5 Key Skills for Headhunters in Executive Search

CEOs exited the job market in record numbers in 2021, making it a very busy year for executive search firms and headhunters.  In 2022, the mass exodus of elite talent is showing little signs of abating.  

The number of CEOs that decided to quit in the first quarter is almost 30% higher than the year prior.  For the CEOs that still remain, a recent study suggests that approximately 70% of them are giving serious thought to vacating their posts. In many cases, the top brass simply reached the age of retirement, while others sought merely to escape the burnout of frantically trying to usher their organizations through the volatile post-pandemic marketplace.

The departure of an executive or C-Level professional can do a lot to upend an organization, especially when it’s an unexpected departure.  The ripple effects can often be seen in senior leadership teams as those loyal to the departing CEO show a strong inclination to follow them out the door.  The managers that remain inevitably inherit the task of navigating the turmoil while contending with the shock waves and gossip surrounding who will be appointed to replace the outgoing executive.  

CEOs and other C-level positions are interesting to study because they’re often “peerless” within an organization, and they come with sky-high expectations.  If new leadership isn’t properly recruited and/or vetted, it could have serious “sink- or swim-level” consequences for the hiring organization. 

Simply stated, executive search - or the hiring of a new CEO or executive leader - is a process that’s quite unique.  The process often takes much longer than it would for a traditional hire, and the recruitment strategy for a C-level professional is glaringly different than others.

With so many departures at the executive level, more organizations are finding themselves relying on the expertise and experience of a headhunter or executive search firm to find their company’s next leader.

YOU MIGHT LIKE: 7 Tech Trends to Upskill Your Recruiters in 2022 and Beyond

What is a Headhunter in 2022?

Sometimes referred to as an executive recruiter, a headhunter’s job is to go into the market in search of high-caliber candidates who may be 'passively' interested in new opportunities and persuade them to come and work for the headhunter’s client.  Headhunters often work on very aggressive timelines to produce top-tier candidates to fill very important leadership positions.

Unlike HR professionals or recruiters who are tasked with filling many positions at their organization, headhunters are hired by a company when there is an urgent need to fill a key leadership post.    

To do their job successfully, there are five key skills that headhunters rely on:

One: Rapport Development & Relationship Building

Headhunters in executive search who are the best at what they do will tell you they’re only the best because of how successful they are at forging strong relationships with clients and candidates.  One headhunter we spoke to said that there are two directives that every executive recruiter should have:  Find the best candidates and build as many relationships as possible along the way.

It’s a simple strategy that, in the end, makes headhunters much more effective at what they do.  It should come as no surprise that one of the most important skills for a headhunter is the ability to network in person and online - an ability to rapidly build rapport with new contacts also helps.

In fact, headhunting has everything to do with relationships, and while it helps to have a dynamic personality, headhunters are always working on new ways to engage with potential candidates so they can sell them for the position they’re recruiting for.  

For example, one of the skills so crucial to building new relationships, yet noticeable lacking in the modern workplace, is listening skills.  Executive search recruiters often find it easier to build strong relationships once they can demonstrate an ability to genuinely listen and be attentive to what candidates and clients have to say to them.  Once a person feels they’re understood, they’re much more willing to listen to others.  That’s the foundation on which the strongest relationships are built.

Two: Social Media Skills

8 out of 10 organizations today recruit for new workers via popular social media outlets.  As our society grows increasingly more digital, the heated competition for talent will eventually drive every employer to adopt some form of social media recruiting strategy because they work.  Want proof?  A recent study revealed that almost 75% of all 18- to 34-year-old job seekers discovered their last job through social media.

That means headhunters and executive search recruiters will need to continue honing their social media marketing skills to include new forms of social media such as TikTok and Instagram, as well as others that are continuing to gain popularity.  However, it’s a bit nuanced for headhunters as they need to be on social media outlets and networks where their target candidates are active.  There's little to gain searching for candidates on platforms that no one in your target industry is using.  Headhunters should always establish with their clients what social media platforms their target candidate would use for industry news and updates.

