What is a Headhunter?

There are two types of potential candidates - Active and Passive.

Active candidates are proactively looking for a new role, responding to advertisements and registering with agencies. Typically 1 in 5 potential candidates, or 15-20% of the talent pool are actively looking at any one time.

Passive candidates are people who could be open to a new opportunity but are not proactively seeking to leave their current employers. These candidates make up the remaining 80% of the candidate talent pool and tend to be the most successful, often being too busy to apply for other positions.

Headhunting is effective as it targets both the active and passive candidates, thus maximising the exposure of the vacancy to the relevant individuals.

In addition, not only do we have access to the passive candidates who are likely to be the best in the marketplace, when we do identify them, by definition these candidates will not be considering any other opportunities, and therefore have a greater commitment to the opportunity that we have approached them about.

Finally as our approach is entirely confidential, it is easier for us to overcome any initial objections that a candidate could have about potentially exposing a desire to move to their current employers.