Headhunter Myths - Part 2

Myth:  “Clients hire headhunters to find and deliver candidates they don’t already know.”

Truth: No, that’s why clients think they hire headhunters. The truth is that clients rarely hire strangers even if those strangers are found and delivered by a headhunter. In fact, after looking through my files and notes, I can’t find a single case where my client hired my best candidate if that candidate was a stranger and there was an acceptable non-stranger who would accept the offer. When I first started headhunting I was reluctant to present candidates who had some sort of a connection to my client. I thought my job was to find candidates with absolutely no ties to my client, candidates who were not in my client’s network at all. Now I have a name for candidates who aren’t already networked to my client: I call them candidates who can’t get the offer.

I’ve collected many a 5-figure fee for finding and delivering candidates my clients already had in their networks. The truth is, employers don’t simply hire people with the right skills. Employers hire people who know the same people they know. People don’t hire a stranger to fix their plumbing, their roof, their wiring unless an acceptable non-stranger is available. Similarly, employers will take a pass on the A+ stranger if there’s a B non-stranger available.

Incidentally, systems thinkers who are seeking a new job can backward-engineer this fact to network their way to a new job.  Maybe I’ll explain this in a future post.