My name is Mark Wayman, and my day job is Executive Recruiter for the gaming/casino and high tech industries. I get people jobs. Lots of people; placed 800+ executives over the last 13 years. Compensation starts at $100,000, average placement is $200,000+, and over the course of my career I placed a dozen executives north of $1,000,000.

Disclaimer: I only represent executives I know personally, or that are referred to me by friends and clients, and I only connect on LinkedIn to executives I know personally. No disrespect intended.

Over the last few years several new casinos have opened nationwide. There were GREAT openings like MGM National Harbor, and there were TERRIBLE openings like….well, names withheld to protect the guilty. This week I emailed the Chairman of a hotel/casino that will be opening in 2018. He gave me the “we don’t need any help; we have all “A” players ” response, so I checked LinkedIn to see his executive team. Wow. Total bummer. Not even the “B” players. Most of these folks have minimal casino background and have changed job likes I change socks. Got me thinking: Maybe I should write an article on what all these failed casinos have in common. Here we go!

Your Culture is Toxic…and Everyone Knows It – This is the #1 reason you can’t hire top executives. It’s a small, small world. You may pay well, but everyone knows your culture is toxic and you have the highest employee turnover in the industry. Until that changes, you will have to keep hiring people from outside gaming that have never heard of your company.

It’s an Honor and Privilege to Work Here – Actually…IT IS NOT. America has the lowest unemployment rate in history. Let me translate that for you: The best executives are gainfully employed and not moving. Especially when you are paying so far below market rate compensation. New does not always translate to cool.

Smartest Guy in the Room – This is a corollary to the paragraph above: CEOs that think they are smarter than everyone else. My favorite are the ones that are not from Las Vegas and have never set foot in a casino. How many of those went BK or in the drain the last 10 years? Plenty.

You Don’t Pay Anyone Anything – Paying below market rate in a full employment landscape? Bahahahahaha! Especially if you are building a casino in a high cost of living area like California. Do you really think top executives are going to take your mediocre salaries to live in an area that has a high cost of living? You must be smoking that newly legalized cannabis in the parking lot.

HR’s Idea of Recruiting is Cold Calling People on LinkedIn – Several Human Resources departments wear this like a badge of honor. Let me help you: Top executives do NOT respond to cold calls. Top executives do NOT apply to online job postings. And all those people you are Recruiting that you don’t know and have never met? Do you know if they have a drug, alcohol or gambling problem? How about inappropriate relationships? Lawsuits against former employers? Yeah, they don’t list that on the resume.

Your Hiring/Interview Process is Broken – This was a HUGE problem in 2017. Companies that take way too long to interview and hire. Recently had a VP search. Rounded up three high quality candidates. Three months into the search there was still no hiring decision. Not even close. The top candidate took an SVP job and the other two candidates said, “If this is how they treat me as a candidate, I have no interest in being an employee.” Good point. If it takes you more than 30 days to get someone hired, you won’t be hiring anyone good. They will have two other job offers and be long gone.

Received a referral recently from a great “C” level executive. College degree and long-term employment at an “A” level company. Nice!

Made contact with the candidate, who had been laid off. Never a great sign, but came across as talented and articulate. Everyone gets a speed bump in their career so I’m not judging the layoff.  After about 30 minutes on the phone though, I realized she had “I Got This Syndrome.” This is when an executive has an unrealistic view of the hiring environment. Their perception is that companies will be tripping over themselves to hire them. Could be, but very rare.  And despite the fact they are unemployed, they are looking for a 25% salary increase. I have one or two career opportunities that make sense, that is actually WORSE!  Now the candidate thinks jobs grow on trees.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

This month several Las Vegas technology companies experienced layoffs.  There are very few senior level roles open, and companies want to hire executives that are gainfully employed. Hold the hate mail. I don’t make the rules, but I do have to play by them.  Additionally, the holidays are the slowest time of year for hiring.  Have a few executives that I recently placed that will have start dates of January 1, 2018.  Mostly everyone is shut down for the holidays.

I’ll take this one step further: Las Vegas has less than 20 high quality companies. Which is why 80% of my business is NOT in Nevada.  Let me extrapolate.  First, the best paying companies have the most toxic cultures. Names withheld to protect the guilty. Second, there a few companies similar to IBM: Great place to work; compensation is 20% below market rate. And if you want to hide in a hole, there is nothing wrong with that, but for “A” players with ambition and drive, that leaves maybe a dozen HIGH QUALITY companies that pay ABOVE market rate. The “A” companies.

