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I am just about to get an offer for a semi entry level job that I applied to through a head hunter. The job was actually posted by the head hunter and HR girl seperately in a FB alumni group page. I applied and got called through the head hunter, and she phone screened me. But thats it. I think she probably invested about 2 hours of her time total in me. No in person interview, no reference checks etc. She then sent me in for an in person interview with this company, and they do all the reference and background checks. I keep asking myself, what is the point of a head hunter with all the money they get paid? It just seems so easy to post a job yourself and phone screen canidates on your own.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 36,974,024 times
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Well, headhunter is thrown around and often used incorrectly, but, from my experience, headhunters don't just post jobs and have people contact them. In fact, the headhunters I know don't have public job listings at all, and the position they're recruiting for isn't publicly posted anywhere.
They often approach people already employed and not necessarily looking for work, so posting an ad won't find them. They often are used by currently employed people that are looking to make a change, but don't want it getting out that they are looking, so they operate at a different level.
We used a headhunter at the last place I was at to find a C level position with some difficult qualifications that I won't get into openly, but that person was very engaged in the community and had a large network to communicate with. Something our HR people didn't have and couldn't penetrate.
The only practical use I can see for them today since the internet has become the primary means of posting jobs is to inform folks of jobs that are not yet posted or which may never be posted. Basically, they could act as a connection of sorts to allow folks to get around the problems of applying to jobs online.
While this could work, most of the ones I've run into aren't really of any value. They seem to focus on the following:
1) Jobs everyone knows about: I honestly think some of them just go to Careerbuilder or Monster, pick a few jobs off there, and match them to resumes. I suppose that's not entirely useless - it's possible a person missed the jobs when looking around - but it seems a waste of effort to call me about a position that I could so easily find on my own.
2) Fake jobs: We've all seen these - "Open Immediate for Experience professional! Great opportunity at great company with growth potential! Industry leader! Located in Maryland! Looking for skilled engineering professional to join dynamic team! Must meet following random list of requires!"
Yeah... little information about the job itself, no company mentioned, no salary mentioned, and so on. Most of these jobs are fake or just some trick to low-ball people into terrible contract positions.
3) Scams: These just take the previous idea one step further and are usually given away by even greater lack of information, staggeringly bad English, and an overall sleazy feeling that leaves you inclined to just delete the email about the "job" before somebody uses your resume to steal your identity.
4) Jobs nobody wants: Just had one of these today. A local very large company (that is part of the President's council on "creating jobs") is trying to hire an engineer that for a position that requires 5+ years of laughably narrow experience - right down to which software packages he uses, FDA experience, medical industry experience, etc. The rest of the job requirements are broad-ranging and "fun," and it's a contract job... for $25 an hour. Which is about the same money I was making fresh out of college 14 years ago, not adjusted for inflation... and it's a temp job. I wonder why that one's gone unfilled... right.
So, yeah... most of them aren't worth anything, and it's really their fault that they've taken the easy way out - scams, lousy jobs, repostings, etc.
It depends on whether you want to be flooded with applicants (If the job is relatively easy to fill) or if you are having trouble finding applicants (if the job draws from a smaller applicant pool where it is harder to find qualified applicants)
The second type was the traditional Head Hunter market. They have since convinced companies and HR departments that are getting flooded with applicants that they provide a service in prescreening applicants and only passing on 'the cream of the crop' to the company.
I think there is possibly another reason. It could provide some insulation to the company from discrimination claims if an actual company employee is not winnowing out the 'undesirable' applicants (whoever they are) but that is just a guess on my part.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 36,974,024 times
Reputation: 40635
Another scenario I didn't disclose. You don't want it known that you're looking to replace someone. You can use a headhunter to recruit a CFO when you already have a CFO, and you don't want it getting out there that you're planning on making a change.
You were probably dealing with a low level recruiter at a staffing agency.
I've seen them approach companies and offer to "help" them saying they have access to a "secret" market of labor. But in practice, they are just pulling from the same sources of candidates that are on Monster, LinkedIn, etc. Or they tell you they have a "vetted" database, which is basically the people they pulled from Monster, LinkedIn, etc. or had apply to other jobs. They may or may not have talked to these people - I have kept records and these "recruiters" will call you with leads 8-10 years later with no contact in between.
There is a severe shortage of people that actually go out and meet people and recruit/network the old fashioned way.
Most headhunters, like car salesmen, realtors, etc. aren't worth the commission. The top level ones, however, are privy to very selective positions (such as corporate level) or are in industries with very high turnover but are still selective in terms of education and experience (e.g. investment banking). It sounds like you got the dime a dozen one.
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