There are a lot of options in your demographic location when you’re looking for an Executive Search Firm. According to statistics from Quora, there are over one million Recruiting and/or HR professionals on LinkedIn, which adds up to about one out of every 20 LinkedIn profiles. With all of the different search firms out there how can you be sure you’re working with the best?
The best executive search firms are identifiable by common characteristics and business best practices. By understanding these desirable traits and tailoring your questions around the following points, you can ensure you're working with one of the best executive search firms in your vertical market.
Look at References
Across the board, the best executive recruiters build a relationship with their clients. Make sure to ask who they’ve worked with and how many placements they’ve done within a specific company. If they have worked with a business more than once and have successfully placed multiple people, it’s clear they build healthy relationships with their clients and maintain strong communication.
Find a search firm who will sit down and genuinely get to know your needs as a company or an individual. Don’t hire a recruiter who spams openings with resumes hoping that one works -- find a partner to guide you through the hiring process and understands the role.
Participate in Communication
Early on in your relationship with a CPG executive search firm they should follow best practices and start to understand the open job. To hire the best possible executive, and therefore ensure a low turnover rate, your search firm must know everything about the opening. The best firms ask about the nature of the work, the necessary skills to be successful, challenges in the position day-to-day, the future of the role, and the over-arching goals of the company. If they are uninterested in the nitty-gritty and having these meaningful conversations with you, that is a bad sign.
Ask About their Methods
The best CPG executive recruiters have reliable methods for every type of search they’re doing. They know that certain avenues will attract different candidates, and they use a variety of interview methods such as blind interviewing, implementing personality or skills assessments, and asking the right interview questions.
Many of the best search firms ask for references of some kind from candidates. Others will require work samples and even cognitive assessment results. The firm you want to work with has steady methods and successful data to back up their hiring processes.
Watch out for Scammers
If you’re looking to partner with a firm to fill an executive position or to get hired in a CPG business, make sure you stay on your toes. Never give your personal bank account or financial information to a recruiter. Professional search organizations will also have emails that normally include their firm or organization name -- be wary of recruiter emails coming from personal email accounts.
In order to find the best talent for your company, you need to work with the best. Hiring and working with a reputable CPG executive recruiter will help attract top-notch talent to your organization. From the very beginning of the process to the end, these traits will reveal who is trustworthy, determined, and dedicated in your area. If you want to work with the best executive search firm look for those who can show you references, communicate effectively, have productive interview methods, and are not trying to scam you.