DIY Headhunting – Without the Danger

It is possible to ‘head-hunt’ yourself. Get it right and you could find exactly the right person and save yourself a fortune in fees. If you decide to go down this route, there’s one thing you must bear in mind.

Discretion Is Paramount

The last thing you want to do is generate a feud with competitor companies. Even if you can stand the unpleasantness, your colleagues may not thank you for it.

In addition, you also run the risk of provoking retaliatory headhunting calls from rival companies. This is bad enough if it’s just your area, but what if it spreads to other departments? Things can quickly build to a scenario where a lot of blame is being pointed in your direction.

…and let’s not forget if you don’t get the candidate – this could all be nothing.

Minimise Your Risk

Whilst you can’t take away all the risk, there are ways to limit your exposure.

It’s The Rejected Candidates That Cause The Most Damage. They might not like the rejection, they may even feel led-on or ‘duped’ into given away secrets. For this reason, extra care should be made when rejecting candidates.

Limit The Failed Approaches. It’s hard to keep a secret the more people know about it. Worse, if it becomes common knowledge, it becomes more dangerous for the candidate to speak to you

Avoid Direct Initial Approaches – Too many things can go wrong and your knowledge of the candidate is usually lacking. Establish a system of contact where the first contact is more ‘tangental’. From there you can evaluate if they are suitable and perhaps even if they might be interested.

Use ‘Neutral’ Venues – Places such as trade shows, conferences, training seminars can be used to make contact with potential candidates. Even internet forums have their uses…

Avoid going straight for the pitch, use the second contact approach – When you first meet someone in a non-interview setting, prioritise listening. Resist the temptation to ‘jump in’. The chances are, you’ll just make things uncomfortable and the flow of information will stop. Instead, based on what they have said, make a follow-up call with an ‘idea that might be worth exploring.’  

How Can We Help?

Unlike most other recruiting companies, we WANT you to develop your headhunting resources and your own candidate generation system. In fact, we’ll help you do it! We believe that it’s often the way to get the best candidates.

Reduced Fees – Increased Success Rates

In some circumstances, you might have generated the candidates, but it makes sense to have an external party do your headhunting. Examples include:

1. Less confrontational. Using a professional third party can minimise the risk of potential repercussions to well below an acceptable risk level.
2. Faster. A skilled third party can utilise faster approaches that would be ‘dangerous’ for DIY headhunters.  
3. Headhunting is a skill. Experienced headhunters drastically increase the success rate. This is particularly important if there is only a limited number of people to approach.
4. It’s not just about setting up a meeting. The ultimate goal is to get an offer accepted! A skilled third party can uncover motivations, circumstances and developments that would never be disclosed to a potential employer. When recruiting ‘in demand’ talent, this knowledge is often critical for your success.