What Senior Candidates Should Expect From a Good Headhunter
You are not a CV in a database. A good search partner treats the conversation, and your information, with care.
If you are senior and not actively looking, you are exactly the kind of person a good search firm wants to know. That should work in your favour — but only if the firm treats you well. Here is what you should expect.
Discretion as a default
Your details and your interest in a role are not inventory. A good headhunter will not put you forward for anything without explaining the opportunity and getting your approval for that specific mandate. If they are vague about who the client is or what they want, that is a warning sign.
A proper first conversation
The first call should be about you and the market, not a hurried qualification against a job spec. A good search partner wants to understand your experience in context: the business you worked in, the licence and markets you covered, the team you led, the decisions you owned and the results you delivered. They should be able to tell you something useful about the market in return.
Honesty about fit
A good headhunter will tell you when a role is not right for you, and why. That is more valuable than encouragement. It also tells you they are assessing properly rather than trying to place you somewhere convenient.
Clarity about process
You should know what the process involves, roughly how long it will take, and what the client is looking for before you decide whether to proceed. You should not be pressured into an interview you do not want.
Feedback where possible
Where the client permits it, you should receive honest feedback after each stage. It will not always be available, and it should not be invented, but it should not disappear either.
Support through the difficult part
The offer is not the end. Resignation, counter-offers and the first weeks of a new role are where many senior moves come unstuck. A good search partner stays involved through them.
You do not have to be looking
A confidential conversation carries no obligation. You do not need to apply, be represented or accept anything. Done properly, it is simply a useful, private discussion about where your career could go next — conducted by someone who understands the market you work in.
That is the standard to expect. If a headhunter does not meet it, you are entitled to say no.