How to Find a Headhunting Consultant: How They Source Talent and How to Work with Them

1What is a headhunting consultant? How they differ from HR and job boards

A headhunter is a recruiter commissioned by a company to find people for specific positions, usually working for a licensed executive search or HR consulting firm. The job isn't posting ads and waiting for resumes; it's first understanding exactly whom the company needs, then going out into the market to find people who fit, and staying with the process until they start.

Many companies, on first encountering headhunters, confuse them with job sites or their own HR team's work. Here's the difference in one table:

The three approaches don't replace one another. Most companies fill ordinary roles themselves and hand only hard-to-fill or confidential roles to headhunting consultants. For a full comparison of hiring channels, see How companies find talent.

2When should a company bring in a headhunting consultant?

Not every role needs a headhunter. When you see the following, it's usually time to bring in a headhunting consultant:

• The opening has been up for ages, and applicants aren't the right fit: The right people are mostly already employed and doing well — they won't go to job sites and apply on their own.
• Unclear on market rates: You're not sure what salary this position needs right now to attract people. Headhunting consultants talk to candidates every day, so they have a better feel for the market.
• The role can't be advertised publicly: for example, replacing a current manager, preparing a new business, or not wanting competitors to see your plans—public postings can actually be risky for these hires.
• All the résumés look great and you can't tell who can really do the job: the consultant talks in depth with candidates first, does preliminary checks, and notes risk points in the recommendation report.
• HR is short-handed: screening résumés, scheduling interviews, and chasing progress take a lot of time. Hand that off, and HR only needs to interview people who've already been screened.
• What key talent cares about can't be written into a job description: team culture, manager style, and future growth need a consultant to explain one-on-one before candidates are willing to talk.

3How do headhunting consultants find people? The full process

This is what companies ask about most, and what's least often explained clearly. An experienced headhunting consultant, after taking on a role, generally works like this:

Step one: get clear on who you're actually looking for

The consultant confirms with the hiring manager what problem this role actually needs to solve, rather than just searching for keywords from the job description. For example, two "sales manager" roles—one opening new accounts, one maintaining key accounts—need completely different people. If this step isn't done well, no amount of hard searching afterwards will fix the direction.

Step 2: Draw a talent map

The consultant maps out which companies and positions this kind of talent is likely in right now, including direct competitors, upstream and downstream companies, and companies that have done projects of a similar scale. This map determines where to look.

Step 3: Reach out proactively through multiple channels

Common channels include:

• Our own talent database: records of candidates we've contacted and spoken with before, usually the fastest source.
• Professional networks such as LinkedIn: search by job title, company and skills, then reach out by direct message.
• Referrals: ask people in the industry for recommendations, or ask suitable people who aren't looking to move to introduce others they know.
• Public information: industry news, conference speakers, and published project results often surface people who aren't active on social media.
• Job postings: a supporting channel to attract people who are actively job hunting.

Step 4: Talk in depth with candidates and do a first round of screening

Once we reach candidates who are interested, the consultant first talks with them about what they've done, why they're considering a move, their expected salary and terms, and when they could start. Anyone whose terms clearly don't match is screened out at this stage and never passed to the company.

Step 5: Write a recommendation report, don't just forward résumés

A good referral includes not just the résumé but also why the person fits and what to watch out for, such as higher-than-usual salary expectations or the reason one stint was short. The company can decide whether to interview just by reading the report.

Step 6: arrange interviews and support salary negotiation through to the start date

The consultant coordinates interview schedules, checks in with each side separately after interviews, helps bridge gaps during salary negotiation, and keeps confirming the candidate hasn't changed their mind until the start date. Some consultants also help run reference checks with former managers, with the company's consent.

Put simply, what matters in how a headhunter finds people isn't how big their database is, but whether they can pin down the need, know where the people are and persuade them to talk. When choosing a consultant, ask them to explain how they'd search for your role—that's where the difference shows.

4I want a headhunting consultant: where to find one and how to judge

Three common ways to search

• Referrals from peers or friends: ask HR staff or managers in the same industry and function who they've used. It's the fastest way to learn "what it's actually like to work with them."
• LinkedIn search: search "headhunting consultant" plus your industry or function, then look at what they've shared and the types of roles they've handled to judge whether they know your field.
• Search engines: Search "industry name + headhunter," find firms that publish content about that industry, and ask them to assign a consultant who knows it.

Three questions to judge whether a consultant is good

1. Do they hold a legal employment service license? In Taiwan, private employment service businesses must obtain a license from the authorities. You can ask them for the license number and verify it.
2. Do they know your industry and function? Ask them to describe the current market for this kind of role and where the people usually are—only those who can answer with specifics really know it.
3. Can they explain how they'd find someone like you? "We have a big database" isn't enough; a good consultant will explain which companies they'd look at and how they'd reach out.

We've put the full criteria for choosing a headhunting firm (including submission quality, whether one consultant stays with you throughout, and whether they'll tell you the truth before taking the search) into seven points. See How to choose a headhunting firm in Taiwan: 7 criteria and pitfalls to avoid.

5Working with a headhunting consultant: the process and terms to agree up front

Working with a headhunting consultant generally goes through these stages:

1. Needs briefing: you explain the role, team situation, salary range, and desired start date.
2. Sign an engagement contract: spell out the fee structure, guarantee period, and candidate ownership.
3. Consultant search and recommendations: once you receive a recommendation report, reply quickly on whether you'll interview. The faster you reply, the less likely the candidate is to be snapped up elsewhere.
4. Interviews and salary negotiation: after each interview, share your feedback with the consultant so they can adjust the search.
5. Candidate start and guarantee period: after the start date the guarantee period begins; departures within it are handled according to the contract.

The issues that most often cause problems are the following terms not being spelled out before working together:

For how headhunting fees are calculated and the variables not shown on a quote, see How headhunting firms charge; for how each step connects from submitting a request to the candidate's first day, see How Taiwanese companies work with headhunters.

6What happens when two headhunters submit the same candidate?

It's common, and reasonable, for a company to engage two or three headhunters at once — it's like opening more pools to search. But the most common dispute in that situation is: the same candidate is referred by both firms — after the hire, whose fee is it?

The way to avoid disputes is to set the rules in the contract upfront. A common approach is that the firm that referred the candidate first, with a written record (such as the time the referral report was sent), takes precedence. When a company receives a duplicate candidate, it should also notify the later firm right away rather than waiting until after an offer is made.

Conversely, if you're a job seeker, don't let different headhunters submit you to the same company; the employer will see your job search as disorganized, and it will count against you.

7When you don't actually need a headhunting consultant

• The job itself is attractive enough: if pay, location, and brand are competitive, the right people will apply once you post it, with no need to pay extra.
• High-volume, high-turnover frontline roles: for retail, customer service, or warehouse roles, job banks, recruitment agencies, or staffing are usually more cost-effective. See How to choose outsourced recruiting for entry- and mid-level roles.
• Short-term staff, or when you're not sure you need them long-term: temporary staffing is a better fit. For the cost structure, see How are staffing costs calculated?.
• Requirements aren't clear yet: if the job content, salary range, and interviewers haven't been decided, bringing in a headhunter just means changing direction back and forth. We recommend aligning internally first, then engaging a firm.

8FAQ

Further reading: How to choose a headhunting firm in Taiwan · How Taiwanese companies work with headhunters · How headhunting fees are calculated · What is recruitment outsourcing?