Adams Financial Recruiting

Choosing A Search Partner

You've decided to put a key position or group of positions out for search. Perhaps you've advertised, posted, and networked the position on your own... with little success... and somewhat reluctantly face the task of choosing an executive search firm or employment agency to work with. But who?

Your choice is simplified, of course, if you have an existing relationship with a firm that knows your company, its people, its hiring practices, and has delivered in the past. If not, the next best step is to seek referrals from people you trust who have worked with a variety of recruitment firms on similar searches.

Whether you talk to one firm or several, these few basic considerations will guide you toward the right search partner:

• How urgent your hiring need is
• How senior the position is within your organization
• How broad geographically you want the search to be
• How you want your company and the position to be represented
• How involved in the hiring process you expect your recruiter to be
• How much you can afford to pay and how you want to pay for it

In general, low to middle-level positions that must be filled quickly with local candidates and minimal recruiter involvement beyond sourcing of candidates call for contingency search. Speed, cost, and especially an immediate flow of resumes are probably paramount. Using contingency or exclusive contingency is often the best way to achieve this.

Critical middle-level and most senior-level positions that require careful screening of candidates drawn from competitors nationally and presented the opportunity by one firm exclusively are generally best handled under retained search. Here professionalism, thoroughness, and close candidate control throughout the process up through offer and counteroffer are usually vital.