First, we are retained by the client firm, never paid by a candidate, on only a retainer-fee basis versus a contingent-fee arrangement. We will be paid whether or not you or the other candidates are hired. Consequently, even though you are a candidate. We are not primarily serving your interests. Even if we may believe you are "perfect" for the position we are discussing, we have a responsibility to our client to present a panel of well-qualified candidates; so you will have a built-in competition from our efforts. Overwhelmingly, our search assignments are successfully completed, so there are minimal financial reasons for us to pressure you or the client to make a match. Lastly, like most search firms, our fees are usually based on a percentage of the first year's cash compensation of the person selected. This means that if you were able to negotiate a higher figure with our client, it is to our financial advantage, but you should know that we will never assist you to raise that amount. If the client requests it, we will serve as an intermediary in salary negotiations, but our function is only to help reduce communication problems.
If we request references from you, there are things you should know about what will ensue. We do not want references that are likely to let the word out that you are being considered for a position and then have this complicate your current work situation. The worst professional blunder we can make is to be indiscreet and compromise your employment somehow. We take this responsibility very seriously, so please give us names of people who will be discreet. Because we are a one-office firm, reference material does not go to other offices. The less circulated information is the more likely that confidentiality is maintained.
Why do we need to check references, anyhow? The knowledge we gain is essential if both your interests and those of the client are to be served well, and reference checking is that tool for gathering that information. Neither we, nor anyone, have the ability on the basis of an interview alone to know fully the strengths and limitations of an executive.
Ideally, we like to get views of a candidate from superiors, peers and subordinates. If we continue our discussions to the point where you are a "finalist" whom we present to the client, we will at some point feel free to discreetly contact references other than the ones you named. Our responsibility to our client requires that we document your achievements. It is professionally embarrassing for us to have a client encounter a candidate misstatement, whether it involves compensation, professional achievements, and reason for termination, pertinent personal data, degrees or employment dates. Material misrepresentations make it very difficult for us to present such a candidate because of concern about veracity.
A last comment on referencing! You will never hear from us what your references said about you. The data we collect is sacrosanct and is shared only with the client, we present you. Naturally, if we present you as a finalist your references must have, on balance, been supportive of you. Conversely, if you are not presented it would be unwise to assume that it was due to poor references because so many other factors are involved.
We will be as candid with you in our dealings as the situation allows. If our candor is sometimes at the expense of being sensitive and tactful, please forgive us. We will not string you along if things are not going to move forward. You have honored us with your time and interest, and candor is the very least we owe you. When the search is completed, we will let you know who was selected. If the client met you and you were not selected, we will feed back to you any information that we are free to share that might be useful to you in future interviews.
Each of us has only one career, and a mistake in changing jobs can prove disruptive and harmful. We covenant with you that if we get to the "short strokes" with a client, we will tell you all the negatives we know about the client organization and personnel, as well as the positive things that recruiters always point out. We take seriously the responsibility of possibly shaping the future direction of your career.
If any of these comments raises questions for you, or something is not acceptable to you in what we have spelled out, let's discuss it. Please excuse us if this sounds formidable, because it really isn't and perhaps you understood how it all works. However, not everyone does and it is important for every candidate to be fully informed.
