Our process
Ten stages. Every one with an output you can see.
- 01
Discovery
We meet the hiring stakeholders and establish why the role exists, what changed to create it, and what success looks like twelve months from now.
Written brief - 02
Role calibration
Requirements are separated into genuine constraints and preferences, and the compensation range is tested against the market before anyone is approached.
Scorecard & benchmark - 03
Market mapping
A named universe of target companies and people, sized to the role. On search mandates you see the map before outreach begins.
Target map - 04
Talent sourcing
Direct approach, network referrals and our own candidate base, run by the consultant who took the brief.
Longlist - 05
Screening
A structured conversation with every candidate covering capability, motivation, compensation expectation and genuine notice period.
Screening notes - 06
Candidate shortlisting
A short list with written assessments mapped to the scorecard. First profiles typically within 48 hours on a calibrated role.
Shortlist pack - 07
Interviews
Scheduling, candidate preparation, interviewer briefing and structured feedback capture after every stage.
Stage feedback - 08
Offer management
Offer positioning, negotiation support and active counter-offer management. Nothing about compensation should be a surprise at this point.
Signed offer - 09
Joining
Notice period contact, resignation support and pre-joining engagement to protect against late withdrawal.
Confirmed start - 10
Post-joining support
Check-ins with both sides at thirty and ninety days, so problems surface while they are still fixable.
90-day review
The standards behind the process
Specialist recruiters
The consultant screening your engineers works engineering roles every week. Sector fluency is the difference between a filtered shortlist and a forwarded inbox.
Quality over volume
We would rather send three strong profiles on day two than fifteen near-matches on day one. Shortlist-to-interview conversion is the metric we manage to.
Faster shortlisting
Typically 48 hours to first profiles on a calibrated role, and an honest warning at kick-off when a role will take longer.
Industry expertise
Twelve sector practices, each with its own view of who is hiring, what they pay and which talent pools genuinely exist.
Confidential search
Neutral briefs, controlled disclosure and NDA-backed process as standard for replacement and pre-transaction hires.
A dedicated consultant
One named person owns your mandate end to end. You speak to the researcher, not an account manager relaying updates.
Searches slow down when feedback does
The three things that most reliably shorten a hiring process are all on the client side.
- 01
A proper briefing
Thirty minutes with whoever the role reports to. It is the single biggest determinant of shortlist quality.
- 02
Feedback within 48 hours
After every stage, on every candidate. Strong candidates run three processes at once and will not wait.
- 03
A real compensation range
Ranges that exist to preserve negotiating room cost you the candidates you would actually have hired.
Commercials and process
Permanent recruitment is charged as a percentage of the candidate's annual fixed compensation, payable on joining, with a replacement guarantee. Executive search and turnkey programmes are retained. RPO is a fixed monthly fee. Staffing is billed monthly on a rate card. Terms are always confirmed in writing before work begins.
Yes. Every permanent placement carries an agreed replacement period during which we re-run the search at no additional professional fee if the candidate leaves or is exited. The specific period is set out in the engagement letter.
Not for permanent recruitment, which can be contingent. Executive search and turnkey programmes are retained and therefore exclusive, because they involve committed research effort before any candidate is presented.
The job description, the realistic compensation range, the interview process and decision-makers, and a thirty-minute conversation with whoever the role reports to. That last item is the one that most improves shortlist quality.
Yes, and it is a common starting point. We will usually want to revisit the brief before starting, because a role that has been open for months is frequently a brief problem rather than a market problem.
Candidate profiles are shared only with explicit consent for a specific role, and candidates are always told which company their details are going to. We do not circulate CVs speculatively.
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