What is the difference between a headhunter agency and a recruiter? Although both look very similar to each other, a headhunter and a recruiter are different. But yes, they are still in the category of Human resources (HR). Well, if you are just curious about what makes both professions different, here are the explanations.
A Headhunter
A headhunter is the name of the job. It is related to a person who works in an agency, known also as the headhunter agency. Sure, some headhunters work independently but they are indeed quite rare to find around. The company commonly comes to the agency as a client who looks for a candidate to fill in a certain strategic position.
Although the candidate can be for any position, mostly, the position must be filled in immediately and it cannot be other employees in the company. The position is also often at the higher levels such as managers or even CEOs. The candidates to look for also need to have specific skills and qualified for the roles. Since it is quite difficult to find via conventional recruitment, this is how the headhunter is hired.
A headhunter also plays a role as a career coach or consultant. As a coach, a headhunter must create good relationships with candidates. Besides, he or she must also prepare them to be more qualified during the recruitment process.
A Recruiter
On the other hand, a recruiter is a part of the company internals that work to do the recruitment process. It is starting from the recruiting process, offering, and accepting the candidate that has passed the test. A recruiter works under the name of his or her company, different from a headhunter that works independently.
As a recruiter is a part of the company, he or she tends to have more information related to the position offered. The recruitment is also conducted openly and fairly, not under the radar like the headhunter.
In addition, indeed, a recruiter has a job desk to recruit a candidate internally. However, he or she must also do employer branding to attract the candidates to join. It is also important for a recruiter to make sure that the candidate has enough information to make a good career decision for the future.
So, do you want to be one of them? Both a recruiter and a headhunter that works in a headhunter agency are good jobs though.
