As Headhunters it is our role to make direct approaches to specific individuals that work for our clients competitors. We add value by heavily researching and targeting senior people that are NOT actively looking for a career move and would therefore be unreachable by any other means for our clients. These headhunted candidates are content in their current positions and are adding substantial value to their employers organisations so they have no reason to actively look for a career change. These people can bring great success, valuable market knowledge and they also already understand the products/ solutions and require no training so it’s a really clever method for companies to find the best people in their industry. Furthermore Headhunters will offer a truly consultative approach and coach all parties through the process by offering their detailed knowledge and experience and management of both parties expectations. It is an extremely confidential, delicate and focused process that needs to be handled by true experts. Also it will provide candidates with a great perception of a hiring firm that uses professional Headhunters. In the wrong hands a senior hiring project can cause long term and extremely serious problems.

Advertising or using a database on the other hand targets candidates that are actively looking for change and so this approach would never be used by a true Headhunter. Charlatans who profess to being Headhunters and then advertise their jobs (or use databases) are giving a bad name to the rest of the industry. They are not providing a thorough and consultative method and they are just being lazy and reactive. Advertising is a great and cost effective method for hiring a certain level of candidate or a number of similar roles. However for strategic and key appointments then Headhunters with a strong track record who guarantee their work are a true investment for any organisation looking to hire the best people.