Are headhunters as important for the big platforms?
Citadel, Millennium, Balyansy all have their own internal recruitment tools / job listings on their websites. From my conversations with headhunters so far it sounds like it’s mostly the SM guys that use headhunters.
Is there any significant additional value to be gained from headhunters from those of us angling for a seat at a platform? Or are we better off just directly applying rather than wait for a headhunter to come calling?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, headhunters are generally less critical for large platforms like Citadel, Millennium, and Balyasny, as these firms often have robust internal recruitment teams and job listings on their websites. These platforms tend to rely less on headhunters compared to smaller or single-manager (SM) funds.
For those targeting a seat at a platform, directly applying through their internal tools or leveraging networking may be more effective than waiting for a headhunter. Headhunters are more commonly used in specialized or niche hiring scenarios, such as lateral moves or roles at smaller firms that lack the internal resources for extensive recruitment. However, if you have a strong relationship with a reputable headhunter, they might still provide value by offering insights, referrals, or access to opportunities that aren't publicly listed.
Sources: Best Headhunting Shops ?, IB Lateral Process - are Headhunters helpful?, Are you interviewing with any other banks/firms?, Headhunting Side Hustle: (1) Collect IB Analyst Resumes (2) ??? (3) Herd Monkeys (4) Profit
Negative value, given that adding a headhunter to the process makes you more expensive to hire.
Thanks! Helpful
Boomer take lol. I understand why you say this as a PM who needs to shell out the fee, but HHs are not negative value. If your background is extremely cookie cutter and tells an easy story to anyone looking at your resume, then maybe HH are pretty useless. For those who don’t fit that mold, the only way you will ever get a call back from platform BDs is for an HH to make the intro. HH are far more motivated to make the placement than internal BD. Also, only the Big 4 platforms have capable BD who will actually go out and headhunt themselves. Good luck getting North Rock or Walleye to reply to you via some LinkedIn job posting. Now, maybe you don’t care to join these platforms with subpar PMs or whatever. But HH can be absolutely key to landing an MM role imo
Fair. So that applies to 5% of candidates. As I said, on avg, negative value.
Have you ever talked to Mercury partners?
Their BD teams are their HH. The BD person that placed me at one of these said she scoured every industry PE shop and asked me if there were anymore I’d suggest and I mentioned 3 pretty off the radar shops and she’d already reached out. I’m sure that not all BD folks are that thorough but pretty sure they eat when people they find get placed so there’s some incentive to grow the pool.
Then once there I got LI invites from the heads of BD at the other platforms and periodically catch up with them.
I know there’s also HH that feed people to the MMs but I doubt they can be effective in driving a specific process short of the HH having a direct line to the PM.
Thanks, that's really helpful.
How did your interactions with BD go? I haven't had any interactions with them yet but imagine it's a slightly different type of dynamic than a headhunter, so not entirely sure what to expect out of a connection there. How much do they shop you around to their pods?
I've worked at 2 platforms. Both roles I got through a HH intro.
Thanks, that's helpful to know.
What did the handoff from headhunter to BD look like? I'm in a couple of headhunters' mailing lists but have mostly been getting SM emails every now and then, which I'm less interested in. But I'm cautious about sending the wrong signal.
most open roles aren’t even advertised on LinkedIn because way too many subpar candidates apply to them. This is particularly the case for more senior roles that firms don’t want to advertise openly.
And all MM BD teams rely a lot on head hunters to place candidates (in addition to their own networks). Smaller firms rely more on them than bigger firms. Best thing you can do is build a long term relationship with a quality headhunter and understand what firms they work with.
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