Dear Claudia,

I've just gotten my first executive search assignment and I'm really excited about it, but the more I think about the size of the project the more nervous I get. I've always recruited locally (which gives me an edge on knowing the candidate pool), but now the whole world seems full of potential candidates (although I'm not exactly sure who they are yet) and I don't have an easy way of figuring out quickly who's good and who's not in the mix. I've heard of using a search plan, but am not exactly sure what that means. Do you have any suggestions to help me manage a high profile search like this?

Not Sure What I Don't Know

Dear Not Sure,

What a great question -- and congratulations that you're in a position to ask it. A combination of excitement and fear comes with the realization that our skills are moving to a new level...and you've earned your client's trust along the way or you wouldn't be where you are today. Good job.

As recruiters we are lucky: we get a front row seat to the best practices of other departments, and can pick and choose the ones we want to apply to our own function. A search plan is simply the discipline of project management applied to recruiting. The act of planning forces us to think through the activities, resources and timelines involved in delivering a hire, and helps us stay on track when measuring progress or explaining delays. Search plans aren't necessary for every recruiting project, but more complex searches can really benefit from the exercise -- and every search plan can act as a catalyst for better communication with the hiring team.

Keep in mind that there are many ways to create a search plan, and other community members may add excellent advice to my thoughts here. In general though, a search plan includes these components:

Search Definition
This is the part where you clarify the target among the decision makers. Often this means that you take the job order from more than one person, all the while testing assumptions and removing conflicting information until you've reached consensus among the whole. The output of this phase is a written document that contains the scope of the role, competencies and skills required for success, and business requirements that will guide you in developing a candidate pipeline.

Search Strategy
This is the part that sounds a lot like planning a treasure hunt. Which industries use the skills you are seeking? What is the critical career path for the best candidate? Where might they be learning or using the skills today? Where are they networking with their peers? Will you advertise the role publicly? Will you provide written information to prospects to encourage a viral referral program among their own networks? Often, the level of experience required in the role will lead you to a selection of appropriate industries or companies; a little research can help you further identify business pain that would cause otherwise passive candidates to explore a new opportunity. The output of this section is a written plan to raise visibility of the role among qualified prospects.

Pipeline Development and Delivery
This part of the plan results in a hit list of companies and prospective candidates for outreach. Unless the skills you require are so narrowly focused that only a handful have them, expect a slate of candidates to surface from a hit list of 100-125 companies. From that list you'll identify 20-40 people who show some interest in the role, 10-15 who are also qualified to do the role, and a slate of 3-5 top tier candidates. The job isn't done, of course, until you have a really great backup or two on deck, just in case you need them. Keep your pipeline active until the offer is accepted, and then keep your backup on the slow burner until you see the new hire on their first day at work.

The important thing to remember about your search plan is to build it with the intent of measuring and communicating your progress to others. This is where you'll go when your Hiring Team begins to add to the list of requirements, or wonders what you've been doing with all of your free time since the last time you met. This is where you'll demonstrate added value in the hiring process, and further measure your own improvement as a recruiter over time. This is what will help you to control the recruitment process and stay a step or two ahead of the cats you are trying to herd.

I'd love to hear how your search turns out, and wish you the very best of luck in completing it. Happy recruiting!

**
In my day job, I’m the head of Products for Improved Experience, where we help employers use feedback to measure and manage engagement for competitive advantage in hiring and retention. Learn more about us here.

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