What Are Chicago Headhunters? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

How to Choose the Best Executive Headhunters Chicago Offers

Working with Chicago Headhunters is mutually beneficial for both candidates and employers. From an employer perspective, you receive dedicated attention on an important role you need filled. For candidates, you have a professional that guides you through a recruiting process using their expertise and connections. Headhunters differ from a typical Recruiter, though, they are often referred to interchangeably. Let’s discuss the key differences between them.

Chicago Headhunters Versus Recruiters

The easiest way to differentiate between Chicago Headhunters and Recruiters is their knowledge and connections. Recruiters are typically professionals that are hiring for the company that they work for. As a candidate, they are typically the first person you interview with in a company. For employers, you are likely already familiar with a Recruiter if you have an in-house team that handles your hiring. That may not be true for smaller businesses, however. In which case, working with a Headhunter will be especially beneficial in your quest to find the best hire.

We mentioned Chicago Headhunters having more knowledge and connections. Let’s dissect that further. A Recruiter is a subject matter expert for the company they work for. They know the history deeply, and they have plentiful internal connections. They are also hiring for several positions at once, which pulls their attention in different directions. Headhunters, on the other hand, have extensive industry knowledge and connections with company executives, professionals seeking jobs, and other Headhunters. When you partner with Chicago Headhunters, you partner with an extremely knowledgeable professional or company. One that is focused on you and the specific position they are working to fill.

What It’s Like Working with Chicago Headhunters

Regardless of whether you are an employer hiring a Headhunter or a candidate, one thing remains constant: dedicated attention. A Headhunter is positioned such that they are paid to fill positions. What that creates is a perfect balance for employers and candidates. Employers can trust that Chicago Headhunters will work diligently to help them fill specialized roles. Candidates can trust that the Headhunter they are working with has their best interests in mind. That dynamic is precisely where the benefit of partnering with a Headhunter is. Everyone involved gets to reap the benefits of their work.

Where working with a Headhunter is different is within interactions. Let’s explore those dynamics further below.

Working with Chicago Headhunters as an Employer

As an employer, you will hire Chicago Headhunters under a contract to fill a specific position. That could be with one employee or several employees. Employers seek Headhunters proactively, most often. They don’t typically approach your staff (though, that can certainly happen). Here is an overview of everything an employer can expect when they work with Headhunters Chicago has available:

• Written contract defining your partnership
• Alignment on your company and the position (and the qualifications thereof)
• Understanding of preferred process and workflows
• Shared strategy and performance metrics
• Candidate profile ahead of internal interviews
• Open feedback channel

Let’s expand upon each of the points mentioned above so you have a clear understanding of exactly what to expect from Chicago Headhunters.

Written Contract Defining Your Partnership

Once you have decided to hire a Headhunter to help you fill a position, a contract finalizes that decision. Within that contract, there will be complete transparency around what you expect of them and what they expect of you. Employers have the opportunity to outline how many hires they expect while Headhunters will provide their fee to get there. This ensures both parties know exactly what to expect from their partnership to avoid surprises down the line.

Alignment On Your Company and The Position (and The Qualifications Thereof)

A Headhunter builds a thorough understanding of the position they are working to fill (and the company they are filling it for). Headhunters are well-versed in the questions they need to ask in order to gain a high level of understanding. For the best results, employers should also prepare information about the company, the role, and qualifications they deem particularly important. Doing so ensures you, as the employer, trust that your Headhunter knows precisely the type of individual you envision in the seat. The alignment also positions your Headhunter as an extension of your company. One that can showcase the attributes of your organization that you want future employees to know.

Understanding of Your Preferred Processes and Workflows

The next thing you can expect when working with Chicago Headhunters is an understanding of the processes and workflows that will be followed. You have your own internal processes that work best for your organization. If you don’t, your Headhunter can help guide best practices. Either way, you and your Headhunter will work together to establish a process that works well for you both. Partnering with a Headhunter should complement your existing strategy seamlessly. The right Headhunter will assure that is the case.

Shared Strategy and Performance Metrics

Having established processes in place is only one side of the coin to foster a successful partnership. Employers should also have clear insight into the strategy their Headhunter is leveraging. In addition, employers should be able to expect data-driven insights into the performance of said strategy. At any given time, a high-quality Headhunter should be able to equip you with pipeline metrics and success measures. Working with a Headhunter is certainly a delegation of a responsibility. That should never mean you lack insight into what is going on. It’s your position, after all.

Candidate Profile Ahead of Internal Interviews

Along with insight into your pipeline, Chicago Headhunters will also provide you with candidate profiles. That includes obvious things like their resume and cover letter. It also may look like notes from the Headhunter’s interactions with the candidate. When speaking with candidates, there is always more to be discovered about their qualifications than what is listed on a resume. A Headhunter will share some of those relevant details with your staff proactively. That allows your team (or hiring manager) to pick up where the Headhunter left off in qualifying the candidate. It’s a great way to get to know a candidate more thoroughly.

Open Feedback Channel

At the end of the day, employers hire a Headhunter. That means the Headhunter works for you, and the relationship should be treated as such. The best Chicago Headhunters have a very clear channel for feedback – positive and constructive. Their interests are aligned with yours as an employer. The Headhunter wants to fill the position as much as you do. If they are doing anything to get in the way of that, they will happily take that feedback. In addition, you will also hear feedback the Headhunter gets from candidates, as well. The feedback loop should be open to both parties in the relationship to foster a successful partnership.

