What Does An Executive Recruiter Do?

Executive recruiters have played integral roles in the breakout success of industry-leading businesses for decades. 

In recent years, the ever-heightening War for Talent has compelled businesses of all sizes, ranging from scaling start-ups to established organizations, to begin exploring executive recruiting to gain an edge over their competitors. 

As the stark differences in human capital widen, businesses that haven’t invested in executive search or recruitment are asking – what in the world does an executive recruiter do?

This blog will answer that essential question (plus a few more) to help you better understand the highly specialized and highly impactful role executive recruiters play across industries.

What Is An Executive Recruiter? 

An executive recruiter is an advanced talent acquisition specialist who exclusively partners with organizations seeking transformative executives, industry-leading specialists, and renowned researchers. 

Thanks to niching down to only the most challenging placements, executive recruiters can invest in developing highly refined networks, advanced candidate evaluation tools, and data-driven recruitment processes that empower them to provide unparalleled efficiency and impact to their clients. 

Executive recruiters’ refined skill sets, tools, and processes make them poor partners for entry-level, intermediate, and mid-management placement projects. Instead, they thrive at the corporate recruiting ladder’s highest – and most complex – rungs. 

Executive Search Strategy

Executive search goes beyond mere recruiting; it’s the blueprint for identifying transformative leadership.

A robust executive search strategy begins with deeply understanding the industry, and analyzing trends, technology shifts, and competition. People are often surprised by some of the insights we uncover in their business. We delve into the sector’s unique challenges to identify visionaries who can drive the organization forward.

Each executive search consultant at Medallion Partners speaks to hundreds of executives every year. So, we leverage our professional connections and tap into passive candidates to expand the talent pool available to you. These networks breathe life into the talent acquisition process.

Speaking to so many executives also gives our executive search experts a wide breadth of industry insight. Expertise is paramount. Recruiters with industry knowledge decode an organization’s DNA to find candidates who seamlessly integrate and catalyze growth.

An executive search strategy is a multi-faceted, data-driven, network-centric, and expertise-driven process that defines an organization’s trajectory in the talent-driven age.

What Is A Typical Day For An Executive Recruiter? 

Executive recruiters typically maintain a steady day-to-day schedule despite partnering with organizations across industries. On any given business day, an executive recruiter may spend their time:

• Sharing status updates with clients.
• Reading and responding to emails from industry-leading candidates.
• Communicating with clients about upcoming interviews.
• Conducting market research and competitor analysis for an upcoming PhD researcher placement.
• Reaching out to an exciting candidate to set up a meet-and-greet working lunch.
• Conducting candidate evaluations with their state-of-the-art predictive technology.
• Fielding questions, suggestions, and concerns from their clients.
• Reaching out to passive candidates to discreetly gauge interest in different roles.
• Setting up phone interviews with prospective matches for an organization’s needs, goals, and culture.

Many executive recruiters maintain unconventional hours and take advantage of social opportunities like dinners and networking events to bolster their network, broaden their influence, and capture new clients seeking a cost-effective way to land a transformative C-suite or specialist hire.

What Is The Average Salary Of An Executive Recruiter? 

Executive recruiters’ compensation packages typically include a base salary plus lucrative performance incentives for making successful placements.

Recent surveys place the average executive recruiter’s salary between $80-115,000, depending on factors like performance, experience, and partner industries. The best executive recruiters earn $150,000+ annually thanks to their extensive industry connections. 

How Do I Find An Executive Search Consultant?

Finding the right executive search consultant can make or break your executive recruiting experience. Organizations that want to ensure they receive maximum value for their investment should conduct rigorous discovery and interview processes to separate middle-of-the-pack performers from their industry-leading competitors.  

Here are ten of the most important questions to ask in your next executive search consultant interview (plus two bonus questions):

1. What is your executive search process?
2. How do you gain an understanding of my organization’s needs?
3. Where do you source clients?
4. How do you assess candidates’ soft skills?
5. Which industries do you have experience generating placements in?
6. How do you verify credentials and conduct reference and background checks?
7. How do you ensure your candidate search process is equitable and inclusive?
8. Do you have access to a diverse network of executives, researchers, and other specialists? 
9. How do you conduct candidate presentations?
10. Do your search specialists understand the importance of discretion?
11. How do you support candidates after hire to ensure their placement is successful?
12. How many clients are you currently working with?

How Medallion Partners Can Help With Your Executive Search

Medallion Partners is a premium boutique executive search firm with over 15 years of experience generating one-in-a-million placements for clients across industries. 

Our industry-leading executive search process, cutting-edge candidate identification and evaluation technologies, and unmatched global network of executive candidates make us the ideal partner for organizations that want to onboard the absolute best talent in their most impactful positions. 

If you’d like to learn more about how our world-class talent acquisition specialists generate placements that empower our partners to innovate, evolve, and expand like never before, reach out to us today. We’d love to discuss your organization’s unique needs and give you a step-by-step breakdown of our award-winning process.