More than a year passed after the tech hiring slowdown started back in 2023 with the massive layoffs in Google, Amazon, and other tech giants. Then many other companies followed the industry leaders. Growing taxes and lack of investments still make companies be careful with hiring plans. Yet some businesses are gradually increasing tech teams again. They aim to take advantage of the opportunities provided by fast-growing demand for AI products and services.
Many team managers are on the crossroads. Recruiter versus headhunter, whom to choose to upsize a tech team or build it from scratch? Each of them can find matching tech talent. But it is important for a business to understand with whom it will be more comfortable and efficient to interact.
Is a headhunter a type of recruiter? Do headhunters and recruiters care only about filling positions quickly? Can they drain a company’s time? Do recruiters deeply understand the roles they are hiring for? I’m bringing to the surface all you need to learn to spot your fit ⬇️
Comparing Headhunters and Recruiters
Some see a recruiter vs. a headhunter as a specialist with a softer communication manner vs. a specialist who is more persistent. As for me, it is not devoid of truth. But what we can say for sure is that a headhunter is a specific type of recruiter. Both, recruiters and headhunters look for candidates with the necessary hard and soft skills. The difference between a headhunter and a recruiter lies in their working methods and targets.
A headhunter proactively seeks out and recruits top talent from competitors and other businesses where certain specialists can work. Headhunters operate more like agents who represent and negotiate on behalf of candidates.
In contrast, recruiters aim to match qualified candidates with open positions at their client companies. A recruiter can be reactive, working with candidates who apply to their job postings, or proactive, sourcing candidates through their network. Our Talent Acquisition team is a good example of combining these 2 approaches. We fill 60-70% of positions by initiating the first contact with candidates who are not actively applying for a job.
Need proactive IT recruiters with talent pools in 35+ countries?
Hire with usWorking methods of typical recruiters and headhunters: benchmarking
Recruiters
Headhunters
Objective
Fill various positions across industries
Fill specific, often high-level, roles
Client Relationship
Often work for a single company (in-house) or multiple clients (agency)
Typically, work on a contractual basis for multiple clients
Candidate Pool
Broad and ongoing search for various positions
Targeted search for specific roles
Search Method
Post job ads, screen applicants, use databases, establish direct contacts
Actively seek out candidates, often through direct contact
Engagement
Usually involved in the entire hiring process
Focus on sourcing candidates and initial contact
Specialization
Can vary widely
Often specialize in particular industries or roles
Timeframe
Generally ongoing, continuous hiring efforts
Project-based, often with tight deadlines
Payment
May be salaried or earn commissions
Typically, work on a contingency or retained fee basis
Objective
Recruiters
Headhunters
Fill various positions across industries
Fill specific, often high-level, roles
Client Relationship
Recruiters
Headhunters
Often work for a single company (in-house) or multiple clients (agency)
Typically, work on a contractual basis for multiple clients
Candidate Pool
Recruiters
Headhunters
Broad and ongoing search for various positions
Targeted search for specific roles
Search Method
Recruiters
Headhunters
Post job ads, screen applicants, use databases, establish direct contacts
Actively seek out candidates, often through direct contact
Engagement
Recruiters
Headhunters
Usually involved in the entire hiring process
Focus on sourcing candidates and initial contact
Specialization
Recruiters
Headhunters
Can vary widely
Often specialize in particular industries or roles
Timeframe
Recruiters
Headhunters
Generally ongoing, continuous hiring efforts
Project-based, often with tight deadlines
Payment
Recruiters
Headhunters
May be salaried or earn commissions
Typically, work on a contingency or retained fee basis
Headhunters and recruiters both have plus sides, depending on your business objectives.
When partner with headhunters
Why opt for headhunters for tech companies scaling?
They focus on the unique needs of each position, ensuring a tailored fit.
They may have huge networks in the tech space and know how to identify and approach top-tier talent who might not be actively seeking new opportunities.
For sensitive or high-profile roles, headhunters can conduct discreet searches, protecting the privacy of both the hiring company and the potential candidates.
By focusing on filling a few roles, headhunters can dedicate more time and resources to finding the perfect candidate, often leading to quicker placements.
That’s why, companies may prefer a headhunter vs. a recruiter when they need to find candidates for specific, high-level roles.
But be aware that headhunters, who typically operate independently, may lack access to the same comprehensive resources and enterprise-level tools that recruiters from staffing agencies can leverage.
Benefits of IT recruiters for tech companies
While headhunters focus on contacting with potential hires, recruiters tick multiple boxes.
They manage the entire hiring process, from posting job ads to screening and interviewing candidates.
They have access to a larger pool of candidates than headhunters and use many channels, including premium job posting platforms, to increase the chances of finding suitable candidates. With applicant tracking systems, recruiters streamline CVs and quickly close talent gaps.
They can help businesses with creating a more effective product team organizational structure by analyzing skills gaps and overlaps, as well as satisfaction of team members with their roles.
They often invest in proprietary compensation benchmarking data and in-depth market intelligence. This can help their clients make informed decisions about compensation and job requirements.
They build long-term relationships with candidates and companies, leading to a better understanding of the company culture and candidate fit over time.
They are flexible and can adapt to various hiring needs, whether it’s for temporary, contract, or permanent positions across different levels. With applicant tracking systems and active talent bases, recruiters quickly close different talent gaps.
