If you want to work with and advise people at the most senior levels of business and enjoy the breadth and variety of working on a diverse range of projects at any one time, then executive search could be a great career for you to explore.
Whether you’re passionate about sustainability, the future of work, social impact or diversity and inclusion, you can directly help to shape these agendas as a search professional. By placing people into executive roles, you can have a direct impact on boardrooms of the future. It’s also an industry that pays extremely well – without having to sacrifice a healthy work / life balance. Top performers can be paid millions of pounds per year at the best firms.
What is executive search?
Executive search, or headhunting, is about finding the best possible talent for any given role. In many cases, the best people for a role might not be looking for a new job. As such, it differs from recruitment which is about matching an open role with people who are actively looking for employment. Typically, executive search professionals place people into C-suite or very senior roles.
The process involves working closely with clients at the highest level of an organisation to understand their needs and requirements, mapping the market for talent, identifying the perfect candidates, and then explaining to these candidates why such a role is an enticing prospect. It requires a range of skills but the best head-hunters have excellent people skills, are great communicators, have strong commercial acumen, deep sectoral knowledge, the ability to work on numerous projects at the same time, are intellectually curious, resilient and credible with senior industry figures.
Increasingly, search firms are widening their offering: succession planning, assessment, and advisory are all services which most top firms now provide. This gives these firms multiple touch points with clients and the chance to have more wide-ranging conversations than would usually be possible. Projects might include, for example, talent pipelining, diversity initiatives, succession planning, assessing reward and compensation structures, or advising on location strategy.
Why work in search?
Create direct and meaningful impact
As a search consultant you will be working directly with CEOs and other senior executives. This daily exposure to senior people gives you an incredible insight into the issues and challenges facing an industry as well as the opportunity to have significant impact.
First, you can have impact through the candidates you introduce and place. Not only is it hugely rewarding to help someone find their dream job, it’s also exciting to be operating at such a senior level. You can also have a significant and tangible impact on the future of a firm by finding it the right CEO / COO / CFO / CHRO. The best executive search consultants take a consultative rather than transactional approach and focus on building relationships for the long term. This means they can be trusted advisors to their clients, acting as a sounding board on a wide range of issues relating to growth, people and talent.
Second, if you are passionate about diversity and inclusion, there is no better way to change British boardrooms than through executive search. You can work with your clients to introduce candidates from diverse backgrounds and help them to attract and retain diverse talent.
Third, to retain their competitive edge, executive search firms need to constantly be thinking about what their clients are going to need now, and in the future, to attract, retain and find top talent. This means they need to stay abreast of all the major trends and issues in the industries they cover as well as thinking creatively about future needs. This is also why search firms have been at the vanguard of the sustainability, employee wellbeing and diversity & inclusion agendas.
Work-life balance
This is a career that works well with family obligations. Most firms are aware of the importance of a good work / life balance and it’s a priority that is emphasised from the top. Even in the most demanding search environments consultants remain in control of their calendar and the hours are far more family-friendly than many other professions. Indeed, for those who’ve left industry or professional services to become a search consultant one of their major drivers was the desire to better balance work life and home life, have greater flexibility and less travel.
Challenge & stimulus
In executive search you will enjoy considerable breadth and variety; you’ll be working on numerous projects, covering a wide range of issues, often across several time zones at any one time. Search really suits those who are intellectually curious as you will have to learn about new industry trends or developments to remain credible with the most senior figures in your industry.
Every project is different, every mandate is a fresh challenge; it requires knowledge, creativity, and resilience. How will you find that needle in a haystack? What networks can you tap into? What will be the most compelling argument to bring someone to the table? How will you know whether this person will be the right fit culturally? How should your clients reward their employees to make other opportunities seem less enticing? These are just some of the questions you’ll be trying to answer. At the top boutiques and the leading global search firms, you’ll be working with incredibly high-calibre colleagues and clients.
Opportunities to work abroad
The global search firms and many of the leading boutiques have offices around the world and tend to be good at offering their employees the opportunity to transfer abroad. If you want to spend a couple of years in San Francisco or Shanghai and are a valued member of your firm, your employer will usually do their best to support you to do so. It is usually easier to get an internal transfer than to get a work visa abroad. Given the current environment can make it challenging to get a visa to work in the USA, the EU, Singapore and other places, this is a great mid-term option for working abroad.
Lucrative compensation
Executive search can be incredibly lucrative – and you will have better and faster earning potential in comparison to many other professions. In some of the top firms, you can be earning over £100k after only a few years’ experience. Top fee earners in the UK will be generating several million pounds per year and can be taking as much as 40-50% of that home. There aren’t many industries which don’t require a professional qualification where the earning potential is so good.
Great career paths for those who prefer research
There are few industries that have a dedicated career track for researchers that is as lucrative as executive search. They will be involved in mapping markets, taking references, speaking to sources in the market as well as producing thought leadership pieces. At the big global search firms, researchers can progress up through the ranks and a senior Research Director can expect to make c. £150k per year.
