Executive Search: What Exactly
Are We Talking About?

Each subject has its own nomenclature, the executive search industry included. Knowing the nomenclature helps you navigate the various offers coming your way from recruiters, headhunters, temp agencies, etc.

The first term is “Direct Recruiting“.

Painting the industry with a broad brush, we could say that candidates can come from 3 main sources of prospecting:

• A recruiter’s or an employer’s database, and existing network of connections (e.g. Alums);
• Classified ads, that can be posted on the employer’s or the headhunter’s website, on job boards and in newspapers;
• Passive candidates, i.e. specific profiles a recruiter will reach out to.

The latter method of headhunting is known as “direct recruiting“: the recruiter or the hiring manager directly and actively canvasses potential candidates instead of… letting them come to the employer from the two other sources (networks, classified ads).

Any executive search firm worth its salt uses all 3 sources to find candidates, but strongly emphasizes passive candidates and direct recruiting as its main method to discover suitable executive profiles for its clients. There most often hides the gold nugget, the right candidate for the job.

We take a closer look at the definition of “passive candidate” in this post.

As an executive search firm, Dynamic Search Consulting uses the 3 methods of prospection to fish out high-level talents that match best the requirements of our clients.

Call us directly to discuss yours, or check out our methods and processes on this website. Thank you.