Here is an overview of the process we typically run for an executive search.
During the first two weeks, I interview everyone who will be involved in the search — everyone who will be interviewing candidates. I want to get their perspectives on the ideal candidate and understand how they plan to assess candidates. Also during the first two weeks, I create a position spec, a candidate scorecard, and an intro email. In addition, I conduct research and identify prospective candidates that appear to be a fit for the role.
I try to answer the question, "If we could hire anyone, who would it be?" instead of the question many recruiters ask, which is, "Who do we already know that could be a fit?" We usually launch a search with 75–100 candidates on our list.
We launch our searches on Sunday early evenings — we get a higher response rate because most executives check their emails before the start of the work week. Tina sends out most of the initial emails and manages the top of the funnel. We conduct our first weekly status call the Friday after our Sunday launch. We usually have 8–12 candidates by then who have responded with some level of interest.
Once we launch, Tina screens candidates, then I conduct Zoom interviews. I like to have the client interview 2–3 "calibration candidates" as soon as possible to make sure we're in sync. It is almost always the case that the ideal candidate profile changes during the search based on candidate interviews and subsequent discussions.
Over the next 30 days or so, we continue to interview candidates and pass the ones we like to the client for them to interview. The goal at the end of this phase is to have 3–5 strong candidates that we will pass to the next phase. We also collect compensation data from candidates during this phase, so we're able to build a "real-time" comp survey for the specific company and role.
The top 3–5 candidates will meet with a broader set of company executives and/or board members. The goal is to identify the top one or two candidates. This phase usually takes 1–2 weeks.
If possible, I like to have the top 1–2 candidates prepare a presentation to the board and executive team addressing the question: what would you do if you got this job? The candidates sign an NDA and are provided with access to a data room. I prefer to schedule these presentations in the late afternoon, allowing time for a Q&A, and then have the board take the candidate out to dinner.
Once we pick the top candidate, we conduct reference checks, negotiate compensation, and assist with closing the deal.