The hype about internet strategies for conventional headhunting firms is dead and buried. Small fortunes have been lost by some big name players who plunged in early with ambitious ventures to recruit high-calibre people via the web. Those who hung back, often because they did not have the money or vision to do otherwise, can now smile at the folly of others and claim it was always clear that recruitment at all but the most junior levels was never going to work on the web.

But the story is far from over. Indeed, with the hype gone, the debate on how established headhunters can best use the internet is more interesting than ever. Some firms remain steadfast in their opinion that internet recruitment is a non-starter at senior or even middle level, especially in a sensitive market like financial services, where personal approaches and confidentiality are all.