Working with Chicago Headhunters as a Candidate

As a candidate, Headhunters typically come to you. While you can certainly reach out to a recruiting company yourself, that isn’t the most common dynamic. What a Headhunter does is leverage their network and resources available to them. In doing so, they source candidates they believe are qualified for a position. That results in an email or message, seemingly out of the blue, from a Headhunter gauging your interest in a position. If you are interested, here’s what you can expect next:

• Initial informational conversation
• Guidance through the interview process
• Support between the interviews (and potential offer)
• Celebration of your success

As is true for employers, Headhunters’ interests are aligned with those of the candidates they work with. When you are a candidate working with a Headhunter, you will feel as though you have your own “secret weapon” and advocate throughout your interview process. Here is how that comes to fruition:

Initial Informational Conversation

There is only so much that can be learned through messages, websites, and your resume. During your first conversation with a Headhunter, you will both be qualifying one another. The Headhunter will be getting clearer insight into you as a professional. At the same time, you will be able to learn more about the position and company the Headhunter is representing. This conversation is where you each decide if the position is worthwhile to explore further. If so, then your Headhunter will start the next step in the process.

Guidance Through the Interview Process

Chicago Headhunters align their processes with those of the employers they work with. That means that the process candidates experience can vary based upon the company’s process. Whatever the particular process of the employer, Headhunters support the candidates they work with through each step. Keep in mind that their goal is to get you hired. They want you to be successful if you are a good fit for the role. Because of that, they will give you the guidance and insight you need to showcase how exceptional you are.

Support Between the Interviews (and Potential Offer)

It’s inevitable you will have questions (and nerves) between interviews and a potential offer. The Headhunter you are working with is your trusted go-to resource. Some questions, you may be fearful to ask a hiring manager. Your Headhunter can answer those questions or coach you on how to reach out to the hiring manager yourself. They can also help you feel confident in an offer conversation – particularly if you want to negotiate. With aligned interests, you can trust your Headhunter and put your guard down a bit. Of course, you always want to put your best foot forward in professional interactions. However, you don’t have the same level of pressure with your Headhunter as with a hiring manager.

Celebration of Your Success

Quite simply, your success as a candidate equates to your Headhunter’s success. When you get hired, they get paid (to put things bluntly). That means they are particularly excited when you accept a job offer. More than their compensation, though, great Chicago Headhunters build strong connections with their candidates. They are genuinely happy for the individuals they get to work with. There is a lot to celebrate, for everyone involved, when you get your dream job. That excitement is felt by all!

How to Choose the Best Executive Headhunters Chicago Has to Offer

With a thorough understanding of what Chicago Headhunters are and the benefits of them, you need to choose one. But how do you know if you have chosen the best one? We are here to guide you through what to look for now that you already know what to expect. Here are some of the characteristics of a high-quality Headhunter:

Characteristics of High-Quality Chicago Headhunters

Expertise in Your Industry

Different Chicago Headhunters have different niches their expertise falls within. As an example, you wouldn’t hire a Sales Headhunter to fill a highly technical engineering position. You could, but they wouldn’t be the most qualified to fill that role. They would lack an ability to quickly qualify candidates for an initial conversation, and they would lack the right network.

Vast Network

Over time, Headhunters begin to establish a network of professionals they can lean on to find the best fit. That network certainly includes candidates, but also other Headhunters. Perhaps you want to fill a Sales position for your engineering company. You would hire a Sales Headhunter for the position, but ideally, they have an Engineering Headhunter in their network. With the right Headhunter, you get to leverage the network they spent years building as well as their expertise.

Relevant Experience

The next signal you found one of the best Executive Headhunters Chicago offers is relevant experience. You do not want to be the company a Headhunter is learning through. You want a Headhunter that has worked with similar employers in the past so you can rest assured they have the expertise you need. The types of experience to look out for are similar roles, similar industries, and similarly sized organizations.

How to Vet Chicago Headhunters

Not all of the qualities we shared previously will be obvious on a Headhunter’s website. You may be able to get a sense of the industry they work in from their website. However, you can’t understand their network and past experience clearly. Selecting the right individual/company among the many available Chicago Headhunters needs to be approached with the right strategy. Liken hiring a Headhunter to hiring an Executive at your company. You would do far more than simply review their resume. The same approach should be taken with Chicago Headhunters. Find a handful that seem to be a good fit overall, then schedule a conversation with each. That conversation should be approached in the same way you would an interview. Great questions to ask are:

• “Tell me about your last 5 clients”: A Headhunter that is a good fit for you will have shared the same industry as yours several times. They could also be a good fit if they filled the same type of position for each of the industries. Meaning, maybe the industries differed, but they were all sales roles.
• “How do you utilize your network when you are working to fill a position?”: The best response to this is one that is clear. If a Headhunter leverages their network effectively, they will be able to clearly articulate that.
• “Walk me through your experience as a Headhunter”: This is how you will be able to understand how long this particular Headhunter or company has been operating. This question is a good springboard for the next one.
• “How long does it typically take for you to fill a position?”: The length of time it takes to fill a position can certainly vary. That said, you should be able to set your expectations ahead of signing a contract.
• “How do you keep your clients involved in your process?”: This is another great expectation-setting question. A great Headhunter has an established way of consistently updating their clients on their progress. You may want to make adjustments to that process, but one should already exist.

The Benefits of Chicago Headhunters Are Clear

The benefits of working with Chicago Headhunters are clear. Most simply, their interests are aligned with yours. That is true whether you are an employer or you are a candidate. Confident they want the same outcome you do, you know working with a Headhunter is a great choice. Using the guidance we shared today, you can also feel confident in how to evaluate different Chicago Headhunters.

If you are looking to fill a sales position, Sales Recruiters Chicago has Sales Headhunters with extensive experience and connections. They fit all of the criteria for a high-quality Headhunter outlined above (and more). Reach out to them today to partner and find the perfect candidate for your sales role.