Headhunter - how to understand him?

Headhunter- a misunderstood role. Most job seekers generally misunderstand the role of professional headhunters (also known as headhunters) employed by recruitment agencies and as a result miss out on countless job opportunities.

In this article I will explain exactly how headhunters work and how you can find them, as they are an essential part of the job search process especially for high level managers

Because headhunters are hired by employers to fill vacancies they don't want to advertise, so in many cases you will never have access to these positions unless you find the right headhunters.

What is the job of a headunter?

This process always starts with the employer. First there is a need to hire someone for the position, usually the business (hiring manager) informs its HR department. The HR manager or HR specialist prepares a description of the candidate sought. This usually includes both interpersonal, soft and hard skills that will suit their organisation. In the case of so-called confidential recruitment, the employer generally chooses to work with executive search consultancies.

See also: 7 benefits of hiring an executive search firm

The headhunter is then concerned with finding an exact match. I emphasized the phrase "exact match" because that is probably the most important thing to understand about headhunters. They are hired to streamline the hiring process, not complicate it. Therefore, they are only interested in candidates who exactly meet the criteria given to them by their client.

Rejection - it is nothing personal.

If you don't meet these criteria, you probably won't get a call, no matter how great your employment history... It's not personal - it's simply that the headhunter needs to find exactly what they've been asked to do in order to a) make money and b) get the next project from their client.

A company's HR/recruitment person could complete this task themselves, but they have hired a headhunter because they generally do not have the time or resources to reach out to, for example, candidates working for their competitors. From this headhunter she expects the only CVs she will see to be highly qualified candidates who meet the criteria she has set out in the job specification. She doesn't want to see creative opportunities. She doesn't want to hear the headhunter say: "I know this guy doesn't have the experience you asked for, but he seems interesting." She wants to see a small group of perfectly qualified candidates.

Therefore, you probably won't hear back from most headhunters you come into contact with. Don't take this personally. It's not a reflection on your skills or employment history. It simply means that your professional profile does not match the profile our talent hunter is looking for.

The second important thing to understand about headhunters is that they work for the client, not you. Prices vary, but are usually 20-30% of your annual salary if they find you a job. This means that the headhunter is loyal to their Client. They have no interest in helping you - they focus solely on their client's needs. I know how it sounds, but it's better to know the truth than not know what it's about.

Thirdly, because their compensation for a good headhunter is based solely on successful projects, they don't have the luxury of spending time on items without much chance of being completed. Each headhunter only works on a limited number of searches (aka searches) at any given time, and most will not pay attention to your CV if you are not an exact match for the vacancy they are looking to fill.

All this means that you need to see headhunters as useful contacts, not as people who are there to help you find your next job.

When headhunters can help and when they cannot

Because a headhunter's job is to find an exact match, headhunters are generally not helpful to those who want to change their career.

And if you are new to the job market, talent hunters are also not the best resource for you. Most employers don't use them to fill entry-level positions, so you're wasting your time contacting them.

But if you know what you want to do and are qualified to do it, headhunters will be a key part of your search strategy.

Should you only work with one 'headhunter'?

No! This is probably the most common misconception that hurts job seekers, but working with just one headhunter is just as useful as sending just one CV throughout your job search and hoping to get that one job.

You need to understand that each headhunter will only fill a few vacancies at a time, and most of them will not be suitable for you. This means you need to be in touch with as many headhunters as possible, because you never know which one has the perfect job offer for you. And you need to stay in touch over time, because they may not have the perfect job now, but it could land on their desk in three months' time.

The importance of specialisation in a headhunter.

Most headhunters have a specific specialism will ignore your CV if you don't fit the type of recruitment projects they often do.

Therefore, you should carefully consider whether your professional experience and profile matches the positions and profiles recruited by our talent hunter.

I cannot stress this more strongly. Nothing annoys headhunters more than being spammed by potential candidates who haven't taken the time to understand what the headhunter's specialism is. If a headhunter only hires finance managers in Warsaw, and you are a construction project manager in Lublin, the chances of getting that position are very slim.

So a tip- take some time to understand what kind of projects the headhunter deals with and contact those who have projects similar to your job profile. With this approach the cooperation with headhunter will be fruitful and your chances will increase dramatically. If you need support in recruiting candidates in IT, digital marketing or sales I think we can help you. Send us an email by clicking this link

Why is a Linkedin profile so important when looking for a job?

With a profile on Linkedin becoming an increasingly popular search channel among recruiters, optimizing your profile is becoming more important than ever. Many headhunters know how to format their resumes. However, an account on LinkedIn is often overlooked by potential candidates. If you don't already have a profile then it will be worthwhile to create a profile that will catch the attention of recruiters.

As such, I have detailed 3 tips on how to quickly optimise your LinkedIn profile to ensure maximum exposure to recruiters!

Use the right LinkedIn SEO keywords to appear in relevant searches.

In order for recruiters to contact you about new job openings, assume that your Linkedin profile is the basis for listing all your keywords. Indeed, these will be searched for by potential employers or recruiters. Meanwhile, overlooked keywords (in my experience) include technology (e.g. Excel/ Google Analytics/ Javascript/ SQL, etc.) and synonyms for your job title. But don't forget that keywords should be presented in context - for example, in a summary of your work experience or skills. So if someone is fluent in Swedish, for example, they should include that in the summary, skills or description. Also be sure to include the correct url, which can help with searches. Modern recruiting tools such as ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) are able to download a candidate's profile from Linkedin to their database, and process it there using artificial intelligence to recommend the most suitable profiles. One of the criteria for this matching is precisely the relevant objective keywords.

Below is an example of a not very successful description, without keywords:

And now another description with keywords:

Which one tells you more?

How to strengthen your personal branding?

Linkedin's algorithm favors profiles with a large network of contacts with lots of activity, and ranks them higher in recruitment search results. It also undoubtedly favors users with recommendations and endorsements. Although some users prefer to have a more compact LinkedIn network with connections they have interviewed, it definitely helps to have a large network of contacts who post regularly on the portal.
Nevertheless, make sure your Linkedin account makes a good first impression

On average, a recruiter spends 7 seconds looking at your profile items on LinkedIn before deciding whether or not to contact you. Studies that track the eye movement of recruiters when viewing profiles on Linkedin show that most of those 7 seconds are spent looking at your profile picture. The background photo is followed shortly by your titles/work experience and then your summary. Remember that the background photo is no less important than the profile photo. Photos should have a proper description (title) and ALT text (alternative description).

Recruiters usually skip profiles where the name is hidden or we have written e.g. Beata J or Oskar K.

Given the above, keep your Linkedin account professional, concise and clear so that a recruiter can read it easily.
Incidentally, research has also shown that a clear and simple profile on Linkedin is preferred 60% more than a complex profile with little white space.
Highlight your accomplishments in your professional summary and show potential employers the value you can bring to their business.

Fast Forward Solutions - your source for top professionals

Fast Forward Solutions specializes in recruitment services in the areas of IT, e-commerce, sales and marketing. Our rigorous methodology combines role profiling, executive search and candidate assessment, supported by consulting services. As a result, we guarantee efficiency and rapid acquisition of the best talent on the market. With our support, any company can increase sales, reduce operating costs, improve the efficiency of human resources management and strengthen investor confidence.

About the author: Tomasz Bożyczko

Tomasz Bożyczko is an experienced sales leader, CEO and founder of Fast Forward Solutions. His passion for recruiting and developing teams has contributed to the success of many organizations. Tomasz is an expert in hiring top talent and improving recruitment processes.

We hope these tips will help you create compelling job opportunities and optimize your recruitment process to attract the most valuable employees for your company.