What is the difference between a headhunting company and an agency?

Having been a headhunter for several years, I have encountered many candidates who cannot tell the difference between a headhunter and an agency. Even many HRs do not understand the difference between a headhunter and an agency. Kelly, a senior headhunter from Yilian, told Let’s talk about the difference between headhunting and intermediary:

1. The difference in business model: Generally, headhunting business will account for more than 90% of the company’s business. It is very professional and focuses on certain tasks. In an industry, a lot of human resources will be accumulated in the industry, and the intermediary company may also do agent dispatching, points settlement and other services, which is not very sophisticated.

2. Differences in recruitment positions: Generally speaking, the annual salary of headhunters is at least 100,000 yuan. The positioning of the headhunting industry is for the three high groups: "high positions, high education and high prices." Regular headhunting companies generally charge no less than RMB 20 of the annual salary, and the minimum charge is generally no less than RMB 20,000. The positioning of intermediaries is generally for ordinary positions, and the charges generally do not exceed RMB 5,000 each.

3. The service guarantee period is different: the headhunting company’s guarantee period for a new employee of a position is generally 3 months. That is, if the employee resigns within 3 months, the headhunting company will replace the employee free of charge. Until the right candidate is found. The guarantee period of an intermediary company generally does not exceed one month. This shows the difference between a headhunting company and an intermediary company.

4. The difference between practitioners: Generally, headhunting consultants have several years of experience in HR and can help both parties consider issues from the perspective of career planning, including screening resumes, interview coaching, accepting offers, and Candidates can be given some professional advice in terms of exit counseling, onboarding follow-up, etc.; generally, intermediaries will use freshly graduated college students, and the cost will be much lower.

5. Differences in charging methods: Headhunting companies only charge fees from the company and never from job seekers. They generally find people according to the company's requirements, rather than finding positions for people. Intermediaries often charge both ways, which is very different from headhunting.