Recruitment pricing is often structured, transparent and more cost-effective than collaborating with headhunters.
While headhunters are typically hired to fill specific roles for clients, you can keep recruiters by your side. Then, you will have an opportunity to consult with them on your team scaling plans and task them with new talent searches right when such a need arises.
I’d opt for external recruiting vs. headhunting if it’s necessary to work with bigger number of candidates and delegate more recruiting tasks. For instance, when founders are hiring a developer for a startup, they typically want someone to manage the full recruitment life cycle as they don’t have time and assigned specialists for that.
Some tech team leaders have a concern about handing over control of recruitment to external parties. However, an external People partner can make the process more efficient by bringing their experience in building diverse teams to the table. When you arrange about 3,000 of interviews per year for about 100 client companies, your hiring strategies become much more competitive.
We offer 19 flexible service packages
to optimize your recruitment costs.
Interested?
If you prefer having a recruitment team in-house, it’d be great to upskill that team regularly and equip it with the advanced HR tech (especially if you are attracting rare specialists in the field of AI). But if building a qualified in-house recruitment team is not your plan, you can always outsource any HR function to professionals.
Can external headhunters or recruiters drain a company’s time?
You might want to pick those partners who will not increase time to hire and hiring costs accordingly, right? I’d like to explain how to find a talent searcher of any kind who will not drain your company time.
Comparing a recruiter vs. a headhunter, I’d first pay attention to their reputations. Reputable headhunters and recruiters seek the right long-term fit for both the candidate and company, not just fill seats. It takes about 25–30 days to find and onboard a newcomer if you are an experienced talent searcher. Faster hires can lead to higher turnover, which harms the employer's interests.
I’d recommend you check if your potential partner not only recruits fast, but also has 1) high offer acceptance rates and 2) high retention rates. The first metric confirms their ability to spot reliable candidates, avoiding such situations when candidates go for competitor companies at the last stages of recruitment and the time to hire doubles. The second metric also proves that they can successfully filter out the wrong candidates and integrate the matching jobseekers into your tech team long-term. Seasoned talent searchers will be, most likely, glad to share these metrics as a quality mark of their work.
The next thing to clarify when you want to be sure the time for recruitment is spent rationally is the frequency of the updates about vacancies statuses. If your partner provides regular updates once a week or more often if your intervention is needed, you might expect to get the agreed outcome within the agreed time.
Updates may be sent via email, phone calls, or messengers. Prefer those communication methods which allow you to stay tuned with ease.
Finally, I’d wonder if a recruiter or a headhunter offers a replacement guarantee if a hired specialist will not live up to your expectations, even despite the rigorous candidate selection. In case a specialist leaves a team during, for instance, 2 months, your partner should find a new team player without charging additional payments.
IT Staffing Offers a Blend of Recruitment and Headhunting
If you are thinking what will work better for your tech project, IT recruitment vs. IT headhunters, mind that classifications are just classifications. In real life, the difference between a headhunter and a recruiter may be less clear.
Some headhunters work not only with senior positions, yet also with junior or mid-management ones. And they may cater to a variety of employment types and industries.
At the same time, there are recruiters, including Outstaff Your Team, that provide tech staffing solutions specializing solely in the tech talent market. These are recruiters who don’t want to be inferior to headhunters in any crucial skill, whether it is the understanding of candidates preferences and programming frameworks or ensuring the confidentiality of the recruitment process. In many cases, we don’t mention the names of companies when communicating with potential hires. Until they sign NDAs, we discuss the main features of the project or product that the specialist will work with.
As well as with headhunters, you can partner with us temporary or long-term. We offer IT staff augmentation services for those who need extra hands yet are not ready to hire in-house. If you request a team player with a contract from 3 months and up to the end of the project — you got it. But if you want just to get, say, 5 ace CVs — you got it. Or if you want to gather your tech team from scratch — well, you got it.
Our clients highlight that the EOR services, included into some of our service packages by default, are one of their favorite options. Without this option, they would have to do the bulky paperwork instead of immediately involving new specialists in their projects. Would you like to discover more ways to simplify the routine associated with team scaling? Drop us a line, and we will help you meet different talent acquisition goals and retain your tech team on your demand, relieving you of the headhunting vs. recruiting dilemma.
FAQ
Do headhunters and recruiters provide different levels of support?
Yes, the levels of support of a headhunter vs. a recruiter would differ. Recruitment agencies offer varying levels of support for a business, from just providing matching CVs to developing comprehensive hiring strategies and salary negotiation on behalf of a company. Headhunters focus on filling the hard-to-fill positions and career coaching for candidates. In the staffing agencies, the functions of recruiters and headhunters may be combined to meet the needs of both, companies and specialists.
How do recruiters and headhunters find their candidates?
The main difference between a recruiter and a headhunter is their approach to talent acquisition. Headhunters actively reach out to skilled candidates already engaged in other projects, and negotiate on their behalf. Recruiters manage job posting for their clients, and manage communication with applicants. They source candidates through their talent bases and, as well as headhunters, can initiate a first contact with a potential candidate.
What does headhunting mean in recruitment?
While headhunters usually work independently, headhunting may also be a part of a recruitment strategy. It’s when recruiters initiate the process of finding the best possible candidates by targeting those who are not actively seeking a new role, but that match the companies' requirements.
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