Secrets of the Headhunters

Whether you’re considering joining one of London’s top Executive Headhunting Firms, thinking about finding one to fill top-level a vacancy in your business, or working with one to get your next job, it’s worth knowing a little about how these firms operate, to help you make the best decision for you.

Firstly, especially if you’re considering working with a headhunter or high-level recruiter to get a job, you should remember that these firms work for and on behalf of the company they are recruiting for. In most cases they have a benign relationship with all parties, but it’s worth bearing in mind that at the end of the day, a recruiter is briefed by and ultimately answers to the company they’re working for. If you’re an employer, that’s good news! You’re the one in the driving seat, and if you’re not getting candidates that are suitable you have the authority to tell the recruiter where they’re going wrong.

Terms

Most headhunting agencies work in one of two ways: retainer or contingency. If they work on retainer, they have a lasting relationship with the company they’re recruiting for, and have smaller fees paid at the beginning and middle of the recruiting process as well as a larger one when the hire is at last finalised. This works well for large companies who fill a lot of positions – a drip feed of turnover can justify keeping a recruitment firm on retainer.

For smaller firms, or simply businesses that don’t anticipate a lot of need for recruitment, contingency is a better option: the firm is only contacted with the specific brief to find candidates for a specific role and will be paid in a lump sum when the hiring process is complete. While this saves some money for companies that really won’t be recruiting much, opting for contingency over retainer contracts as a matter of course often proves to be an example of short term thinking.

Retainer contracts allow a headhunter to invest in a developing relationship with the business, gaining a deep understanding of their needs, their culture and the sort of people who would thrive there. This allows them to provide better and better candidates for the available roles: for one thing, this understanding lets them pull the right people from their network quicker, for another having a long-term relationship with a company is a vote of confidence in that company. Candidates will see that an endorsement, and be more willing to come forward!