A contingent-referral placement begins with the candidate. While developing relationships with candidates and referral sources, we occasionally come across an individual who is an exceptionally skilled professional, but is currently being undervalued in their present firm.
Because a significant portion of our practice comes from retained executive searches for senior financial executives in the public accounting profession, we are in a unique position to come in contact with excellent candidates. Client companies have asked us to enter into master contingent-referral search arrangements. With a candidate’s explicit approval, we can use our existing relationships with these client companies, to introduce a candidate to a firm where their leadership, knowledge and skills will be much better utilized and valued.
Assurance Partner – Upper Midwest (contingent-referral placement)
Summary: Placed an undervalued leader into a position where he could really “shine” and make an impactful difference for the firm.
Details: Coached and counseled a Big 4 senior manager who was performing very well in his existing firm, but he discerned there would not be a partnership available to him in the next year or so in his current location. For family reasons and his wife’s wonderful job, he did not wish to relocate. Yet this individual had excellent “been there, done it” experiences that would resonate in a non Big 4 firm’s local office.
With his permission, we selectively presented him to a Global 7 firm on a confidential basis. Through our extensive evaluation and sourcing comments, we were able to sell the firm on the kinds of contributions the individual could make to help take them upstream to large, more complicated clients. In turn, we were able to help the candidate secure a direct admit partnership where he could become an impact player in this new environment.
In summary we are able to perform this very focused and personalized type of placement due to: