How to Select the Best Headhunter Agency in 2023

The talent war is real, and it’s still hitting strong. Companies are struggling to find qualified candidates while juggling other responsibilities and ensuring stellar results.

That left many with no other solution but to hire a headhunter agency. However, business owners and HR departments shouldn’t see that as a defeat or a failure.

Instead, it can be a power move, giving them the upper hand in recruitment and beating the competition.

However, headhunter agencies aren’t only helpful for companies hoping to combat the talent war and get the best match. They are also a good solution for HR departments with an increased workload and tasks, with no time to commit themselves to find a suitable candidate for a new job opening. Sometimes, hiring external help can make a world of difference for a dynamic company or a scaling-up startup.

Since 93 percent of employers are doing some form of recruitment in 2022, it’s no surprise many will need professional support throughout the process. After all, these agencies specialize in carefully and strategically acquiring top talents for businesses of all sizes.

Their primary concern is matching the right person with the right job. Because of that, many companies also use them for high-profile roles, going above their budgets and hoping to find professionals with specific and rare skills.

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Who Works with Headhunter Agencies?

Headhunter agencies consist of highly skilled professionals, typically knowledgeable about niche industries. Thanks to that, their recruiters are specialists, goal-oriented, and experienced. But even though one doesn’t need a reason to work with these agencies, some employers need it more than others.

Many employers have been undergoing unprecedented challenges since the Great Resignation started, encouraging people to quit their jobs. But this phenomenon also inspired job seekers to stand up for themselves and set higher expectations.

Yet, that made the recruitment process harder for companies and HR departments. It is no longer enough to offer generous salaries or have a stellar company brand.

Instead, companies must provide a carefully crafted candidate experience, better job descriptions, personalized employee perks, flexibility, and smooth onboarding. That is a lot of work for HR departments to maneuver and conduct efficiently.

They might have to seek help outside the company to provide excellent results consistently. That’s where a headhunter agency enters the picture.

These companies are focused on helping employers hoping to outsource their work, hire faster, tap into a more comprehensive network of professionals, and win the talent war. Moreover, they are ideal for finding quality candidates among passive job seekers.

As external firms working with both employers and job applicants, these agencies specialize in different niches, have an array of high-profile skills, and can boast having numerous contacts from various industries. That gives them access to skilled talents, business leaders, and top enterprises.

The Difference Between a Headhunter Agency and a Recruitment Agency

Although both agencies are an efficient and cost-effective solution for streamlining the recruitment process and finding a suitable job applicant, these two are different. Here’s how they differ:

‍Job Applicants

A recruitment and headhunter agency typically seeks different types of job applicants. Recruitment agencies center their efforts around active job seekers, aiming to match them with compatible vacancies.

On the other hand, headhunter agencies look for professionals who aren’t actively looking for new jobs and opportunities. Therefore, they seek candidates with rare skills for specific job roles or those hard-to-fill, typically white-collar workers.

Hence, headhunters often approach already-employed professionals from a specific industry or niche. These professionals are highly skilled and can help companies find people even for the most intricate and unique job roles.

Recruitment Processes

A headhunter agency approaches the hiring process differently from recruitment agencies. For instance, a recruitment agency usually turns to job ads and nurtures an extensive job applicant database to find the most qualified professionals.

However, headhunters receive requests from HR departments and companies for specific (typically hard-to-fill) job roles. They sweep the entire market looking for the right persona and often contact people who already have jobs if they match the ideal candidate profile.

4 Tips on How to Select the Best Headhunter Agency

1. Understand Your Recruitment and Business Needs

When purchasing a product, you understand why you’re doing it, how the item should improve your life, and what problem it should solve. Things should be the same when considering new professional partners or, in this case, a headhunter agency.

Before you reach out to headhunters, ensure you know the ideal candidate profile, job requirements, and whether this collaboration is essential. For instance, some companies might discover their budget prevents them from working with external recruiters.

Because of that, be confident you know your recruitment and business needs and possibilities. Determine what skills your new employee should have, whether you’re open to remote workers, and what they should achieve in the designated job role.

Ensure you want to hire a headhunter agency and not a regular recruitment company. For instance, some employers prefer to work with temp agencies or executive firms.

Also, consider your recruitment strategy to decide what kind of agency aligns the most with your practices and expectations. Remember to include the costs in your decision, as different types of agencies might have different rates.

Set your budget and stick with it, or you might be unable to finalize the contract. Identify details and approach the right headhunter agency confidently.

Otherwise, you might choose a firm without experience in your field or over your budget. Clarity about the job opening and business possibilities is crucial to find an agency that’s on the same page.

2. Research Your Options

Start with researching the internet and looking for available options in your city or region. Reach out to your business partners and ask them whether they can refer to a headhunter agency that might suit your needs.

Discover what’s available and how much data you can find about each company — research their history, past collaborations, results, and approach to the recruitment process.

Find relevant testimonials and check whether they have worked with similar clients. You can also narrow down your list and contact the ones you’d like to collaborate with, as that’s the best way to understand when they could start and if they can meet your needs.

Moreover, discover what kind of technology they have at their disposal. It’s recommended that a headhunter agency uses top-notch platforms to streamline recruitment and collaboration, such as an applicant tracking system offering a dedicated portal for hiring managers.

Finally, understand what it’s needed on your part and how often they would meet with you and send updates and reports.

Click here to learn why Manatal is the best all-in-one platform for headhunting

*First published on Manatal.com.

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Manatal is an end-to-end recruitment and onboarding SaaS platform trusted by thousands of brands in over 135 countries worldwide. It is an AI-powered Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that allows companies to hire faster, better and save costs.