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When Should A Company Hire A Headhunter?

When Should a Company Hire a Headhunter?


We talk to companies that have spent weeks and thousands of dollars posting job advertisements on Linkedin and Indeed without any good candidates as a result.

Frustration, increased workload on team members and the costs related to a vacancy can add up quickly. Is that the best time to hire a headhunter? 

If the role is in leadership, like a Director of Business Development, or producing a role that satisfies the needs of high-value clients’, the quickest route to hiring top employees may be the best one. 

A director may be responsible for millions or hundreds of millions in revenue. A producing role might see a customer servicing employee responsible for tens of thousands in monthly revenue for customers that have a lifetime value in the hundreds of thousands.

If a company has a dedicated recruiter in-house, they could hypothetically spend up to 40 hours a week finding and contacting prospective candidates. The truth is that meetings, time off and the demand of multiple roles could mean that hunting for potential candidates is too challenging and does not happen.

An experienced headhunter that brings a team with a network to the fight could reach out to hundreds of potential candidates. Dedicating 2-3 employees to a search is an expensive proposition but it can get results from the 70% of potential employees who are not looking at job advertisements and are passive candidates. 

Utilizing a structured approach that includes gathering feedback, improving what is being offered, and who is being targeted is an important part of this work.

If the headhunter and their team can assist both the candidate and hiring team through the interview offer and acceptance process, it can help get a final offer accepted.  In this market there continue to be lots of declined offers when attention to detail is not followed throughout the whole process.

Ultimately the question of when to hire a headhunter comes down to resources. If vacancies are costing your company then it makes sense to have discussions with your headhunter earlier rather than later.


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