What is the difference between a recruiter and a headhunter?

Question:

What is the difference between a recruiter and a headhunter?

Answer:

The missions of a recruiter and a headhunter are the same: fill a position. The differences are in which position they’re filling and how they fulfill their mandate.

Explanation:

Recruiters source candidates for roles within an organization. They sometimes work as a W2 employee for the company directly, typically nested within the company’s HR department. They can also work outside the company, either as a freelance recruiter who runs a “single shingle” recruiting firm or they might work for a large recruiting firm that corporations contract with to fill open roles. The benefit to this model is that companies don’t have to pay recruiters when hiring is slow and can quickly ramp up hiring when they need it because they don’t first have to hire their own internal recruiters before the “real” hiring can begin.

Recruiters sometimes specialize in certain industries or even niches within industries. They fill roles at all levels of an organization, from entry level to C-suite. They are almost always hiring for more than one role at a time and if they’re a third-party recruiter, they might even be hiring for more than one company at a time. Because of this, their search process typically involves a wide-net approach. They often figure that if someone isn’t a good fit for the role they’re currently most focused on, he or she might be a good fit for another role they have open or one that might open in the future. Also because of their higher volume of work, their screening is usually going to be more cursory, at least at first. They simply have more candidates they need to weed through, so they can’t pay each one a lot of individualized attention.

Recruiters rely more heavily on applications, though they certainly source candidates through other means, as well. When a company posts a job, it’s going to be the recruiter who is sifting through the applications. Some of them, especially if they weren’t involved in crafting the job posting, might start looking for other candidates at the same time as they’re reviewing applications, but others will only start their own sourcing if the application pool doesn’t yield (m)any good candidates.

Headhunters have the same mandate: fill a role. Those roles, however, are usually C-suite or close to it, such as the Head of Compliance, thus the name headhunter. A headhunter is almost always a third-party contractor (though, again, they might be on their own or with a firm). High level positions need to be filled much less often and therefore it would be cost prohibitive to keep a headhunter on staff, even for large organizations.

Headhunters usually focus on a single or small number of roles at a time. As such, their search will be a lot more targeted and time intensive. They often spend a not-insignificant amount of time vetting a candidate before they ever even reach out to him or her. Once they do reach out, their involvement in the process will also be more diligent. Their questions will be deeper and more probing and they will review materials submitted by a candidate with a fine-tooth comb.

C-suite jobs aren’t often posted, so a headhunter is almost always relying on their existing network or their own research to source candidates. Those prospects they reach out to are typically already employed and many probably aren’t even looking for work. If you’re contacted by a headhunter, it usually means you are viewed as top talent in your field and niche.

Regardless of their role, we always recommend to clients that they never turn down a conversation with a recruiter or headhunter. Even if you genuinely aren’t looking for a role, having a quick chat means adding yourself into that recruiter or headhunter’s database (literal or mental), which may make it easier for you to find a role when you do start looking.