are (Does the candidate run a blog? What's their network like?) For contact, she prefers the phone - or still prefers to make an impression in person. "I pay attention to how someone moves, how their voice sounds, how the handshake is. You can read a lot from that."

"Under no circumstances should candidates ask me how I came across them. This comes across as if they are not aware of their abilities."

When it comes to the interaction between candidate and headhunter, Wieser has clear ideas. "With a headhunter, you should appear just as professional as in the job interview." It starts with the e-mail contact (what is the structure, are the attachments in order?), continues with the combox announcement, the appointment (how flexible is the candidate?) and ends with the first meeting.

Even though Digital Heads on Zollikerberg looks like a modern apartment, business manners are not set aside. Anyone who stops by on a hot summer day in a casual leisure outfit won't win any sympathy points. If Wieser is bothered by a candidate's attire, she lets him know. "For the client interview, we need to work on the clothes a little more." Lighting a cigarette at Wieser while talking to her in the lounge on the terrace is also not a good idea. Anyone who keeps her waiting is charmingly but firmly told. "I'm glad you're here. My expectation of you is rising by the minute." Does she overlook such faux pas if a candidate is professionally convincing? After all, not every job is looking for sales talent. "Of course, " Wieser says. "It's part of our job to put ourselves in the candidates' shoes." If, for example, the introverted technical specialist doesn't put the pedal to the metal in the initial interview with the company, Wieser is happy to lend him a hand and emphasize his merits and knowledge.

Wieser works exclusively on a mandate basis. She offers various models for the placement: Her fee is either based on the candidate's gross annual salary or a fixed mandate fee (flat rate) is agreed upon, which is billed in three parts, for example: at the time of the assignment, at the time of the candidate's presentation, and at the time of closing. Once the contracts are signed, the "on-boarding process" begins. Wieser remains in contact with the client and the candidate. If communication difficulties arise, she acts as a mediator. It is in her interest that the employment relationship gets off to a successful start. After all, she gives her clients a guarantee of success - at management level, the guarantee is twelve months. If the candidate and the company part company during this time, she looks for a successor free of charge.

Wieser tries to keep fees for clients as low as possible. She does the research and market scanning herself, and avoids creating expensive personality profiles or assessments whenever possible. That resonates with clients. "I appreciate that Barbara manages the candidate search from A to Z," says Strobl. "As an owner without a lot of overhead, she also stands out from the competition with a fair price-performance ratio." Wieser also sometimes grants special conditions to young companies with whom she seeks contact. She wants to keep her finger on the pulse and follow the latest changes. Occasionally, she comes across an interesting candidate at start-ups for a transfer to a larger company. Or she recruits for the start-up itself. When it expands and needs a head to lead it into the next phase, Wieser finds the right "hood ornament.

"I am surrounded by exciting personalities, by "winners". I get to help shape their future and grow with them. That is a great enrichment."

The fact that new companies are constantly being founded, especially in the digital sector, is a benefit for digital heads. Wieser is currently focusing on big data. But she is sure that there is still potential in real-time advertising. She finds it equally exciting to follow the transformation process of publishing houses into the digital future. In line with Digital Heads' claim of "Creating Future," she ensures that companies are well positioned for the future with the right profile appointments.

Conversely, Wieser is happy to help candidates plan their careers and find out in which company they can best develop their potential. "My goal is to find candidates a job as great as the one I had the pleasure of finding myself," Wieser says. "I want everyone to start the day with the same joy."

Isabel Imper