Best Headhunting Shops ?

New here in the program at an elite boutique and starting to get inbounds from various headhunters promising me the world. Also have a list that I've accumulated over the last year.

I'm wondering which ones are legit? there seem to be many. Does anyone have any first hand experiences with the ones listed below? Can anyone point to ones that should be avoided and ones that are professional? I don't think it's just about getting the job, but making sure I am not dealing with Pond Scum either.

Best headhunter firms

Here's a list from a long time user about the most trusted head hunters in the community.
from certified user @Sil"

Sil
Sil CD Rank: Human| banana points 12,856
My rule of thumb: if you haven't heard about the firm on WSO before, avoid it. Most headhunters in my experience are completely unprofessional and try to push you into roles that you have no interest in just so they can get their paycheck.

Headhunters that I would use (I'm sure that I'm forgetting a few):

  • Glocap Search
  • Henkel Search Partners
  • The Oxbridge Group
  • SG Partners
  • CPI
  • Dynamics Search Partners (good for HFs)
  • SearchOne (good for HFs)
  • Amity Search Partners

AVOID:

  • Selby Jennings
  • Forrer & Associates
  • Weatherly Group
  • As far as the search firms to avoid multiple certified users have seconded avoiding Shelby Jennings and Pinpoint.
    from certified user @TippyTop11"

    Second Shelby Jennings, I don't think they actually place anyone- they just ask people's comp and are selling that info to 'clients ' for benchmarking. Also Chicago Search Group

    from certified user @tropos"

    Shelby Jennings once sent me to a BB for an interview- and told me the wrong name of the boss I was interviewing for and the position was not the same as the one I showed up for.


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    My rule of thumb: if you haven't heard about the firm on WSO before, avoid it. Most headhunters in my experience are completely unprofessional and try to push you into roles that you have no interest in just so they can get their paycheck.

    Headhunters that I would use (I'm sure that I'm forgetting a few):

    -Glocap Search -Henkel Search Partners -The Oxbridge Group -SG Partners -CPI -Dynamics Search Partners (good for HFs) -SearchOne (good for HFs) -Amity Search Partners

    AVOID:

    -Selby Jennings -Forrer & Associates -Weatherly Group

     
    bid em up:

    "AVOID:
    -Selby Jennings
    -Forrer & Associates
    -Weatherly Group"
    -------------------------------------------
    why avoid these? never heard of SJ or Forrer, friend spoke highly of weatherly.. and a number of others on the list...

    Second Selby Jennings, I don't think they actually place anyone- they just ask people's comp and are selling that info to 'clients ' for benchmarking. Also Chicago Search Group
    26 Broadway where's your sense of humor?
     

    I've consistently had the best experiences with Robin Judson. Always responsive, show lots of stuff and are honest. On the flip side, I never heard back from SearchOne after having a call with them and being told there are a few opportunities they have that might work.

    I've never moved forward on anything from Henkel or Amity but also had positive experiences speaking with them.

     

    Vettery is uhh "interesting".

    I never personally passed them my information but there were odd emails and calls through campus recruiting a few years ago. Typically I would be told a long/short equity firm wants to bring me in for an interview and they need me to register for the site and take some assessment tests. I'll ignore it and 2-3 months later I would be congratulated on an excellent score or a phone screen I did well in. Could it be I am so good at interviews I've been taking them in my sleep?

     
    mrb87:
    Kazimierz:

    CPI, Amity and Glocap are supposedly the best guys for PE, as far as I know

    Glocap is garbage

    I know a few guys at Glocap. I agree it is not the best but I think that is more due to management than anything else. Lots of great opportunities there but finding a good person to work with is more difficult than it needs to be.
     

    Micheal Page - that has to be a joke?

    You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son.
     

    They trawl through job postings and repost as their own, so their connection to the job is tenuous. Also, they ask you a bunch of information sot that they can build up their own internal database and hound your boss for positions at your company.

    ********"Babies don't cost money, they MAKE money." - Jerri Blank********
     

    Yeah, they definitely berate you. Told them I wasn't in a job and demanded to know my comp, which is none of their business. Then told me the I should take XYZ job - they are pretty horrible.

    For PE my best experience was w/ Oxbridge and for HFs the best experience was DSP. I would reiterate that the first impression w/ the HHs is key because they effectively rank / grade you. I remember interviewing at Oxbridge with 1-2 girls and they brought in 3 more partners because they really liked me. Wanted to make sure the other recruiters knew me, etc. It didn't work out, but I just know that when I've made a good first impression, I've done well with job opps and when I didnt do as well (Amity), I got almost nothing.

     

    Perhaps I am wrong, I am just a n00b to the street in ER, but don't you already know the names of some DoRs or even top analysts at some banks to help break this ice for you? The analyst I work for sure seems to know his names at the different banks (but... could be because he actively shops around). I'm not sure how good head hunters/recruiters are at making new positions within a bank that does not currently already have a "TMT product". I think genuine connections within your targeted bank would go further than throwing thousands at a headhunter.

