How to work with leading international headhunters
What To Look For In International Headhunters
When it comes to filling your next senior level position, working with international headhunters makes a lot of sense. After all, top notch CEOs and managers are hard to come by, which means there’s a chance you’ll need to look abroad for your next hire.
It doesn’t end there, of course. Identifying A++ talent is just the first step. Then, you have to convince them to quit their job and their country to come work for you.
International headhunters make the whole process so much easier. But how do you choose the right firm to work with? What do businesses need to look for? In this article, we take a look at seven key things you need to look for when hiring international headhunters.
They’re Empathetic
When you’re scouting talent from another country, there is so much to consider from the perspective of an employee. For example, when a senior level employee quits a company in one country for a company in another country, they know that there are some huge lifestyle changes and upheavals involved.
Expert headhunters are the best at empathising with high-level employees who are facing major life changes. They treat potential candidates professionally, knowing that how they treat them can either improve or significantly decrease the chances of convincing them to come and work with you.
The best headhunting firms understand the important role that humanity and empathy play in the overall recruitment process. Empathy is something that will come across in your interviews with headhunting firms. Keep an eye out for it.
They’re Risk Tolerant
Is following the herd the best way to hire your next standout CEO? Not exactly. Fortune very much favours the brave when it comes to finding the best senior level employees.
The best headhunting firms understand that, in order to make an impact and land you the best talent, they have to be risk tolerant. They are ambitious, curious, creative, imaginative – and they’re ready to take a risk.
It’s important to understand that those international headhunters who get the best results see opportunities that others don’t. By being ambitious, curious, creative, and imaginative, they’re able to build a compelling case for why someone should come and join your organisation.
Of course, not everything that they try will come off. Where some of their ideas succeed, others will fall by the wayside. But the best firms learn as they go along, appreciate what went wrong, and make the effort to get it right the next time around.
They’re Tenacious
Headhunters are super driven. Once they get their teeth into a challenge, they won’t let go which means that they are tenacious when it comes to pursuing the best candidates in any given field.
Moreover, consider that there are two types of headhunters: retained and contingent.
Contingent headhunters don’t receive a dime from you until you make a hire, while retained headhunters charge you a portion of the fee upfront. With retained headhunters, you become their sole focus. This sort of exclusivity sharpens their resolve to close a candidate. It motivates them to see out a “deal.”
Even better than that, standout headhunters are self-motivated and require little to no direction from you. They won’t stop until they’ve got what they want.
They Have Excellent Marketing Skills
In this day and age, it’s absolutely imperative that you find a headhunting firm that has excellent marketing skills.
Why does this matter? Because when you’re searching for senior level, executive candidates, it’s important to remember that you have to work hard at selling your company to them. Passive candidates are happy and content in their job. They have absolutely zero reason to quit their company, and the country they’re employed in, to come and work for you.
This is where marketing comes in. The best international headhunters are able to market your brand, as well as your country, your city, and its lifestyle, so that the whole package appeals to passive candidates who hadn’t previously thought about uprooting their family.
Look for international headhunters who adopt a multi-channel marketing approach. See how they manage to cut through the noise to convince outstanding candidates to not only quit their jobs, but also join their client’s company over a rival.
They Have a Wide Range of Knowledge
Of course it’s important that international headhunters know their sector and your sector inside out. But what you should be looking out for are the things that separate average international headhunters from the best.
The best firms have the kind of curiosity that means they regularly tackle the latest research, best practices, and white papers. They self-educate. They’re constantly growing their skills and looking for new ways to level up and improve their game.
They’re Passionate About What They Do
The last thing you should look for when hiring international headhunters is passion.
In other words, what is their reason for doing this? Why do they enjoy their job?
It’s important to note that headhunting is hard. No one does it because it’s easy. To get the best results, international headhunters must have a passion for what they do.
Passion will be easy to spot in an interview, but you could also tap into their why by simply asking them: “Why do you do this?”
For the best executive headhunters, finding outstanding senior level candidates is what gives them a sense of accomplishment. And that insatiable passion is just what you need to help you make an outstanding hire.
All in all, you need to pay close attention when you interview your next headhunters. Look out for passion, empathy, and tenacity, while making sure your next International headhunters are up-to-date with all the latest tech and marketing strategies. If you can tick off each attribute in this article, there’s a chance that you’re onto a winner.
