What Does an Executive Recruiter Do?

An executive recruiter’s job is to find candidates that are great cultural and career fits for difficult to fill executive and specialist positions.

Whether you’re a start-up experiencing a wave of growth that transforms your leadership needs or an established organization that’s ready to upgrade its executive recruiting strategy, partnering with an executive recruiter can be a great option. 

This blog will cover everything you need to know, so your organization can decide if an executive search partner is right for your business goals, including:

• The most common types of executive recruiters.
• Executive recruiters’ fundamental responsibilities.
• A few actionable tips for picking a good executive recruiter.          

What Are The Different Types Of Recruiters? 

There are three main categories of recruiters: in-house, external generalists, and executive search recruiters. Each of these types play pivotal but distinct roles. 

In-House Recruiters

In-house recruiters typically work for large, multi-faceted organizations with regular hiring needs. These recruiters specialize in attracting, evaluating, and onboarding candidates with a promising blend of performance potential and cultural fit. The complete immersion in-house recruiters have in your organization’s culture makes them excellent at making good hires for the company. 

Generalist Recruiters

Generalist recruiters are external service providers that partner with businesses of all sizes to provide professional hiring support. Unlike in-house recruiters, generalist recruiters partner with a wide number of organizations (usually within a single industry) to fill vacancies ranging from entry-level roles, to seasonal work, to associate and mid-management roles.

Executive Recruiters

Executive recruiters exclusively partner with organizations experiencing challenging, complex, or competitive vacancies at the highest levels of their companies. Executive recruiters leverage extensive networks of innovative and inspiring executives, specialists, and industry leaders to generate one-in-a-million placements that position their partners and candidates for success.

What Are The Responsibilities Of Executive Recruiters?

Executive recruiters wear many hats during the executive recruitment process. 

At the beginning of a new executive search, the best executive recruiters take on the role of an experienced consultant. These executive recruiters place their years of experience and deep market insights at their clients’ disposal to ensure their executive talent acquisition strategy is competitive.

Once an executive search strategy has been developed, executive recruiters’ responsibilities shift toward recruiting duties. Your executive recruitment partner will work to access hard-to-crack talent pools around the globe to identify, engage, and evaluate promising candidates. 

After a thorough search, the best executive recruiters put their candidate finalists through rigorous, data-driven evaluation processes that refine their candidate roster to a handful of top-tier matches. They’ll present this short list of candidates to your company leadership for consideration, help set up and manage interview schedules, and guide your selection process.

After you’ve chosen your newest team member, your executive recruiter will take on their final and most important responsibility – closing the deal. The best executive recruiters use tried-and-true negotiation techniques to convince world-class executives to leave their current position and take on a new challenge.

How Much Do Executive Recruiters Make?

Executive recruiter salaries vary due to a wide range of executive search services, industries, and business models. However, most executive recruiters can expect to earn between $80,000 and $115,000 a year, with the average executive recruiter bringing home around $105,000 annually.

Executive recruiting can be highly lucrative for top performers. Executive search specialists who consistently make placements that exceed their client’s expectations can earn as much as $250,000 annually.

How To Pick The Right Executive Recruiting Firm To Fill A Role At Your Company

Choosing the right executive recruiting firm can make or break your hiring experience. The wrong call can lead to higher recruiting costs, lackluster executive placements, and painful executive churn. 

Ensure your executive search partner is bringing value to the table by asking these ten questions:

1. Which industries have you successfully worked in?
2. How would you describe your firm’s approach to executive search?
3. How do you source candidates?
4. How do you compare and evaluate candidates?
5. What steps will you take to understand my business’ unique character, principles, and needs?
6. Are your strategies for accessing candidates discreet, effective, and professional?
7. Will I receive presentations on multiple candidates or just the top contender?
8. How do you assess candidates’ soft skills?
9. Do you carry out thorough reference checks?
10. Do you offer onboarding and assimilation services post-hire?

How Medallion Partners Can Help

For over 15 years, organizations have trusted Medallion Partners to generate transformative placements in critical leadership roles. With 98 percent of our placements still in their roles after two years, we can confidently say our methodology works. 

We combine cutting-edge recruitment technology, a world-class team of talent acquisition specialists, and an unmatched commitment to our clients’ success to arrange placements that help our partners build their brands, connect with their customers, and drive revenue. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your company.