Utilizing executive recruiters is one avenue for professional and executive job seekers. Competition is very stiff among recruiters. They must be at the right place at the right time with the right candidate. The company always pays the fee.

In the world of executive recruiting, there are two kinds of fee structures. One is called retained. In this type of arrangement, a company works exclusively with one agency, offering a substantial upfront fee (as much as $20,000 to $50,000 in some cases) to find the right candidate. Generally, the agent will attempt to recruit talent away from the contract company’s competition. Hence, the term “headhunter.” The second type of arrangement is contingency. This means that the recruiter, or recruiters, will only get their fee if they are the one who provides the candidate to whom an offer is made. Fees in contingency search generally range from 20% to 35% of the candidate’s first year’s salary.

Many job seekers make the mistake of sending their resume to as many recruiters as they can find, figuring that this will
maximize their chances of finding a good opportunity. The problem occurs when the hiring company puts a job order out to several industry-specific recruiters, and they all jump on the band wagon at once.

Recently, a candidate shared a story of this happening. In his eagerness to become re-employed, he supplied his resume to ten recruiters who specialize in his industry. A company called him for a phone interview and said, “Frankly, we’re interested in your candidacy, but there appears to be confusion as to who is representing you here. We received a copy of your resume from three different recruiters all at once.”

For the candidate, it might at first appear that this was good – that the recruiters were doing well by him and getting exposure of his credentials to the audience he desired. In this particular case, the headhunters were almost literally tripping over one another. There might be a question of who submitted the resume first, resulting in conflict among the recruiters and the client company. It is possible that the company, to avoid this mess, could opt to select another qualified person, mainly to avoid potential legal or financial hassles.

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH EXECUTIVE RECRUITERS:

1) If your search is local, it is usually not a good idea to list with recruiters. This caution is particularly true if you have a well developed network or if you have the ability to effectively market yourself through resumes and follow-up calls. Remember that every company wants to hire cost-effectively. This can give you an advantage if you can get in the running without a headhunter’s fee associated with your hire.
An exception to this is if you are currently employed and need to have a high level of confidentiality in your search. In this case, you might want to work discreetly with a reputable recruiter.

2) As in working with any other professional, you should know something about the recruiter if at all possible. Find out who their client companies include. If you can make phone or e-mail contact, ask about their actual numbers of placements in the past year. You may want to ask for references – other executives who have had positive experiences working with them.

3) Ask the recruiter to notify you in advance of presenting your credentials to a company. They might be hesitant, thinking that once you find out the name of the company you could submit your candidacy directly. However, this is where there must be some mutual trust and ethics between the two parties.

4) Once the hiring company has accepted you as a candidate, communicate regularly with your recruiter as to any change in our employment status or if another offer is pending. They can only work best when you are working in a partnership based on honesty and good communication.
Do not by-pass the recruiter and attempt to deal directly with the company at any point in your process without the consent of the recruiter. It may sometimes appear that he or she is not moving quickly enough, but they sometimes have information that you do not and are strategically working on your behalf given the circumstances.

5) Do remember that contingency recruiters make their commissions only by the placements they make. Be wary of the recruiter who may try to influence you to take a job that does not appeal to you or it does not meet your career needs.