Internal Interview ->Headhunter?
Background: A company I’m interested in working for is hiring for a VP role. I have an “in” with the company, and reach out directly to the hiring manager to discuss. I have a call, it goes “well” but they tell me that the have already engaged a Headhunter to run the process for them. They tell me candidly that I come well recommended, but I’m about 90% of what they’re looking for. They tell me they will pass my resume to the HH and will have the HH reach out to me to have follow up discussions based on how I stack up against other candidates in the HHs pipeline.
1.) are they just BSing me and punting to the HH to tell me “thanks but no thanks”?
2.) has anyone dealt with a similar situation, where they have been referred external after having a brief internal?
As a side note; some folks I’ve talked to have said most HH contracts you pay upfront, so if I was a viable, but not perfect candidate they’d likely want to see what the HH could bring since they’d already paid for it. Thoughts???
Why does it matter what the hiring manager meant? Speculating is a waste of time because your path forward is the same regardless: have the call with the headhunter and reiterate your interest, politely follow up, continue looking for other opportunities
I don’t disagree... I guess I’m just looking to see if anyone has insight from a similar circumstance, and/or if the rationale around paying a HH upfront makes sense or not.
So, yes, this headhunter is likely what is called a "retained search firm", meaning they are hired and paid irrespectively of who they hire. It is very common for firms to send their prospects/recommendation to the HH and not just rely on who they find via their databases/search methods.
The HH does a lot of work of organizing all the applicant files, they will do the background check/verifications, and advise on compensation packages. Hiring is a lot of work, and using the outsourced firm greatly reduces the workload of in house HR. Generally the HH firm will work directly with the hiring manager and the business unit, just checking in with HR on compliance matters. Once the firm is ready to actually make a formal offer, then HR is called in. Clearly this can vary by firm and assignment, but that is most likely what is going on.
Bottom line, if you are speaking to the "hiring manager", you are speaking to the decision maker. The HH firm has no incentive for them to select another candidate over you, their fee will be the same. In fact, given the way conflicts of interests get managed (i.e. HH firms have guidelines about poaching from other clients), they probably prefer if the firm selects a candidate they initial identified, it actually reduces their risks (and well makes life easier).
HR is very process oriented (think EEOC/diversity requirements), thus if they commit to a process (and they must), they really cannot just end it because you are the "perfect person". To do so would probably violate all sorts of internal governance policies and leave them exposed to other legal issues.
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