Because executive recruitment works very differently to junior/mid level individual contributor recruitment. 95% of a headhunter's value is in their network. A

Because executive recruitment works very differently to junior/mid level individual contributor recruitment. 95% of a headhunter's value is in their network. A company will have a senior leadership role and they won't usually even advertise it; they'll engage one or more headhunters to go and find someone. This will either be a person within the headhunter's existing network who they know could be persuaded to move, or it could be someone they find via other means.