Headhunter, or what the profession of a headhunter is about

The employer is not always able to accurately determine which specialist they are looking for. Sometimes he puts too high demands on him or is unaware of the fact that some skills cannot be reconciled by one person. Finding talented managers or experts in an unusual field is not an easy task. That is why the profession of a headhunter was created and it may be a good solution to use his help. He has knowledge of the market and interpersonal skills. Thanks to this, he knows how to correctly define the employer's needs and formulate appropriate requirements for the future employee.

What is the profession of a headhunter?

The profession of a headhunter, or in the literal translation of "head hunter", was born almost 50 years ago in the United States, although the search for talents in specific areas began in the 1940s.This method of recruiting employees was popularized twenty years later. In Poland, however, headhunting began to be used only in the 90s. Although a lot of time has passed since then, it is still not a popular industry - the Register of Employment Agencies reports that there are just over 3,000 companies dealing in personnel consulting.

Headhunters who work in them deal with finding exceptionally talented specialists, such as managers, directors or people with knowledge and skills in a very narrow field. Then, in an appropriate manner, they induce them to change their current job. Therefore, they should not be confused with people working in an employment agency or employment office who are looking for regular employees or help the unemployed find a new job.

The profession of a headhunter is hard work

Headhunters often have a difficult task - to reach a specialist in a given field who is not currently looking for a job. However, they are able to do this because they have professional knowledge and are able to skillfully navigate the employee market. Once they find the right person, they still have to make sure that they will prove themselves in a given position and find themselves in the existing team.

The simplest target for a bounty hunter is someone who is not getting the satisfaction out of their current job. However, in many cases, the selected specialists are satisfied with their current employment and like the organization and atmosphere in a given company. Then the headhunter faces a real challenge - he must make the specialist realize that he will have even better conditions elsewhere. In the first step, it offers the employee a higher salary. When this method does not work, because the person can try to get a raise from the current employer, the HR consulting specialist presents conditions that can significantly weaken the image of the candidate's company. The assurances may include sponsored trips, medical benefit packages, or the payment of expensive industry training.

Headhunter - a profession not for everyone?

The profession of headhunter is one of those most frequently employed by graduates of psychology or sociology who want to combine their knowledge with acting in the business world. However, the completed field of study is not the most important here. It is important that the headhunter knows the industry, because this will help him verify the competences of the selected candidates. What's more, thanks to contacts in a given field, he will be able to reach them faster.

In addition, the person in the position in question should be intuitive. It is not always possible to assess skills with the help of the available tools. Among the features that are essential in a bounty hunter are the ability to talk and interact with people and interpersonal sense.

Start a free 30-day trial period with no strings attached!

How to contact a personal advisor?

Headhunters themselves call selected specialists. If you encounter such a situation, you will hear on the handset about confidential recruitment for a specific position and the question of whether you would like to have more detailed discussions on the topic.

However, you can also try to contact the bounty hunter in person. For this purpose, you need to send your CV to the selected career counseling companies and wait for feedback.

Benefits of working with a headhunter for the company

Not every company decides to cooperate with a personnel consultant. Financial issues are probably dominant among the reasons. In addition to the bounty hunter's salary, you must also have the funds necessary to negotiate with the specialist you have found. Sometimes, during the search, a specialist even travels to other countries or offers the future employee money for coming to a specific city to sign a contract. However, the costs incurred may contribute to the employment of a talented manager or a qualified professional in a less popular field in the team.