THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAD-HUNTERS AND RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

A true head-hunter is a consultant who approaches you (usually by telephone) and asks you to speak with them about a potential job for which you haven’t applied. They come to you. This is the only type of recruitment situation where you aren’t the one in the driving seat – you can’t apply to a head-hunter (although you might eventually end up on their database for future openings they handle, if they like you but you don’t get the particular job they approached you about).

Head-hunters usually only deal with senior positions – those paying large salaries. But if a particular skill set or combination of skills and/or experience/qualifications is in short supply, they may be used to find just the right person for a job with very specific or unusual requirements.

They are paid by a company to look for the right person for them. They’re usually paid a retainer – so they get paid a certain percentage of their fee before they have even started the work! The usual operating process in the UK is that they are paid one-third of the total fee to start work, one-third of the fee when they present a shortlist of candidates to the employer, and one-third when the job is filled.

Head-hunters can be slightly peculiar to work with, in that they can be very secretive. This can be for a number of reasons. They may not be able to tell you who the job is for – which company they are recruiting for. They may have been asked not to by their client. But they also have to exercise some caution, as you represent a potential fee to them. If they tell you which company is looking for your exact skills and experience, you might just contact the company direct, and they’d lose their fee!

One thing to bear in mind is that they are usually looking for something very specific for an employer. This means that:

• (a)There’s no need to feel slighted if you don’t get the job – the requirements are usually very precise and hard to find, which is why head-hunters are being used in the first place.
• (b)Your chances of getting the job are actually quite low – head-hunters research a large number of people, and only present a few to their client. Just being contacted and interviewed doesn’t mean that you are in with a good chance, it means they are trying to find out whether you fit the bill or not. Your chances of success may be a lot less than when being interviewed by a recruitment agency, for example.
• (c)On the other hand, you are likely to have a very high chance of getting the job if you progress as far as being interviewed by the company looking for someone. This is because if you get to that stage, it means you are potentially a perfect match with their requirements – you know you are on a very small shortlist.

THE BALANCE OF POWER

In a nutshell, this is one interview where the balance of power rests firmly with the head-hunter on the face of things. They have all the information, whereas you have only as much as they give you, and that’s very often none!

Disadvantages

• You have no information unless they choose to give it to you.
• You can’t judge how to present yourself in the best light unless you know what they’re looking for.
• Even answering very simple questions can eliminate you from the running, if the answer isn’t what they are looking for – and you don’t know what that is!

Advantages

There are some advantages, though.

• You’ve been head-hunted. Congratulations! You must have something that people want.
• If you are right for the job, they will be very keen to persuade you to look at it and meet with the employer. So if you do get through the initial interview and progress to meeting the employer, your chances are very good.

THE PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW

Skill and expertise

The purpose of an interview with a head-hunter is for them to initially interview you and see whether you are indeed a match for the role they are seeking to fill. They will probably be asking the majority of their questions about the level of skill and experience you have in various areas. Examples might include:

• How much experience do you have in cashflow analysis?
• In your current role, what percentage of your time is spent in customer contact?
• Have you ever done sales presentations?

Ideologically/personality fit

You can also expect to be assessed as to how good a ‘fit’ you might be with the organisation. Cultural issues, personality and approach may be something they have been asked to look at, to ensure they don’t offer a candidate with a very relaxed working style, for example, to a very formal company. Examples of these questions might include:

• Would you say that your current employer is a good place to work?
• Have you ever worked in a non-profit organisation?
• Do you prefer to work in a formal hierarchy or a relaxed organisational structure?
• My client is a Japanese company – do you know much about their working style and culture?

Willingness to move jobs right now

The final area which a head-hunter may want to explore is how likely you are to progress things if they think you would be suitable for the job on offer. Bearing in mind the fact that they asked you to interview, and you didn’t apply for the job, there is a chance that you’re actually fairly happy where you are currently working and don’t want to move.

They do know that you are at least willing to attend an interview, but how serious are you about taking a new job if offered one? It’s pointless them presenting you to their client, you interviewing and even being offered the job, if you weren’t seriously willing to accept it if offered. They need to assess how you feel about the type of work the job involves, the type of company etc, and be absolutely sure they aren’t wasting their client’s time.

MAKING THE RIGHT IMPRESSION

When meeting with a head-hunter, you usually want to be carried forward to the next stage of the process. It never pays to be too suspicious. Just try to relax; if they don’t give you much information, just let it go and don’t be wary or come across as though you might not be very interested. Playing hard to get at this stage is not really a good idea. They won’t put forward a candidate they think will be difficult when interviewing with their client, after all.

You need to convey the impression that you’re open to the right offer if anything suitable comes up; and that you’re happy where you’re working at present if anything doesn’t. Don’t appear desperate to move, because if you’re unhappy where you are, why aren’t you already looking for yourself?

As you can’t tell exactly what skills and/or experience they are looking for (unless they choose to tell you), there’s no point trying to bluff about how experienced you are. You could be telling them you’re experienced at something which you really enjoy, but that is something that they aren’t looking for! Just be honest. If you’re asked in detail about experience you don’t have much of, say so now.

Being honest

Give an accurate account of your abilities and the experience you have. Be honest about any gaps you have – if you have no experience in a particular area, say so when asked. Far better to eliminate yourself from their search at this stage than progress things further and ending up embarrassing them – they won’t represent you again if you do that. You may not be put forward for this job, but at least the head-hunter knows he or she can trust you, and they may find you suitable for something else at a later date.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Can you give me any more information?

The most obvious question to ask is what the job is and who the employer is. The head-hunter may not tell you, but at least you should ask. If nothing else, you should try to establish whether the job is a promotion from the role you currently do, and what type of business the employer is in.

Have I been successful?

Obviously you wouldn’t put it like that, but basically when you leave, it’s useful to know whether the head-hunter thinks you might be a suitable match or not. Ask directly, ‘do you mind if I ask whether or not you think I am a good fit with what you’re looking for?’ Usually they will say if you are, and if not, head-hunters tend to say something like, ‘possibly, but I need to have a think about it and see one or two other people. I’ll get back to you.’ It saves you becoming excited about what was, after all, an unexpected opportunity if you aren’t right for the job.

What sort of salary/package is on offer?

You might think that no head-hunter or recruitment agency would put you forward for a job paying the same or even less than you earn now, wouldn’t you? All I can say is that stranger things have happened! Best to ask the question now.

What skills/competencies are you looking for?

If you could ask this at the beginning, you’d get a real feel for what they are looking for! In any event, it gives you a little more idea of whether or not you’d be interested.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

The process after an interview with a head-hunter may well be slightly longer than you are used to. Remember, this first interview is merely designed to see whether or not you should go on a shortlist to the client. The typical head-hunter is different from a recruitment agency, in that unlike the agency the head-hunter has to interview every single candidate before deciding whether or not to place them on the shortlist. This can take time, especially if you are one of the first to be interviewed, before you hear anything else. An agency, on the other hand, may have interviewed you once, and can then put you forward for jobs without interviewing you again. So things have a tendency to move much more quickly.

Then once the shortlist goes from the head-hunter to the client there may be a further delay whilst the employer decides who to interview. So don’t worry if things seem a little slow.

After that the process is that the employer may decide:

• You aren’t right for them – in which case the head-hunter will let you know.
• They’d like to see you – in which case the head-hunter should arrange an interview.

Remember, the interview with the employer means that you are in with a very good chance, as you have been very thoroughly screened against their precise requirements. There may be further, subsequent interviews at the company, but processes vary.

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