The Jungle that is the Executive Search Process
By Joann S. Lublin© The Wall Street Journal. September 14, 1999.
Looking far and wide
The tight job market forces more recruiters to cast a wider net. About 76% of 210 headhunters say they contacted more than 200 potential candidates for a single assignment during the past 12 months, concludes an Executive Search Review survey conducted for The Wall Street Journal. One result: more searches take as long as a year, rather than the typical three months. "This longer completion rate is frustrating to both clients and recruiters," Says Brian Lee of Hunt-Scanlon Publishing, which publishes the Greenwich, Conn., newsletter.
During the past year, recruiter Gary Kaplan & Associates interviewed at least 200 prospects for each of about a dozen different assignments. "It has made our work incredibly more labor intensive," says Gary Kaplan, president of the Pasadena, Calif., firm. "We're now averaging closer to four or five months" to fill senior posts, with some searches lasting 10 months." Seeking a $125,000-a-year head of materials management for an East Coast HMO, Mr. Kaplan has contacted more than 260 possible contenders since May.
Hard Hunting
Many recruiters contact more than 200 potential prospects per search:
| % OF SUCH HUNTS IN PAST YEAR
11% or more 6% - 10% 1% - 5% Didn't happen |
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS:
95 20 45 50 |
Source: August survey of 210 readers by newsletter Executive Search Review.
Greenwich, Conn.
