You want the best of the best leading your company. So if you find yourself needing to hire for senior-level or top management jobs, you may be wondering how to find the best strategy to recruit qualified candidates. Your answer lies in contacting executive search consultant services, who can save you time and resources in finding the right candidates for your job openings. Executive search consultant services can often also help you find talent in very specialized fields where there’s plenty of competition for the top brains. They can help you avoid the top factor that leads to a failed hire, according to a study done among 1,400 executives by Robert Half — that of a poor skills match. Don’t waste any more time — get in touch with executive staffing agencies and find your perfect candidates today!

How Can Executive Search Consultant Services Help Me?
These types of services are likely to be able to take a significant amount of time and resources off your hands, as mentioned above. They also have important contacts in areas that you may not and can cast a wider net.

They take over the research of candidates who might be qualified and available — whether or not they’re currently employed or not. If they are employed, the search firm can reach out on behalf of their client and see if they’d be open to entertaining the idea of moving elsewhere. If your company were to reach out, however, that could be seen as poaching or unfair play by your competitors, tarnishing your reputation. But a third-party organization can help walk that fine line for you easily.

Even past selecting candidates to reach out to, the executive search firm might also do the first screening of the candidate, negotiate on their client’s behalf in terms of salary and benefits, and put together the final contract.

How Do I Find the Right Executive Search Firm?
If the executive search firm you’re considering belongs to the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants, that’s a very good sign. AESC sets the guidelines for ethics and quality and AESC members are committed to following their Code of Excellence. This means you’re retaining a firm who prizes quality, confidentiality, and service above all else.

You should inquire into their process. You want to make sure they have a clear idea of what you’re looking for and how they’ll narrow down their choice of candidates. Do you feel as though you trust them to represent your company to potential candidates and to deliver positive branding? The search firm and recruiters should be familiar with the industry and type of position you’re recruiting for, otherwise they could identify candidates who don’t have the right skill set.

It’s also important to know who will handle the search and if your company will be given priority. You don’t want to be taken on by a company who is too overwhelmed and who will sink your case to the bottom. You should also ask about whether you’ll be able to contact the recruiters directly and what their credentials look like. Not being able to have access to the recruiters with new information or not being able to progress reports on your end could be frustrating.

You also ideally want a recruiter who will be able to assess a candidate’s hard and soft skills, such as their ability to collaborate and their empathy. Getting an estimated timeline for the project is also important, as well as any other services they offer. Will they negotiate on your behalf? Will they do a pre-screening?

And lastly, you always want to ask for client references. A company who balks at giving you good references probably has something to hide. They should be eager to show what good work they’ve done with other organizations.

Take some of the headache out of an executive search by engaging executive search consultant services. Once you’ve researched the appropriate firm to handle your search, you can put your mind to other pressing matters and know that you’ve left your search in good hands.