In a different place and time, headhunters were to be feared and generally avoided, unless you wanted your head to end up decorating a stick. In today's world, headhunters - or recruiters, as they preferred to be called - can be useful allies for job-seekers.
As in every field, headhunters come in all shapes and sizes when it comes to quality. Because the recruiting industry is unregulated, anyone with a decent network of business contacts can set up shop as what one recruiter referred to as a "resumé pimp."
The headhunting industry smacks of misconceptions according to Marc Roginsky, a systems consultant at headhunting firm Prolink Consulting Inc. in Toronto, who suggested that candidates do some research before embarking on a professional relationship with a headhunter.
"Companies that work with us allocate certain projects or job opportunities for agencies to fill. It's in a whole different category of their budget, so they figure out what a year's salary is for the position and factor in a percentage on top of it for the recruiter. [The headhunter's cut] doesn't come out of the individual's salary. It's a myth that's out there, but it's only a myth."
But Peter Merrick, a Toronto-based certified financial planner who often has close dealings with headhunters, says good recruiters go beyond the job-finding transaction.
"This person could be an ally throughout your career," Merrick said.
Using a headhunter is a prudent decision for certain job-seekers, and less appropriate for others, Merrick said. Those who can benefit most are people without an established network of industry contacts, those starting out in an IT career, and those who are have been employed at a large organization for a long time and are then downsized.
"There's a theory that there are 10 or 15 people in your life that if something happened to you would be greatly impacted. Then you have a network of about 150 people who if you bump into you know about them and their family and might catch a cup of coffee with. On top of that you've got between 1,500 and 10,000 loose acquaintances that you say hi to. The problem with working in a company for a long period of time is that all of your network of loose acquaintances might be at that company, and it's that from that group that most people find jobs," he said.
The benefit of using a headhunter is that they straddle many circles and serve as connectors.
Julie Kaufman, an analyst specializing in skills development research at IDC Canada in Toronto, said that headhunters do play a significant role in the industry and that they're unlikely to be replaced by online job search message boards anytime soon.
"They're salespeople, but instead of selling pencils they're selling people," she said.
In a tight job market, having someone pitch your skills to a prospective employer is often more effective than having a company's software choose your resumé from thousands of others based on key words.
"Headhunters can pursue jobs for you that might not even exist yet," Kaufman said. "They can highlight skills you might not have thought about highlighting before, and for senior level jobs where they're really important, headhunters can help evaluate your soft skills."
According to Peter Goral, president of recruiting company Itex Strategies International Inc. in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., most people using his services these days are unemployed, but about 30 per cent of his clients are working for American-owned organizations with a Canadian base that is being downsized.
Unlike a few years ago, only a small percentage of his clients are proactively seeking out new opportunities from the comfort of a secure position, Goral said.
Whatever the impetus for finding a recruiter, Merrick suggested three questions that a candidate looking for a headhunter should ask him or herself before settling upon one.
The first is whether or not the headhunter can be trusted.
"Will this person do what's best for me and what's best for them? Are they out for a win-win situation? That's very important," he said.
The second factor is how committed the headhunter is to excellence. Merrick suggested that the recruiter should show evidence that he or she is always looking at ways to improve both personally and professionally. Thirdly, Merrick said that the headhunter should demonstrate that he or she cares about what happens to you as a client.
"If they can't say yes to these three questions, you shouldn't use this person because it should be the start of a long-term relationship," he said.
Roginsky agreed with Merrick's assessment and added his own tips to recruiting the right recruiter.
"It all comes down to basic human relationships that you work at keeping throughout an entire career," he said, explaining that this is why headhunters at Prolink see and refer to themselves as consultants.
Expect feedback from the headhunter, Roginsky said. This should include a preparation for any interviews and responses from the client.
"See how sincere the headhunter is. If the recruiter is skating around and not giving much information about the hiring company, that should be the first red flag," he said.