Two things fill most shortlists: the active market, and the recruiter's own network. The person who would be perfect for the seat is usually in neither. A field note on why most search firms can show you candidates but cannot show you the market, what that costs you, and what it takes to draw the boundary first.
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When hiring gets hard, your conviction gets tested. Belief cracks. Systems either exist or they don’t.
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A retained search firm posted its finance search online as proof of good work: 142 candidates identified, 25 contacted, 1 hired. Read closely, it is a confession. Here is what happened to the other 141, why most searches leave the market on the table, and how a talent pool should actually be built.
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Six places the traditional staffing model quietly charges you, and what each one looks like when the search runs on evidence instead of hope. The market, the reach, transparency, the map, the case, the finish.
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Contingency pays for speed. Retained pays for accuracy. Two different products at two different prices, and most buyers never had the two laid side by side. What a retained engagement actually buys, what the process looks like week by week, and why the fee is the small number in the equation.
Continue ReadingTwo things fill most shortlists: the active market, and the recruiter's own network. The person who would be perfect for the seat is usually in neither. A field note on why most search firms can show you candidates but cannot show you the market, what that costs you, and what it takes to draw the boundary first.
Continue ReadingA retained search firm posted its finance search online as proof of good work: 142 candidates identified, 25 contacted, 1 hired. Read closely, it is a confession. Here is what happened to the other 141, why most searches leave the market on the table, and how a talent pool should actually be built.
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Relocation is the most misunderstood line item in any offer. This guide breaks down all six delivery structures, what the 2026 tax law actually does to them, and how clawbacks really work. The number on the offer is not the number that lands.
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Weighing competing job offers? Our free Offer Comparison tool puts them side by side and scores the factors that actually move a career, not just the biggest base salary. Decide on evidence before you commit.
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First hires in new functions or new geographies carry a 10x multiplier on fit, in both directions. Get it right and the function compounds. Get it wrong and the precedent poisons every search after it. Convenience is exposure. Full-market mapping is critical. This is the case for building the map before running the search.
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One mission-critical hire. A firm with no internal recruiter and an HR team already wearing every hat. The question is not whether your team is capable. It is whether pulling them off the work they were hired to do is the best use of the next ninety days and attempting to reach the ideal outcome.
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Your investment in a talent partner isn't a transaction. It's strategic. The contingent model is dying because hiring leaders stopped settling for hope disguised as recruiting. If your firm can't show you the proof or give you full visibility into the process, the question isn't whether to switch. It's why you're still waiting.
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