Making an Impact
Though the terms “recruiting” and “executive search” are often used interchangeably, there’s a notable difference between the two. Recruiting is focused on filling the wide variety of roles necessary to make a business run, from skilled labor to senior manager positions. Usually this is referred to as a contingency search, where recruiters are paid only if they fill the position they’ve been contracted for. In many instances, a client may hire several contingent recruiters to go after candidates for the same job.
Executive search, on the other hand, is about finding the people who develop policies and strategies and oversee the organization’s far-flung operations. These are leaders like the CEO, other C-suite officers, vice president of product development or the head of an individual business unit. Often, these searches are conducted on a retained basis, where the search firm gets paid whether it finds a winning candidate or not. Also, executive searches usually are exclusive, meaning only one firm is at work trying to fill a particular role.
“In executive search, the potential impact on the company is significant. You’re looking for a specific person as opposed to a specific skill set.”
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