Headhunters vs. Recruiters

A woman (facing back) talking to a man and a woman

Headhunters are people who are hired by a company or organization to source, identify, and vet suitable candidates for a job opportunity. The headhunter’s job is to ensure the candidate has the correct skillset and credentials for the role and they are often hired to find prospects that possess a unique or hard-to-find skillset.

As a general rule, headhunters are independent contractors or employees of a recruiting firm. They are hired by a company looking for high-quality talent and often work for several companies at a given time. It’s not uncommon for headhunters to specialize in a field, such as IT or the Legal arena. This allows them to sift through resumes to locate the best possible candidate for the opening. Headhunters are aggressive when it comes to locating the top talent. They use a variety of tools and sources to put together a group of talent that a typical recruiter may not reach. This makes headhunters an asset to their clients. Presenting only the most qualified candidates. Saving their clients hours of tedious work.

When a headhunter has identified a qualified candidate and properly vetted them, they will present them to their client. If the client is interested, a good headhunter will facilitate the introduction. A great headhunter will facilitate the introduction, handle all of the correspondence, and help negotiate the employment contract.

Recruiters are responsible for filling positions. Recruiters are people who are generally employed by the company that is advertising the open positions. Although, they can also be third-party individuals with no affiliation to the company in question such as a staffing firm.
In order to fill the open positions within a company, recruiters pre-screen candidates, and facilitate the interview process. They are often also the point of contact for candidates inquiring about a job position. While some recruiters may take a proactive role in seeking out candidates, much like a headhunter would, it’s much more common for them to post job openings and allow qualified candidates to reach out to them first. Recruiters often work to fill multiple positions at once and may help shuffle candidates who aren’t qualified for one position over into applying for another. Additionally, recruiters often work in human resource departments or have various human resource-based roles. Most commonly, recruiters work to fill all job positions, although they may specialize in certain industries.

All in all, they are very similar in nature but headhunters are much more aggressive and efficient when it comes to finding the top talent.