Long-time IACPR member Caroline McClure, founder and Principal of
ScoutRock, provides consulting and networking services to corporate
executive recruiting and executive-talent management leaders. She also helps
human resources
professionals better understand and leverage the executive recruiting
profession. Prior to founding ScoutRock, she was the Director, Executive
Recruiting at Lockheed Martin. Here she defines what sets executive recruiting apart.
The differences between executive and other types of recruiting include not
only level, but the scope of the sourcing pool, the sourcing strategy, the
client and candidate management, the visibility, and therefore, the risk. The
objective of executive search is to partner with hiring executives to fill
senior positions with the best possible talent whether or not that
talent is seeking new opportunities.
Three aspects of this definition begin to differentiate executive recruiting from all other. The first is the exclusive focus on a narrow level of positions-- senior-level (I would argue that is within three steps of the organization’s head), and the second and third are the objectives of obtaining the best possible talent whether or not those individuals are currently seeking new opportunities. They are small phrases, but “best possible” and “whether or not,” change the game and differentiate executive recruiting from all other.
“Best possible” and” whether or not” suggest that the sourcing and vetting processes are both extensive and exhaustive. They change candidate sourcing from applying database search strings to talent prospecting through targeted-company and targeted-individual research strategies. They mean the recruiter doesn’t stop identifying and recruiting new prospects even though several qualified have been identified. “Whether or not” and “best possible” requires the recruiter to convince prospects to endure a thorough vetting process, to entertain risk, a new opportunity, a new company, new customers, and often a relocation even though they have no reason or initial desire to do so. Together, “best possible” and “whether or not” change the candidate relationship from an exchange to a courtship. These phrases change the employment conversation from a job opportunity to career development, the assessment from an interview to a dialog, and the client and candidate interaction from a transaction to a consulting engagement.
Executive differs from other types of recruiting, not only in level, but
also in the approach to the search from a sourcing perspective as well as from
a client and candidate management strategy.
