There are two types of people reading this article. There are those looking for a job, and those looking for ways to find candidates. To those of you looking for candidates, do a little bit of your own advertising, but otherwise, use headhunters.
They and recruitment companies seem to find candidates more easily than any other. If you are looking for a job, then here are a few ways that the best headhunters look for and find candidates.
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1. They Have a Back Catalog of Old Clients
When the headhunter comes across a new client or work prospect, they go back through their old clients and contacts and see if they can make a quick connection. When you think about it, this is the fastest way for an established headhunter to get results.
If they get a new candidate, they go through their old contacts and companies that have hired them, and they place them with a suitable company. If they have a new business client, they go through their old files and contact the people who may want that sort of job.
2. They Make Connections Everywhere
Not to make headhunters sound like superheroes, but they have a habit of making friends and connections everywhere they go. Every single contact, from a billionaire oil merchant to a plumber, they want to know them all because they have no idea which contact will come in handy later down the line.
They find people and make connections everywhere, from employment offices and job fairs, to on-the-job contracts, conferences, and even in the street.
3. They May Look Online
There are places and groups on Facebook where they may look. If they are looking for media workers, they will look on Rumble and TikTok. If they are looking for certain skills, they will probably look on LinkedIn and perhaps even on websites like Freelancer. If they are sourcing talent for the construction industry, they may turn to a construction recruitment agency. They will not discriminate until they find the people they need.
4. Outwardly Promoting Recruitment
They sometimes go the traditional route of advertising that they can help people get jobs. They also go the recruitment agency route of promoting job listings on job site websites, and then signing up the people who apply for the job. Though, in many cases, headhunters are a lot more choosy about who they sign to their books.
They need to do the additional vetting, and they prefer to have a broad range of background checks before adding somebody to their roster. Still, online advertising works as a great way of making candidates seek out headhunters.
Final Thought
Let’s end on a rather ambiguous note and say that nobody knows where each headhunting company gets its clients and its candidates.
There are headhunters recruiters who are completely character driven and work based on their own charm and marketability, there are others who are masters of Internet marketing, others who are masters of online tools, and there are those who are working with legacy connections.
In truth, nobody knows how each headhunter operates. We can only guess based on our personal experiences with each one in turn.