Executive Search

FAQs

Q: Who are Intelligent People?

A: Intelligent People are a specialist marketing, eCommerce and product management recruitment agency, based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Servicing London and International markets with executive search services by placing executive level, C-suite candidates into scale up and start up B2B and B2C businesses.

Q; What is the best executive search firm UK?

A: Intelligent People. Domain specialisms: Product management, Marketing, eCommerce and commercial leadership. We are a boutique Executive Search and London Headhunting agency with 20 years’ experience of placing commercial leadership candidates in London based businesses. Our executive search recruiters help the employers we work with to search for the best talent in the market. We do this by headhunting ‘passive’ candidates that have the right domain experience, leadership qualities and personal qualities that you require within your business. We follow a detailed and thorough method to ensure we scour the market, utilising a multi-channel approach to target both your competitors and comparable sectors that may have the experience you need.

Q: What is the difference between recruitment and executive search?

A: An organisation may look to a recruiter when they are looking to make a new hire or have a series of vacancies, but lack the time and resources to complete the hiring process from end-to-end. So a recruiter will be engaged, often on a contingency recruitment basis, where the business only pays on placement of a candidate put forward by the agency. Executive search is a specialised type of recruitment, in which an employer pays executive recruiters to research the market, develop a shortlist of engaged candidates, and take the candidates through the hiring process including interviews and offer stages. Due to the detailed and thorough methodology involved in executive search, where a proactive and multi-channel approach is utilised, payment for services is structured differently to other recruitment methods. Executive search firms normally ask for a third of the fee to be taken on agreement of the assignment, a third on shortlist of candidates, and a third on placement. As part of the fee is paid upfront, this is known as a retained executive search.

Q: Should I use an executive search firm?

A: For senior and executive level roles, an employer often engages an executive search firm to headhunt candidates, as well as scouring the candidate network already known to them. Headhunting is where a recruitment agency identifies ‘passive’ candidates – those candidates that possess the right domain experience, leadership qualities and personal qualities but are not ‘active’ in the market, i.e., they are not looking for a new job or have applied to your open vacancy. An executive search firm will completes a market mapping research exercise identifying key competitors within the industry and other closely related sectors. The headhunter then looks at the individuals at those competitor companies, and targets any of those employees that look to match the skill set and experience required. This research phase is extensive to ensure that every possible candidate is considered.

Q: How long should an executive search take?

A: Intelligent People’s rapid and methodical approach is designed to deliver a shortlist of key executive talent within 5 – 6 weeks. Timelines for executive level searches can be a lot longer than this, especially when a generalist executive search firm is used. For speed and effectiveness, it's recommended a domain specific, expert executive search firm is used to find the best quality talent.

Q: What makes a good executive search consultant?

A: Choosing the best executive search firm is critical to the success of your recruitment process. When assessing an whether an executive search consultant is good or not, consider whether: - they possess the right domain experience required, - they have good evidence of past placements within your industry and have good reviews available - review the range of services offered, i.e. can they help with the end-to-end recruitment process - are they transparent candidate contact information and with who they have contacted and why?