Jobboard Finder’s opinion
Summary: HeadHunter was founded by Mikhail Frolkin and Yuri Virovets in 2000 in Russia. Neither one of them work there anymore according to Linkedin, but that doesn’t mean they have cut ties with the company. Originally, the site was for recruiters looking for candidates, before coming a multipurpose job board. The group is particularly present on social media: 19 100 followers on Instagram, 50 142 on OK, 430 957 on VK, 60 081 on Facebook, 14 800 on Twitter, 7 074 on Youtube and 40 915 on Linkedin. In Russia, HeadHunter attracts about 42.26 million views a month, making it one of the top three most visited job boards in the world! It is easily the leading job board in the country. In 2017, the group even purchased Job.ru, which now no longer exists. Unfortunately, the site is only partially translated into English.
Design: When you first open the site, it can be a bit confusing to have the login form featured more than the search engine (keywords in CVs, job offers or company names). You can post a CV or a job offer directly from the homepage, or check out the featured jobs and companies (the number of offers are in brackets). The rest of the page is full of lists: articles, different sectors, different cities and different job titles. Once in the job listing, the filters include the region, the nearby metros, the salary, the industry, the company branch, the work experience, the employment type, the work schedule and any exclusions. Without even opening the offers, you can hide those that don’t suit and show the contact details of those that have some. The salary is clearly indicated in the listing if the recruiter has provided a range, and you can also view the offers on the map. To sort the offers, you have the date, the salary and the relevance. As a rule, the job is broken down into clear sections (requirements, responsibilities and terms) but recruiters can also opt for a customized job advert instead of a standard post, which includes a logo, keywords and a map. Similar job offers appear under an open one. As for the company pages, they are comprised of large images and they are completely customized to reflect the company image.
The job board objective: HeadHunter adapts its offers to suit jobseekers and recruiters. Thanks to its courses and its clever filters, you can find exactly the type of job or candidate you need.
Recruiter observations: To register as a recruiter, you need to select your country from a list. Through the recruiter account, you can access a chat window, but everything is in Russian (and not translated by Google). You need a phone number to create an account. When creating an advert, the website can provide salary data for a given position in a given city to help choose the salary. Adverts are present on the site for no longer than 30 days.
Jobseeker observations: It’s easy to create an account. And jobseekers can also boost the visibility of their CV. To apply to job offers, you have to fill out a form and, if your information doesn’t fit the requirements, the site tells you but doesn’t stop you from applying.
The job offers: There are 556 641 job offers and 37 788 082 CVs. IT, sales, marketing and administrational personnel have the most job offers.
Reactivity: Very clear contact information if you have the time for a phone call. An e-mail address is a bit harder to find. If you request a call back, the team calls within the hour.
Special features: Automatic responses for candidates; the news; the articles; the holiday calendar; the tests (recruiters can create); the courses for recruiters; the opinion polls; the career advice test (at a cost); the metro station filter; the feedback options; job alerts; the map; the Youtube videos; the projects (including educational webinars, the HeadHunter library, the HeadHunter index and much more).
Verdict: HeadHunter has been around for almost two decades, and it doesn’t look like it’s ready to close its doors. The drawbacks include the language options, the contact information and “About us” section (which we couldn’t find). That said, it is still one of the top job boards in the world.