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Why a great recruiter is like an iceberg.

Have you ever seen an iceberg?

I haven’t. But what do we know about looking at an iceberg?

Most of it is hidden. The part under the water, the unseen part, supports and holds up the part you can see.

And 90% of an iceberg is under water!

When you see a highly successful recruiter who seems to sail though life and everything falls into place, don’t believe that for one second.

It took work and sacrifice to get there!

Have a look at my classy graphic, drawn on a plane, after three glasses of Shiraz….

You see the success, money, status.…

But really what you need to look at to understand that recruiter, is the journey. The 90%

The rejection. The long hours. The fear. The hard work. The courage. The sacrifices. The focus on activity. The stress. The discipline. The huge learning curve. The many failures and disappointments.

Don’t focus on the part of the iceberg you CAN see. What you see there is the end game. The result.

Focus on the part you don’t see. And then, replicate that behaviour.

Work on the bit of your career iceberg that is underwater.

That is where success is born.

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  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On May 2, 2017
  • 7 Comments
Tags: Coaching recruiters, recruitment, recruitment careers, recruitment skills

7 Comments

Diane Pass
  • May 2 2017
  • Reply
As always, thoroughly enjoyed your words of wisdom Greg. It's a great analogy. Best wishes Di Pass
    Greg Savage
    • May 2 2017
    • Reply
    Thank you Di.. very nice to hear from you BTW :)
andrew brindley
  • May 2 2017
  • Reply
Going to share this with my team now, bang on Greg for the Tuesday after a bank holiday weekend! Thanks Andrew
    Greg Savage
    • May 2 2017
    • Reply
    Good to hear..thanks Andrew
Jill Ryder
  • May 4 2017
  • Reply
I like it!
John Guest
  • Jun 4 2017
  • Reply
100% true Greg, it can look easy for some top billers because of these exact reasons, a bit like a duck, calm above the water and paddling like crazy under
Peter Baker
  • Jan 4 2019
  • Reply
Great post - great stuff. I particularly love the comment about the Shiraz!

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Greg is the founder of leading recruitment companies Firebrand Talent Search, People2People and Recruitment Solutions, and a current shareholder and director of several others, including Consult Recruitment. He is a regular keynote speaker worldwide and provides specialised advice for Recruitment, Professional Services & Social Media companies.





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