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head hunter vs. direct application
 

alphaalpha's picture
(Monkey, 62
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 10:43pm

Does anyone here have any experience applying through headhunters vs. directly or through connections? I will start applying for FT positions at the end of the summer. This is for quantitative roles (focus HF,PT). Have been contacted by some HHs recently. As far as I understand it, they get a commission as a certain percentage of starting salary - wondering if this discourages some firms from going through them. Any insight into what types of firms the good HHs usually represent would be appreciated.

carltan1974's picture

Personally, I seeked the help

(Monkey, 31
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 12:13am

Personally, I seeked the help of a headhunter. Having a headhunter will make your job search easier but the downside of this is that you have to pay them. http://www.headhunt.com.sg/about-us/

re-ib-ny's picture

Headhunters in the US do not

PE
(Gorilla, 697
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 9:19am

Headhunters in the US do not charge their candidates, they charge the hiring company. This is important to remember: the company is the client, not you.

On the other hand, it is 100% better to be brought in to a firm by a good headhunter than go in alone. A lot of companies treat direct inbound resumes as spam from marginal candidates desperate to leave their current jobs, and get so many they don't pay attention. A good headhunter will pitch you, get you noticed, and get you an interview. If a company has brought the headhunter into the hiring engagement, they will virtually never care about paying the contingency fee. What you don't want, however, is for a less reputable headhunter with weak client relationships to go blasting your resume all over Wall Street. This will not give you any benefit and will make it harder for a good headhunter to introduce you to those firms.

When you meet with a headhunter, remember that their #1 concern is that you are a relevant candidate who will show well with the client and will very likely accept an offer if one is given to you. Generally it's best to express an interest in one particular industry with any given headhunter (don't say hedge funds or private equity, for instance, pick one). Don't grumble about your current role, but do express a strong interest in exploring new opportunities. You can leverage a headhunter as an intermediary in negotiations, but remember that they represent the interests of the other side, so you have to know when to cut out the headhunter and manage the process.

alphaalpha's picture

Thanks guys. This is for

(Monkey, 62
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 2:59pm

Thanks guys. This is for campus hire out of grad school rather than experienced. Headhunters tend to be less common in that case, but not unheard of for quant positions. I've found it pretty difficult to get reliable/consistent information on which headhunters are reputable and which ones suck.

re-ib-ny's picture

Couple of ways to try and vet

PE
(Gorilla, 697
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 1:25am

Couple of ways to try and vet a headhunter. If they have an exclusive on the engagement that's a good thing (but not critical). Also, ask them to tell you about the team you'll be working with. The good headhunters know the hiring manager personally, and can tell you about them. The lesser headhunters are only getting postings from HR, and have no real connection to be able to sell you to the actual decision-maker.

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