Ask HN: Do you know how much head hunters cost?

5 points by mojomark 6 days ago | 12 comments

I was surprised to learn today that the candidate I interviewed (who came from a head hunter vice someone submitting direct through our job post portal), was 25% of the first year's salary.

As the person doing the hiring that kind of incentives me to strive for a lower salary, at least for that first year. I'm not going to do that since we aren't in diar straits, the offer will be appropriate for the role and industry comps, I was just surprised to learn that and wondered if anyone on HN was surprised as well.

I was a head hunter candidate/new hire previously and now I'm wondering if/how that up-front fee may have affected my own offer at that time.

Honestly, the candidate is worth the head hunter fee, but I'm more looking at this through the lens of the job candidate who could have applied on their own. As a direct candidate, you can negotiate for a sign-on bonus that is, say 15% of your target salary, and the hiring company shouldn't blink an eye (if you confidently know you're a solid candidate that is).

roryirvine 6 days ago |

25% sounds a touch high to me, certainly for normal engineering role in tech (though I could well imagine it being more for niche or very senior roles)

12.5-20% was the typical range when I last dealt with them in the mid-late 2010s (usually varying with the seniority of the role). Perhaps things have changed to reflect the additional value they provide in bypassing the torrent of spam that's currently plaguing the recruitment process - but 25% still feels higher than I'd expect.

I agree that you can use this as an argument when negotiating a signing bonus if you're a direct candidate. Won't always work because the hiring manager usually isn't the person who's deciding whether or not to use a recruiter/headhunter (and their fee probably comes from a separate budget), but it's worth a try. I did exactly that when last changing jobs, and managed to get an additional 10%.

ungreased0675 6 days ago |

You can probably negotiate the fee, that seems high.

On the candidate side, job hunting is completely broken. Are you sure this person’s resume would have been seen by a real person if they applied through the job portal?

mytailorisrich 6 days ago |

> As the person doing the hiring that kind of incentives me to strive for a lower salary, at least for that first year

That's a very bad way to look at it. If you think recruiters are too expensive don't use them, but I suspect it makes no difference to you as hiring manager as that was previously approved and budgeted, and low-balling a candidate is not the best way to start a relationship or to attract the best.

Jeremy1026 6 days ago | |

I assume you kept reading, and didn't stop at that quote to come tell OP how terrible they are?

> I'm not going to do that since we aren't in diar straits, the offer will be appropriate for the role and industry comps

mytailorisrich 6 days ago | | |

Please don't do that... Your reply does not address my point nor does it bring anything of value and only misrepresents what I wrote in a rude way.

NishanStepak 6 days ago |

Create an employee referral program for hires, it can be cheaper and more reliable than recruiters in the private sector.

al_borland 6 days ago |

My assumption is the best candidates aren’t actually out there looking, so it’s unlikely they will randomly apply to a posted opening.

mytailorisrich 6 days ago | |

If applying to a job is a sign that you are not part of the "best candidates" then there is no hope, is there? ;)

That said, in this case it was via a recruiter so probably the recruiter reached out to potential candidates, so people who weren't necessarily actively looking.

al_borland 6 days ago | | |

There are people who aren’t actively looking. There are people who once they have a need to look, have many contacts who would jump at the chance to make an offer… or who have standing offers already if they want to leave. This makes it less likely they will be applying to posted listings.

I’ve had several former co-workers reach out over the years to see if I was looking to jump ship. My old boss also had a standing offer for me at his new place (though I heard he was recently let go, so that one’s a dead end now).

cigarettestshir 6 days ago |

20% is the standard I see