     

    SC11, shame nobody has responded. Maybe one of these topics will help:

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    • Knowledge Sharing: Corporate Development / M&A following questions regarding the search process, that I hope some experienced corporate professionals might ... there any alternatives? Do you search targets by yourself and/or are there specialized research firms ... consultants. However, to complement we now want to actively search for targets by ourselves. I have the ...
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    If we're lucky, the following users may have something to say: Not not a boutique Kimble44 mn248

    Hope that helps.

    I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
     

    Depends on specialty.

    I can tell you for real estate private equity, I recommend Bachrach, Bellcast, and Sousou.

    For generalist private equity, I recommend Amity, Bellcast, CPI, Dynamics, McKibben, and Oxbridge. Glocap has some good middle-market connections.

    Hedge funds and investment banks use a different set of headhunters, but are also a little less focused on using search firms than the private equity funds are. One general recommendation: highlight an interest in one field to each search firm; if you tell a headhunter you are interested in any finance position, they will present you no finance positions.

     

    Headhunters are a bunch of leaches. And by your profile you haven't even started in banking. You need to network and go direct to the companies.

    Re-ib-ny talks about PE in real estate, but there are headhunters in all walks and ways of life depending on what you want to do. To give you an idea - I work in London, in a specific area of sales trading. There is just 1 or 2 of me in each BB. That makes roughly 15 of us in London (we all know each other as competitors) I know when someone leaves and i would go direct if am interested. I have contacts for 23 head hunters (just counted), and all of them are more shitty than the other. Long story short - go direct. Head hunters will call you if they have a mandate, and they will find you if you are worth finding

     

    In a highly specialized area like Disjoint's with a very narrow set of candidates that are well known to each other, headhunters offer little value. In more generalized spaces (like private equity), headhunters get used much more. PE funds don't have the manpower to go dredge the lake for all the qualified banking analysts, so they'll tend to outsource it.

    Also, bulge bracket banks have large in-house recruiting teams that don't need to rely on headhunters, especially for analyst and associate classes. The exception is for experienced hires, which is to UFOinsider's point. When I was in banking, and we needed lateral associates, our group did engage outside headhunters. Unfortunately I don't recall the firms we used. I would suggest reaching out to some firms on my list and see if they can refer you if they don't do i-banking recruiting themselves; some headhunters will do this.

    It's obviously better to be found by the headhunter or have a friend who knows a good headhunter refer you. If you work at a bulge bracket, you'll automatically get calls because the good headhunters will get their hands on the class list and just cold call everyone. My friends at smaller shops rarely get calls, though, and often have to reach out themselves. This has gotten a number of them jobs, so I would have to disagree that you should always just wait to be found. Also, a lot of shops just ignore spam resumes, so in many cases you really need to be introduced either by a headhunter or, better yet, a mutual friend.

     

    Thanks guys, really appreciate all replies. The thing about going directly to someone doesn't guarantee one will get a job just because one wants it/excellent candidate for. There's probably 100 other candidates for that same job with more connects. That's not to say I haven't gone directly, just haven't had much luck (especially being 1 year out of school).

     

    Hi bonobochimp, the silence is deafening, sorry about that.... Any of the threads below helpful?

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    If we're lucky, the following pros may have something to say: hoanghoi Mkkhan SouthLoopMonkey

    I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.

    I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
     
    1. The company pays their commission - and yes, it's a percentage of your salary.
    2. They don't work with recent grads unless you've had some very substantial full-time experience. The reason for this is because employers generally don't want to pay a recent grad much more than market (you're not that valuable) - and by using a recruiter, you're indirectly increasing their compensation costs.
     

    Headhunters, almost exclusively, don't work on entry level jobs. The only time they do is generally if you know someone at the firm and even then it's hard for them to get you a job because they haven't been given a job order for an entry level job.

    Working with a headhunter as an applicant is a painless process and everyone should do it when looking for a new job. They get paid a percentage of your first year salary but that doesn't come out of your pocket the firm pays it. That's why the firm doesn't use them for entry level jobs.

    No, headhunters won't take their pay from you, that's not how the industry works plus they haven't been given any jobs for entry level grads. You can contact a headhunter and ask if they have anything for you, but it won't happen.

    At this point you need to find whatever job you can and work your way up. Do not be picky and network. You can find a job if you have a decent ugrad resume, it will probably just be one you don't want. But if you work hard, do well, and work you way up then you can try to lateral into something more desirable or go back to for an MBA.

     

    Betseat-Getachew, sorry about the lack of response. Maybe one of these topics will help:

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    If we're lucky, maybe these professional users will respond: jt10228 FailedMusician bryanmiller

    Hope that helps.

    I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
     

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