I was talent I-Ded [spotted by a talent scout] when I was 16 but it wasn't until I won the World Championships for the first time in 2005 that I realised I was any good.

These retained search firms are the gatekeepers to 60, 000 to 70, 000 senior-level jobs worldwide every year, he adds.

Half the world thinks you've lost your mind, headhunters say you'll never work again and your mother-in-law contributes the old "I told you so" routine.