The best headhunters are also tech-savvier than their competitors.  To win the battle for talent amidst the current job seekers market, hiring organizations need to adopt speed and process efficiency.  Today, even recruiters at the executive level are relying on powerful HR technology solutions capable of automating many traditional hiring processes and putting the power of artificial intelligence to work in helping them more effectively identify, screen, and even chat with their target candidates.

At the forefront of these technical solutions are powerful applicant tracking systems (ATS).  These technical solutions play a key role in a hiring organization’s ability to provide job seekers with an outstanding candidate experience – something that plays a huge role in appealing to applicants.  According to one study, 8 out of 10 candidates said that a positive candidate experience had a profound influence on their decision to accept the offer.

POPULAR: How to Improve Your Recruitment Agency's Productivity Through AI

Three: Sales & Marketing Skills

Successfully persuading a seasoned executive to abandon their post to pursue a new opportunity elsewhere takes some doing on the part of the headhunter.  A great headhunter is also a great sales professional, and they know how to promote a new position effectively.  The best executive search recruiters know how to be relentless in their prospecting activities without turning off potential candidates, and they’re able to articulate what value and benefits can come from making the transition to a leadership post with a different company.    

Headhunters need more than a powerful sales pitch that will fit different personalities. They also have to be able to respond to questions and counter any “pushback” responses from desirable candidates.  The more effective that a headhunter is at promoting the company, the more effective they are at landing the best candidates.

Four: Time Management Skills

It’s a job seekers market, especially at the executive level, and that’s creating an increasingly heavier workload for headhunters.  As the mass exodus of CEOs from our workforce continues, it means there will be more vacant leadership posts to recruit for and fewer candidates to fill them with.  Headhunters and recruiters in executive search must be able to assess all the demands coming at them from every direction and be able to discern which request truly requires immediate action.  Managing time effectively is crucial to the success of a headhunter, and those who manage their time the best tend to be the best at what they do.  

Remember, hiring an executive often takes much longer than it would take to hire a rank-and-file worker.  Throw in the fact that clients will undoubtedly want their new leader to be hired on an accelerated timeline, and it becomes evident why time management skills are key to the success of any headhunter.

Five: Passion

The best headhunters, or executive search recruiters, are downright passionate about what they do for a living.  Frankly, in a job market that’s expected to remain so heavily tilted in favor of the job seeker, headhunters need to have a certain amount of drive and passion for separating themselves from their competition.

By virtue of their ability to rapidly build rapport with people and aggressively expand their professional networks, the best headhunters are always very passionate, and they get absolutely “psyched” about starting up a new recruitment campaign - they genuinely look forward to being able to really get their feelers out into the marketplace to find world-class talent.

Their passion fuels their efforts.  

Conclusion

We’ve now seen how the Great Resignation has left its impact on the global market’s highest levels of leadership as well as in the area of executive search.  It’s a phenomenon that has organizations flailing to appoint the right talent to their most crucial roles, and it’s a trend that’s expected to fuel the headhunting profession for years to come.  

For businesses in need of new leadership, the process of posting on job boards and reviewing resumes on their own has become too risky in terms of a viable strategy for finding top-tier talent in this kind of job market.  

For headhunters in executive search who have cultivated the skills we have discussed above, their future is expected to be absolutely loaded with opportunities to help organizations across the globe navigate a volatile marketplace to find their next generation of leaders in the shortest amount of time.

Click here to learn how Manatal’s ATS can optimize your executive search. 

Manatal – The Best HR Software Solution for Executive Search Agencies

HR technology solutions are continuing to play a crucial role in the lives of professional recruiters and headhunters.  Manatal’s  powerful and robust AI-driven Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) has helped companies across the globe rely on modern solutions to today’s most perplexing recruitment challenges.

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, Manatal’s platform gives headhunters the means to dramatically enhance the quality of the candidate experience and accelerates hiring timelines by implementing measures that take process automation to an entirely new level.

‍

To discover just how well Manatal’s AI-powered recruitment platform can accelerate your organization’s hiring timelines and enhance the quality of the application experience for your job applicants, the company is now offering a 14-day Free Trial of its ATS software via its website.