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Advantages and Disadvantages of Headhunting

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Headhunting ...


In the final part of the series, we take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of Headhunting against running a standard recruitment campaign. In previous articles, we looked at what exactly Headhunting is and some top tips to help you be successful. Here we want to take a step back and look at what the benefits are of running an executive search also if there are any disadvantages to this approach.

Before we jump into this, lets take a moment to remind you exactly what a Head-hunter is. A head-hunter is a person or company that assists your company in sourcing talent. This tends to be in specialist or executive positions but can be for any role. Rather than just advertising a role, a head-hunter will proactively try and source you the best candidates for the position.

 

Advantages of Headhunting

Let’s jump straight into the advantages that running a Headhunting campaign can bring.

1. Attract Passive Candidates

One of the key benefits of a Head-hunter is that they can attract passive candidates that normally would not be exposed to your job ad. This means you open up your talent pool wider and potentially attract better quality candidates. These people are not actively looking for job roles but head-hunters will use their networking or outreach skills to proactively seek them out and approach them.

2. Improve Efficiency

Head-hunters can improve the efficiency of your recruitment process by taking over the responsibility of locating and approaching talent and using their skills and experience to identify the most suitable candidates for the vacancy. They can save you time by removing the need for you to filter through huge number of unqualified job applications and only presenting you with the most relevant candidates.

3. Reduce Costs

Although Headhunting services come with a cost, you need to weigh that up against the savings you will make against internal costs. It can be a time-consuming task to peruse hundreds of CVs which is not a productive use of time. Head-hunters will do a lot of the work for you saving you plenty of time and money plus a better quality hire can improve profitability moving forward.

4. Hire Better Employees

Head-hunters use years of talent sourcing skills to attract the best and most reliable employees. Having this experience allows them to spot the best talent but also the people who are the best fit for your company and more likely to stay with you in the long term.

5. Keep It Confidential

There are certain job roles that you might not want to make public which can make it hard to advertise. A Head-hunter can carry out a campaign in confidentiality allowing you to attract candidates without making the role publicly available.

 

Disadvantages of Headhunting

Despite the numerous advantages of headhunting, there are certain scenarios where it might not be the best option. Below are some the main disadvantages of running this type of recruitment campaign.

1. Missing Industry Experience

If you are looking to hire a Head-hunter, then it is important you check to see if they are an expert in your industry. There might be some specific requirements you have that you need to get across that require knowledge of your sector so they will need to either have the relevant knowledge or you need to make sure you specify your requirements in as much detail as possible.

 

2. Being Removed From The Process

Head-hunters can offer a range of services from simply sourcing candidates to handling the entire process. The problem here can be that you might end up getting someone you are not happy with if you have been eliminated from the interview stages. A compromise here is to allow the head-hunter to source and validate the best candidates and then you take over the final interview stages.

 

3. Having Your Best Interest At Heart

A traditional head-hunter usually works on a commission basis which means the higher the salary offered the higher their cost. This could potentially lead to a conflict of interest whereby they are not necessarily communicating what is best for the company but what would work out best for them. It is important that you can trust your head-hunter and ensure they are working for the best outcome for your company.

 

Final Thoughts

Headhunting has clear benefits that allow you to attract the best possible candidates for your organisation. At ecruit, we have addressed the main drawbacks of this approach to deliver an effective, low cost solution. Our sector specific experts ensure they know what is required within each industry and most of our clients still retain the final interview stage to ensure they get the final say on how is selected. Also, as we work on a fixed cost basis, you can be confident that we have your best interest at heart and are focused on delivering the best possible candidate with no additional commission costs.

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