Headhunting & Direct Search

For fortalent, headhunting is not a buzzword but a craft. From our head office in Vienna and our offices in Munich and Zurich, we identify the right people, approach them discreetly and guide them respectfully through the entire process. Your senior consultant steers the mandate end-to-end – no hand-over to junior researchers, no loss of information. What you receive is not a pile of CVs, but a vetted selection of people who fit both the role and your organisation.

Let’s discuss your requirements

When a headhunter pays off

In relaxed labour markets, a good job advertisement is often enough. In the markets for which our clients engage us, however, the people who make the difference are not found on job boards. They do not move of their own accord – so we go to them.

A headhunter is the right choice whenever a role is business-critical, when the role profile is narrow and the candidate market small, or when a position should not be advertised openly for internal reasons. In each of these cases, the outcome depends not on the reach of an advertisement but on precise access to the right people.

Our approach to personnel search

For competitive role profiles we do not rely on a single channel. Instead, we combine several modules to increase both hit rate and reach without diluting quality:

• Direct search: targeted identification and discreet approach of suitable profiles
• Social network search: professional targeting via business networks
• Media search: visibility wherever the target group is actually present
• Pool search: activating our segmented candidate pool
• fortalent network: short paths to the right people through long-standing relationships

The right combination is decided after a realistic assessment of the market, availability and salary range. Speed comes from method and commitment, not from activity for its own sake.

Discretion is part of the method

Some positions cannot be advertised publicly – in sensitive succession situations, for instance, in early organisational phases, or when the role is still occupied. Where strict confidentiality is required, a headhunter-led direct search becomes the most effective route. We handle all confidential communication, protect sensitive internal information and keep pace and quality high at the same time. For us, discretion is not an add-on but part of professionalism.

If you need to fill a key role that truly matters, let’s use a short initial conversation to clarify what the market looks like, which personnel search strategy is realistic, and how process, stakeholders and decision timeline can be brought neatly together.

For: Mid-Market Companies · Scale-ups · Family Businesses · Holdings & Private Equity · Institutions