When you’ve been in the recruiting business for as long as I have, you tend to hear some of the same things over and over again. When I’m speaking with a potential new client, they tend to have some questions about moving ahead with us. That’s natural – trust is earned over time and with performance.
Since I hear many of the same things, and reply in more or less the same ways, I thought I’d share some of the more common ones here.
“Recruiters don’t really understand senior roles. They just pass resumes.”
You’re right to be wary. At the senior level, a bad hire isn’t a minor inconvenience.
Many of our clients felt the same way after working with firms that equated keyword matching with executive judgment. What they found is that senior recruiting only works when the recruiter operates like a peer, not a broker. We map success outcomes, political realities, and failure patterns before we speak to any candidates. We screen for decision-making quality, not titles.
The result: leaders who perform in the role, not just interview well.
“You’re just going to send me candidates I could find myself.”
If that were true, I would agree that hiring a firm would be pointless.
Most of our clients have inboxes full of “available” candidates before they come to us. None of them were right. The difference isn’t access; it’s persuasion and discernment. We bring you candidates who aren’t applying, aren’t on the market, and won’t talk to generic recruiters. They engage because we can articulate why this role matters and why now.
“Recruiters are incentivized to close fast, not hire well.”
That concern is justified. Misaligned incentives destroy trust.
Several clients have come to us after paying fees for hires that quietly failed within a year. We solved this by tying our reputation (and repeat business) to long-term performance. That’s why we have the confidence to offer a 12-month guarantee. We say no to searches we can’t execute well, we slow the process when it needs rigor, and we measure success by retention and impact, not just offer acceptance. Speed matters … but only after precision.
“I’ve been burned before. Great interviews, poor execution.”
“They said all the right things… then couldn’t deliver.” That’s an expensive mistake at the senior level.
Interviews lie. Patterns don’t. We validate candidates against prior outcomes, team dynamics, decision tradeoffs, and how they behaved when things went sideways. That’s why our process is heavier upfront. It’s also why candidates placed by us don’t require quiet “role adjustments” six months in.
“Your fees are high. I’m not convinced the ROI is there.”
No rational leader wants to overpay for anything, especially advisory services.
The appropriate comparison, however, isn’t one recruiter’s invoice to another. It’s to the cost of a failed hire. When our clients quantify the impact – lost momentum, team churn, delayed strategy, opportunity cost – the math becomes obvious. One wrong senior hire can easily cost five to ten times our fee. One right hire compounds for years. We’re not the cheapest option—we’re the one designed to be worth it.
Do you have a different question than the ones here? I’d be happy to discuss it with you, and share a few more of the ways we can bring value to your recruiting and hiring process. Feel free to get in touch today.