Case Study of Excellent Recruit Selection

Definitive pitched to take on a Corporate Finance Director recruitment assignment for the Corporate Finance Partner of a chartered Accountants Firm. After pitching for the role against our competitors, we successfully secured the position and agreed that to work such a role within an incestuous market, we would have to research the key players within the client’s competitors and network them discreetly.

The Director role was key in leading & building on a very successful Corporate Finance business in Bristol and Cardiff to maintain the firm’s market leading position. It was essential that we targeted the right talent in the market without approaching too many people and which would incite a wrong perception of Definitive Consulting in the marketplace.

We committed to a month of researching the key Corporate Finance players in and around the Bristol and Cardiff markets, but also further afield across the South of England. We had to be flexible to suit the situation and the consultants were often required to speak with Corporate Financiers up to 11pm at night.

From the discussions made, a meeting of a handful of Assistant Directors and Directors from both ‘Big 4’ and ‘Mid Tier’ Practices had to take place over several late evenings across different venues in the country. At this stage, the discussions were more of a consultation on the individual’s career options, carried out on a very informal basis, due to the candidates not actively seeking new positions.

On completion of the initial shortlist, a high level of interest was developed in two candidates who had the required level of expertise in the role and experience of working directly for my client’s competitors.

Due to the sensitive nature of a position like this, the interview process itself was then managed through over a period of 8 months in strict confidentiality on all aspects, from registering the position to filling the vacancy. The chosen candidate was firstly informally met with to ascertain a genuine interest before being progressed through the Director process.

As part of our service and from the consultant’s level of expertise and experience of dealing with sensitive vacancies of this nature, full guidance and support was offered to both the prospective candidate and client throughout the process, including delicate salary negotiations to ensure that we reached a satisfactory result.

The client commented at the end of this assignment that they could not have found a better recruit for this key position.