Lessons learned.  First, getting a job above $100,000 is not trivial.  The process can take months, so have a rainy day fund. Second, make your job search a priority and never think “I got this.”  You will be thinking something else entirely six or twelve months from now when you are still unemployed.  Third, be reasonable on compensation.  Finally , if possible, work with an Executive Recruiter.  They know the good companies…and the bad ones.

Several Las Vegas companies have experienced RIFs (reduction in force) lately. Both casinos and suppliers (slot machine companies). Here are a few tips for those affected by the layoffs.

DON’T SPAM YOUR RESUME! Sending your resume to every company and Executive Recruiter in town paints you as desperate. And maybe you are, but you don’t want hiring companies to perceive you in a negative light. If you make more than $100,000 a year, STOP APPLYING TO ONLINE JOB POSTINGS. You will be candidate #500 to apply today. You have a better chance of hitting the lottery. And consider this – do you want to work for a company that hires senior level executives using online ads? There are also good companies like MGM Resorts that post everything, but mostly promote internally. They just have a policy of posting everything.

DON’T BE UNREASONABLE ON COMPENSATION. It’s IGT syndrome. If you work for IGT, Scientific Games or Aristocrat, you are being paid above market rate. Same for Wynn and Las Vegas Sands. Those companies pay top dollar, so thinking you are going to get a big raise, especially when you are unemployed, is not reasonable. This is one of the top reasons executives end up on the beach for six to twelve months – an inflated perception of their market value.  Talk to a few of your peers and get a feel for the market rate based on your education and experience. Even better, ask an Executive Recruiter.

LEVERAGE YOUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK. Roughly 85% of all jobs come from referrals within your professional network. That’s why it’s important to stay in touch with your peers. They are the ones being headhunted by Executive Recruiters. They are the ones that can tell you “which jobs are out there.”

WORK WITH AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER. Approximately 15% of all jobs, and typically the best ones, are through Executive Recruiters. But keep in mind they can only represent you to companies you have not applied or submitted to in the last 12 months. So again, quit spamming your resume to online job postings! Or if you do, no need to contact an Executive Recruiter. They can no longer add value for you. And one of the best tips ever: The wrong time to meet an Executive Recruiter is when you are unemployed. Have one of your peers introduce you to a good Recruiter while you are gainfully employed.

DON’T PANIC, YOU WILL FIND A NEW CAREER OPPORTUNITY. We have the lowest unemployment rate in history. And there is good reason for that – a booming economy and plenty of jobs. This year I had far more issues identifying quality candidates than obtaining search work. Work your network; make friends with an Executive Recruiter. You WILL find a great new career opportunity!

Keep in mind that 80% of the best jobs are filled by referral and 15% by Executive Recruiters. Do you want work for a company that paid $50 for an online posting at Zip Recruiter, or for a company that is paying me $50,000 to find the right person?  Companies that use online postings for senior level roles ($100,000+) are mostly not companies you want to work for.

Let me explain how REFERRALS work in the Executive Recruiting world.  This morning I received a search for a CFO at $300,000. Because I only work with executives I know personally, or that were REFERRED by my network, I sent an email to 200 CFO contacts. Any volunteers? If not, do you know someone good that might have interest?  And I don’t mean met at a bar, I mean you will personally vouch for this person.

The reason for the referral strategy is that most Executive Recruiters don’t accept unsolicited resumes (resumes from people they don’t know). Because they get paid to personally vouch for the candidates they submit, Headhunters are a very conservative bunch.  Their reputation is attached to every single resume they submit.  Think about it. Would you be willing to risk your reputation on someone you don’t know and never met?  Performing due diligence on candidates they don’t know is just too daunting.  And that is why Recruiters don’t call you back when you submit an unsolicited resume.

So here is how you get access to the BEST jobs.  When an Executive Recruiter reaches out and asks for referrals, have a quick look through your network and see if anyone makes sense. Or maybe you have a friend that recently emailed you a resume because he/she wants to make a move. Are you with me?  If you can help…HELP.  Don’t be that guy that emails back, “I’m not interested.”  You know what?  Everything is not about YOU, and if you come off that way, welcome to the “deleted from my rolodex” button.  The correct response is, “I’ll check my contacts, and if I find someone that makes sense, I’ll forward them to you.”  THAT, my friends, is remembered.

Executive Recruiters live off rolodex and referrals.  If you are viewed as a friend that has helped them, guess who gets the calls for the GREAT jobs?  You. And when YOU need a job, guess who returns your calls?  Those same Executive Recruiters you stayed in touch with and tried to help.

For me personally, all other things being equal, the GREAT jobs go to executives that have supported my business over the last 15 years. Why? Because I am the most loyal person you will ever meet, and I remember every single person that helps me by sending a referral.

Happy Holidays!