The candidate approach

The candidate approach is always a very crucial part of our headhunting service. The research work has all been done and the we now has all the facts about the target candidates before us and can make the approach.

Firstly we need to decide on our approach based on the seniority of the position and secondly we need to make sure that we do not irritate the candidate by calling them at work or even emailing them at their work address – confidentiality is vital. If the position is mid management then a direct approach is fine and they will be used to this but if it is a junior role then we really have to be sensitive to the fact that they may not get many headhunt calls and adapt the approach accordingly. Obviously if it is a senior role then we would normally go through their PA to arrange a meeting.

Once we have their attention we have to be balanced in our approach. The majority of candidates we talk to are not actively looking for a change so we have to position the opportunity. Over or under selling a job will switch a candidate off in seconds but giving an educated and concise overview of the job in question and explaining its relevance to the candidate will always get their attention. The recruitment world is an extremely competitive space and simply ringing up a candidate without any real depth of reasoning to their relevance to the job in question will not get results.

At Eagle Headhunters we make many approaches and get many positive references to the fact that we are making educated approaches and not simply thinking someone is good for the job because they are doing the same job at a competitor.

Obviously this way of working not only shows respect for the target candidates and gets the best out of them but is what our clients expect of us and also means our approaches lead to more success in what is a very fickle industry.