Here’s the reality: the people you want to hire—the 1% of the 1%—aren’t checking job boards for an open role. They’re thriving at their current company, engaged with their work, and advancing in their careers.
And that’s the challenge. Because while your next great hire might be open to the right opportunity, they might not be actively looking for it, which means they likely won’t see your job post, no matter how well it’s written or where it’s published.
That’s why, in today’s market—especially one ripe with talent shortages—you can no longer rely solely on job boards and LinkedIn. Instead, you need a strategy that targets passive talent, also known as the 70% of the workforce that’s already succeeding elsewhere.
Why the Best Candidates Aren’t Always on the Market
There’s a difference between someone being open to an opportunity and actively searching for one—and the best candidates often sit comfortably in that first category. They’re not necessarily unavailable, but you need to approach them in a different way.
And this isn’t a small segment, either; Monster reports that more than 75% of professionals are passively open to new roles.
In most cases, they’re not ignoring postings out of disinterest. Instead, they’re looking the other way because the value prop feels generic, the timing isn’t right, or the outreach from recruiters lacks meaningful context. In other words, high performers are selective not because they’re passive, but because they have options—and that’s the nuance many companies miss.
Today, attracting top talent isn’t necessarily about broadcasting louder or posting your listing in more spots. It’s about approaching candidates strategically with an understanding of what motivates them at that given stage in their career and framing the opportunity around them, not just the job description.
That kind of insight-driven, time-sensitive outreach isn’t something companies can deliver via a standard job post. But it is something they can get from a headhunter who’s trained at not just who’s qualified, but who’s ready to move, and why.
What Headhunters Actually Do (That Recruiters Don’t)
So, what does headhunting look like in practice?
Think of it as the difference between casting a wide net and taking a targeted approach. Most recruiting efforts—past and present—have been about visibility: posting the opening, generating applicants, and filtering résumés. That’s a practical approach when you need volume, but when you need specificity, it falls short.
Headhunters, in contrast, don’t wait for candidates to come to them. They identify exactly who they should be talking to, even if those people aren’t in the market. They know who’s excelling in their roles, who could be open to a conversation, and how to have that conversation in a respectful, quiet, and credible way.
They also understand how to craft a message that resonates, which Maria Mencias, lead recruiter at Okta, encourages. “You never want someone to think they’re getting spammed,” she cautions. “A few personalized touches really help make your message feel tailored to them.” And it works, with LinkedIn data showing that candidates are more likely to respond to relevant, personalized messages.
Headhunters do that by understanding what motivates someone at this stage of their career and aligning the role to that—whether it’s more ownership, a mission that resonates, or a step into a leadership role they’re not getting where they are now.
The ROI of Headhunting
Yes, headhunting requires an investment, but in competitive markets, the opportunity cost of hiring the wrong person—or not hiring at all—is far greater, with one bad hire costing a company 30% of that employee’s annual salary.
What you get with a headhunter is targeted efficiency: faster access to the right candidates, lower turnover risk, and hires who hit the ground running. And that speed matters when the average time-to-fill jobs across all U.S. industries is nearing 30 days.
There’s also the long-term brand equity play. When high performers are approached throughout, one-on-one outreach, it reinforces your position as one that values excellence.
The reality is this: top talent doesn’t always apply. They’re retained, rewarded, and heads-down in their roles that challenge them. If you want to earn their attention and win their commitment, you need a strategy built to reach them before they raise their hand.
That’s the advantage of headhunting.