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How Executive Search Firms Work (And How to Know If You Need One)
Most companies that call an executive search firm have already tried everything else. They posted the job. They searched LinkedIn. They maybe called a recruiter who sent them five resumes that didn’t fit. Now the role has been open for 90 days and the pressure is real.
If you’re wondering whether an executive search firm is worth it, this is the honest answer: for senior roles, especially ones that have already stalled, they usually are.
What an executive search firm actually does
An executive search firm finds people who aren’t looking. That’s the core of it.
Most strong candidates at the senior level are already employed. They’re not browsing job boards. They won’t see your posting. The only way to reach them is to call them directly, have a real conversation, and make a compelling case.
Search firms do that work. They build a list of targets, reach out one by one, and screen before you ever see a name. You get a shortlist of people who are qualified and open to talking, not a pile of applications to sort through.
Why the tech industry leans on search firms so heavily
Tech moves fast. The skills that mattered three years ago may not be the ones you need now. That makes hiring at the senior level harder than in most sectors.
The talent pool for experienced tech executives is also thin. There are only so many people who have led a product team through a major platform shift, or scaled an engineering org from 20 to 200. Those people are in demand from multiple companies at once. Getting to them first, and making a strong pitch, takes time and relationships most internal teams don’t have.
This is true across a range of technical and industrial sectors, not just pure tech. Companies in manufacturing, defense, and financial services face the same problem with specialized senior roles.
What to look for when choosing a search firm
Industry knowledge is the most important factor. A firm that has placed plant managers in automotive won’t necessarily know how to find a CISO for a fintech company. The networks don’t overlap.
Ask the firm directly: how many searches have you done in my sector in the last two years? How did they turn out? A good firm will answer that clearly. A vague answer tells you something.
Also ask how they source candidates. If the answer is “we have a large database,” push further. Databases go stale fast. The best firms are making direct calls, not just running searches against old records. You can read about how this process works at Steven Cardwell Search & Placement if you want a concrete example of what active sourcing looks like.
The confidentiality piece matters more than most people think
When a company is replacing a sitting executive, the search has to stay quiet. Word gets out fast in most industries. If the current leader finds out they’re being replaced before you’re ready to act, it creates real problems.
A good search firm manages this carefully. They don’t post the role publicly. They approach candidates one at a time, under a confidentiality agreement if needed. They control the information flow so you stay in control of the timeline.
This is one area where a general recruiter often falls short. Posting a job and managing a quiet executive search are very different skills.
Diversity in senior hiring still needs deliberate effort
Most senior leadership teams are less diverse than they should be. That’s not a new observation. But it keeps being true because the default search process tends to find the same kinds of candidates over and over.
The fix is intentional. It means building a target list that includes people who don’t fit the traditional profile for the role. It means looking in different places and through different networks. This doesn’t lower the bar. It raises the quality of the shortlist by making it wider.
Search firms that do this well don’t treat it as a box to check. They build it into how they define the candidate pool from the start.
What the search process looks like from the inside
It starts with a real conversation about the role. Not just the job description, but the context. Why is the position open? What has made it hard to fill? What does success look like in the first year?
From there, the firm builds a target list of people who are doing the job well somewhere else. They reach out directly, screen the interested candidates, and bring you a shortlist of people worth your time.
The whole process, done properly, takes 6 to 10 weeks. Rushing it tends to produce the wrong hire, which costs far more than taking the time to get it right. Research puts the cost of a failed executive hire at one to two times the annual salary once you account for lost productivity and rehiring.
When it makes sense to work with a smaller, specialized firm
The large global search firms, Korn Ferry, Russell Reynolds, Egon Zehnder, are well known and do strong work at the very top of the market. They’re often the right call for a Fortune 500 CEO search.
For mid-market companies, especially those in specialized sectors, a smaller firm with deep industry knowledge often performs better. They know the candidate pool personally. They’re not running your search through a junior team while the partners focus elsewhere.
Steven Cardwell Search & Placement works specifically with mid-market companies in Canada and the US that have senior roles other firms haven’t been able to fill. The firm operates on a contingency basis, so there’s no fee unless a placement is made. If you have a role that’s been open and going nowhere, it’s worth a conversation.
For candidates: what working with a search firm is actually like
If a search firm reaches out to you, they have a specific role in mind. They’re not fishing. Take the call.
Be honest about what you want. Compensation, location, type of company, stage of growth. The more direct you are, the more useful the relationship becomes. A good recruiter isn’t going to push you toward a role that doesn’t fit because that wastes everyone’s time.
If you’re actively looking, you can also take the first step. Take a look at what roles are currently open and reach out if something fits your background.
The one thing that separates a good search from a slow one
The companies that fill senior roles fastest are the ones that start the search before the urgency hits. They know a key leader is leaving, or they know they need to add capacity, and they start the process 60 to 90 days before the role is formally open.
By the time most companies call a search firm, they’re already a quarter behind. The search takes 8 weeks. Then onboarding takes another 30 to 60 days. That’s a long time for a critical seat to sit empty.
Start early. Be clear about what you need. And work with a firm that will tell you the truth about the market rather than just tell you what you want to hear.utive recruitment and shaping the success of the companies they serve.