OUR PROCESS: 
FIND – EVALUATE – HIRE

An average search takes eight to twelve weeks.  Given the nature of our professional services,
there is not a way to guarantee an exact timetable.

FIND

The first step of our search is to find candidates.  Every client has unique needs and we begin our search by holding a series of meetings with our client to understand the business, key short and long term goals, current challenges and opportunities, and gather information on the finance and accounting department.  The result of these meetings is the development of the search criteria of must-have and preferred qualities of the CFO or Controller.  These qualities provide the roadmap of how we will develop a list of candidate names for the search. 

To find candidates our team reaches out to people using a variety of methods, phone calls, emails, and social media.  We target candidates who meet the unique needs of our client.  This targeting comes from identifying companies that are similar to our client, identifying senior finance leaders known to our firm, and reaching out to our trusted network of business leaders.

EVALUATE

Evaluating candidates is our process of interviewing candidates in which we ask questions that are relevant to the needs of our client.  We develop interview questions designed to evaluate whether the candidate has the right mix of skills and experience being sought.  At the same time we are listening to the potential candidate about their work style and habits to determine if they are the right culture fit for our client.   For the candidates we present to our client, we typically conduct three to four phone interviews, one face to face interview, and have the candidate provide some written answers to selected interview questions.

Our expertise in the field of accounting and finance, combined with understanding what it means to be a member of a management team, provides us the perspective to evaluate candidates and choose the right group to present to the client.  We typically make two to three reference calls on our candidates, and where possible we seek out “back door” comments on candidates from people known to us.  This is an additional form of insight that assists us in the evaluation process. During the evaluation process we are in regular communication with the client providing updates on the search progress and discussing profiles of potential candidates. 

The goal of the evaluation process is to provide the client with three to five qualified candidates who are ready to say yes to an offer.

HIRE

During the hire process, we work with our client as they interview the candidates presented to them.   Our presentation of a candidate includes a written summary of their career highlighting areas of relevance to our client, a resume, and a grid comparing all of the presented candidates in key areas of skills and experience.  We also provide a recommendation of the compensation package that will be sought by the candidate.

We work with the client to arrange interviews for each candidate and we discuss the results of each interview with the client and the candidates.   Once the client selects the candidate to receive an offer, we work with the client on the key terms of the offer and then we typically make the offer to the candidate.  The timing of when a candidate joins the client can vary tremendously for each search.   The variables present on every search are whether the candidate is employed and how much notice they need to provide to their current employer, the length of the client’s interview process and the availability of client personnel to conduct interviews.