People naturally expect ‘headhunting’ to give them direct access to the very best talent. They eagerly await the proposed shortlist only to be left disappointed. The quality of candidates often doesn’t come even close to their expectations.
There are some good reasons for this.
Why headhunting doesn’t always work in the 'real world’.
- They’re not allowed to contact the best candidates – Most recruitment companies have clauses in their contracts to stop them headhunting from their old clients. If it’s a large recruitment company with hundreds of clients, these agreements immediately make a lot of the best candidates ‘off-limits’. Similarly, a specialist recruiter operating in a small recruitment pool will soon find the best talent is unapproachable. (Warning – If your recruiter doesn’t have these agreements, limit their access to your staff!)
- The best people don’t get contacted – Technology has moved on, but the approach hasn’t. It’s still the ‘easily-available’ that get approached, not the highest quality. The temptation for a recruiter to fire off a few messages on ‘LinkedIn’ and see what happens is often too much for them to ignore. Unfortunately, it is not how you will find the best available talent.
- The right people aren’t interested – The usual ‘role-centric’ approach works well in standard recruitment, but it won’t pique the interest of most ‘in-demand candidates’. The motivations of the candidate have to be understood and the opportunity framed for each person. That takes skill and an agile, fast-thinking approach.
- The Pressure To Produce – Headhunters know they need to come up with a certain number of people. In order to do this, they are often tempted to ‘pad out’ the shortlist.
What you can do
Many of the problems are down to how recruiting businesses are organised. Unless they change their model it’s difficult to make changes. However, you can at least get some assurances by asking the right questions:
- Which companies are out of bounds to the recruiter?
- How do they decide who to approach?
- How do they introduce the opportunity?
Their response to these questions will give you a better chance of predicting how successful they are likely to be.
Our 'In-Demand' Candidate Approach
We developed our approach after analysing and monitoring countless search assignments over a twenty-year period. You will notice several key advantages:
Better Candidates at Lower Costs
- Minimise no-headhunting clauses that hobble other recruiters. We using a different recruitment structure and approach.
- Collaborative research. We work with you to pinpoint more directly relevant candidates, whilst at the same time reducing your fees.
- Our own research methodology was developed in-house to attract 'genuine' talent as opposed to relying on the usual responders.
Specialising in 'In Demand' Talent
Most recruitment companies use a website that is trying to appeal to all types of candidates and potential clients. This gives a confusing message. We use a website that is aimed specifically at 'high demand' candidates. It increases candidate response and raises the credibility of our consultants. (You can see for yourself here - www.dfsearch.com.) In turn, our consultants are trained specifically and deal exclusively with in-demand candidates.
Related Solutions To Consider
Avoid competitors, reach the right candidates and increase your offer acceptance rate.
Pinpoint the right candidates and discover what they are looking for - BEFORE you even meet them.
Uncover the real talent and combine with 'headhunting' to reduce costs and increase your success rate.
More Information?
As always, feel free to get in touch for an informal, confidential chat.
You can contact us here.
