Employer guide
What is executive recruiting, and why does it work when job postings don't?
Your best hire probably isn't job hunting. They're heads-down in a role they're good at, not thinking about a change until the right opportunity finds them. That's the gap executive recruiting is built to close.
The talent market has tightened, not loosened. Skilled professionals in engineering, finance, healthcare and higher education leadership are in short supply relative to demand, and the strongest performers rarely surface through a job posting. Waiting for applicants means competing only for the smaller pool that is actively looking.
The solution: a recruiter who goes and finds them
You need a search partner, not a job board. Executive recruiting is the practice of identifying, approaching and qualifying high-calibre professionals, including people who are currently employed and not looking, on behalf of a hiring company. Rather than waiting for candidates to apply, the recruiter goes to where the talent already is.
Dan Rodriguez has done this work for 23 years, building direct relationships across higher education administration, engineering in construction and manufacturing, finance and accounting, healthcare and clinical leadership, and consumer packaged goods. That history means a search doesn't start from zero. It starts from a network already built.
What makes this different from a staffing agency
Working with us
- Works on behalf of the hiring company, engaged for your specific opening
- Proactively approaches passive, currently-employed talent
- Deep specialisation in a defined set of industries
- Every candidate personally vetted before you see a résumé
A typical job board or staffing agency
- Often works to place job seekers wherever they will take them
- Reaches only candidates who are actively applying
- Broad, generalist coverage across many industries
- Limited screening before résumés are forwarded
How a search actually works
We define the role together
Not just the job description: the real scorecard. What does success look like in year one, and what has made past hires succeed or fail in this seat?
We identify the market
Using existing industry relationships and targeted, direct outreach, we build a list of people who are strong in the role today, whether or not they are looking.
We have the conversation you cannot have yet
A confidential, direct approach to gauge real interest, protecting your search and their current employment until it is appropriate to move further.
We vet before we present
Background, motivation, compensation expectations and trajectory, reviewed personally, so every introduction is one worth your time.
We stay engaged through the offer
Compensation conversations, counteroffers and start-date logistics are where searches are won or lost. We stay at the table.
Our commitment to you
We are paid on placement. If we do not fill the role, there is no fee.
Employment is the only business we are in. Every candidate we bring you has been personally hand-selected, screened and interviewed.
“If you're trying to fill a role that matters, or you're a strong performer who'd consider the right move, that's exactly the conversation I have every day.”
Dan Rodriguez, Executive Recruiter