How do Headhunters Work
Headhunter is a nickname for an Executive Recruiter. Headhunters can be self-employed or paid employees of an Executive Search Firm. Recruiter compensation is commission based, so headhunters will work with very placeable candidates in hopes of making as many placements in the shortest amount of time. Part of a recruiter's concerns are social and business. Yes, they want to make the candidates and the paying company happy but its also a business. If the business concerns aren't in balance with the recruiter's social concerns then it can hurt the recruiter financially.A company pays a Recruiter or Recruiter Firm a commission based on 10-30% of the position's annual salary. Now why wouldn't a Company just use their Human Resources Dept to handle recruitment? One reason is that many companies are notoriously slow at handling their staffing needs. The best candidates will have already been offered and accepted a position by the time that HR Dept has decided on a candidate and hired them. Recruiters expedite the hiring process for Companies with urgent staffing needs. Another reason for using a recruiter is "Corporate Raiding". For example, If a company drains 20% of another company's IT department, then the raided company may have grounds for legal action. The Recruiter is a hired gun in this scenario and acts as a 3rd party buffer. Now what is the "Best" job candidate? It's someone who is currently working in that position with 2-3 years industry background. Of those people that are working, a recruiter will look for a "Career Wound" on that person. Career wounds are legitimate complaints that a candidate has about their current job that compels them to overcome fear of change and to accept employment with another company. Recruiter's screen potential candidates and present only the highest quality individuals to Companies. So a good Recruiter will know how to read a resume and suggest changes in content and format to better sell that candidate. Recruiters coach candidates on how to interview effectively. Recruiters will check references on the candidate to use as a screening aid. They know how to find out the good and the bad stuff on a potential candidate. Recruiters will also sell the company that is paying their commission. Many times, after an interview, company managers and candidates will forget to express interest in pursuing the matter further. When this happens, it can hurt a company's staffing because they either failed to sell themselves or the candidate failed to express desire and motivation for that position.Many people make the mistake of faxing their resume to as many recruiters as they can find. Never do this because nothing is more embarrassing then presenting a candidate to a Company President or manager who has already seen that resume. No recruiter with any experience would work with anyone that fax blasted his resume. So, a recruiter will always ask you who you have sent your resume to and make sure you are honest when answering that question.A recruiter will rarely use any job search service to view resumes because many of those people are unemployed. The top candidates are almost always working and aggressively sought after. Many companies use phone menus to keep out the uninvited so it can be difficult to find candidates. Some industries such as Medical are more recruiter friendly then Information Technology. If an industry has a phone directory of companies and facilities, then you can bet a recruiter has one and is on the phone making 100+ phone calls per day.Recruiters can be very effective at sourcing candidates and job orders because they network with many reputable recruiters. When this happens, the commissions are split between the job order and candidate side of the placement. A recruiter receives a job order for a management position or technical position and doesn't really have time to pursue that fully. So he calls around to other recruiters to see if they have candidates for that job order. Then, they sign a split fee agreement and usually split up the work load on that job order. Other recruiters may have a great candidate and no job order to fill, so they may market that candidate to other recruiters or other companies.Many businesses see recruiters as the enemy as well as the ally. Some companies have had valuable people recruited away while others have had great people recruited to them. Headhunters are damned if they do and damned if they don't. There is usually a losing company and a gaining company in most candidate placements. If a company gets nasty with a recruiter, that may cause him to declare open season on that company and use that business as a candidate source. So its always best to be polite and professional with a recruiter because its better to have them on your side then against you.
