Have you considered using a headhunter either to assist you and/or to reply to their postings? Or, do you avoid them like the plague? Either way, tell me your experiences with using one, and would you use one again? Or, if you avoid them, why? I am skeptical about whether I’ll get burned by using one, but should I be? What should I look out for? - Jinx
For hiring employees?
For locating an employer?
Being approached by one?
What?
Well, he makes a percentage of the salary he lands you. That’s how he gets paid. So if he’s going to put in a lot of work for a percentage of a small salary, he can put in that same amount of work on someone just like you who will earn him more money.
Besides which, he has a reputation and relationships with certain firms. If he gives Firm A a cheap hire, then Firm B is going to want the “same deal.” There goes his earning potential.
I have never used one myself, but my husband still gets calls from headhunters more than 2 years after he found a great job. Unfortunately, what they have to offer are positions quite a commute away at a lower salary, so he says a lots of “Thanks but no thanks.”
It’s nice to know his skills are in demand, tho.
I have got my last 3 jobs and my last 6 offers via Headhunters. In ‘IT’ it is a simple way of doing business. It shows the company is willing to spend a little money to get a quality employee and it means the Headhunter is doing a lot of the nuisance work for you.
Make sure the Headhunter agrees to not send out your resume without letting you know first.
Never, ever pay a Head Hunter, that is the responsibility of the company.
Jim
I work in a IT/business role and headhunters are generally immoral, lying pests but sometimes they are the ones with the access to a job you actually want. I have gotten jobs from one true headhunter and two consulting agencies. I get 5 - 10 calls a week from them these days and rarely return their calls because I already have a good job. The best mode of defense is to assume that any given one of them is lying about most of what they say. I don’t mean that they are all bad. There are many good ones but you have to find that out through experience. Some of the common lies include representing multiple candidates while claiming you are the only one, stringing you along when the company has little interest in you, and manipulating your resume to be something you never claimed. I have had all of those plus some happen to me. I have dealt with well over 100 headhunters over the years and I like to think I have developed a sense about them. I feel that I have to use them just because of the way my industry is to I never feel the slightest twinge of guilt for cutting a headhunter off abruptly the second I feel that something isn’t being represented correctly. They may act like they are your personal best friend but their job requires churning massive numbers of candidates to hopefully place 1 - 4 people a month out of that huge stack so the personalized angle is mostly a scam.
I got the job that moved me to California through a headhunter, and he more than earned his commission.
I’d advise you to read this column. Nick, a headhunter, hates crooked ones, and gives very good advice (though some of it I disagree with.) He answers questions.
I’m not interested, but I never blow off a headhunter automatically. My strategy is to ask them what I do. About 80% don’t have a clue, but 20% have done the research and have called me about a job which is actually relevant. Those people I talk to, get ask for an email to my private account, say I won’t give them any names from my company, but will recommend people outside now looking.
If I were looking, however, I’d use my connections, which is a lot more effective.
For locating employers. My coworker and I once discussed this in brief and we both agreed they’re maybe one step above pimps. Yet, we also agreed they can be a necessary evil. What’s your experience?
Just wondering… In the past, I’ve gone on a handful of interviews for them [Headhunters] without signing anything. Never got further than this, though. Something better always came along from my own efforts.
Still, I wonder…what’s the catch with working with a Headhunter?
10 years ago I was working as a claims adjuster in Madison WI. My wife and I hated living there because the cost of housing was so high. We wanted to move back to Cincinnati. I called a couple of head hunters from the yellow pages. After finding one that specialized in insurance I told her what I wanted. About a week later I had three interviews with insurance companies in Cincinnati. All three were real positions and not interviews for sales or collections or other bullshit. None of this required a fee at my end. I took one of the three positions that was offered and still work for that company.
So I’d say my experience was very good. Though today I think I would have done just as well to do an internet search of insurance companies in Cincinnati and apply directly.
As a hiring manager I have used them. We end up paying between 20 and 25 percent of the salary of the person we hired.
When I was looking, I have used them. Sometimes they help, sometimes not.
I’ve used them – heck, they throw themselves at me.
But I’ve never gotten a job through a headhunter. Every job I’ve found is from a lead I’ve unearthed myself.
Nevertheless, the last time I looked for a job (like every other time), I used their services.
The catch is that headhunters work for the employer - never forget that. If one is convinced you are the right person to get hired and get him his fee, he can do a lot. Some take the shotgun approach. We used to get resumes from some headhunters, and they would send dozens, all mistyped into the same format, and most totally irrelevant. If you sign on with one of these, and expect they are actually trying to place you, you could waste a lot of time. We only used them if we were growing very quickly, and didn’t have time to recruit all the people we needed, or if we had a very specific opening. This was before people sent resumes into websites, so they were harder to get.
If you use a headhunter, you should ask to see what they are sending out about you. If you are in any sort of technical field, odds are they are clueless about it and make you sound like an idiot by rewriting your resume to their standards.
Though I got lucky, I agree that doing it on your own is much better. if one calls with a good match it might work, but don’t count on it.
Pretty much the same. Last time I tracked down one of the better ones in the area and got a free lunch out of him. He doesn’t do the 6 month contract-to-hire that seems to be the lifeblood of the industry which is why I chose him, but most of the contacts I get are from rogue headhunters with short term jobs and/or positions that I’ve already found by doing a little research on my own.
I specialize in storage area networking and know most of the major players, but wanted to get into the user side and couldn’t get a foot in the door at hospitals, insurance companies, and government. Neither could they, so I’m back where I started on the OEM side.
My main problem with most of them is that I can find the same job just by hitting the jobs page at the company. I need someone that has an in with HR, not someone who thinks they know how to surf Monster. Also, believe it or not, “Storage area network software test engineer” is not the same as “web developer” and has nothing to do with databases. The ones that call me with a wonderful 6 month SQL job half a continent away kind of piss me off.
Some of the headhunters I’ve dealt with have been really nice and proper. A few of them have been manipulative scum, though. I remember one guy who tried to convince me to take a job in San Diego, even though the cost of living there was higher than at my other prospect. His response? “Just think of all the money you’ll save on winter clothing!” Ugh.
Another headhunter asked me direct questions about my marital status. I don’t think he was a newbie, either; rather, he acted as though he had been in the business for a while. If it’s illegal for an interviewer to inquire about your marital status, then why should it be legal for a headhunter to do the same?
When I was open to a new job, I met with several headhunters. My impression is that they are only there to make a sale and will tell you anything to get you a commission. They will conveniently ignore anything you want if they don’t think there is a quick sale in it.
A couple of years ago, I was in internal auditing which, thanks to the Sarbanes Oxley law, was in high demand. I had a few requirements, I will only work in financial services, I will not work more than 30 minutes from my house and I will not do more than 50% travel and will not re-locate. After all, I liked my firm and was under no pressure, so I could be picky.
I met with one guy who contacted me, told him the requirements and within a week, he had a ton of employers that he wanted to hook me up with: a gas company, a utility, a drug wholesaler and a defense contractor. For each of them he tried to sell me on how much ‘finance’ was involved in the auditing. No.
Another week comes. Now there is a bank in Delaware and mortgage company in New Jersey, both of which are at least an hour without traffic. He now said that he had met the financial services requirement and that in each case, the commute wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined.
Now repeat this process with the next three headhunters.
I had never used a headhunter, until I met Erica. My God but she is HOT! I’ve used her everytime I’ve wanted to change jobs since then, but only because she is HOT. Did I mention she is HOT?
So my contribution, use a headhunter but only if she is HOT!