Headhunting
Also known as: executive search
Headhunting is proactively identifying and approaching people who are already employed and not actively job-hunting, rather than collecting inbound applications. It is the standard approach for senior, specialised, or hard-to-fill roles where the strongest candidates rarely apply on their own.
Also called executive search, headhunting targets a defined shortlist of people already doing the work well and reaches out to them directly, instead of advertising a vacancy and screening whoever responds.
It is the right method when the best people for a role are passive candidates rather than applicants, and it depends on disciplined sourcing to build an accurate target list before any outreach begins.