If you have ever hired a person for an executive level position or you are currently in the midst of an executive search, please take the following quiz. Circle all that apply.

A. The last person you hired:

1. was already familiar with your organization and its work

 

2. regularly checked job listings on a variety of organizational websites just in case they were looking for someone with relevant experience and eventually your open position appeared.

 

3. happened to flip through the employment section of a trade paper and read your ad.

 

4. learned about the position when a friend of a friend sent him the job description.

 

5. was at her current position for 5 years and ready for a change, but not pro-actively looking.

B. To find the ideal candidate you:

1. designed 4 different ads to be run in a variety of relevant publication.

 

2. posted the listing at 6 different on-line job sites.

 

3. sent a position description to everyone you know.

 

4. spent over 20 work hours sifting through resumes, responding to inappropriate candidates, interviewing inappropriate candidates, and contacting references on potential candidates.

 

5. hired an executive search firm.

At first glance, doing an in-house executive search may seem to save you money. But, if you consider that for every hour you spend researching a candidate that is an hour you did not spend talking with donors. For every minute you spent reading the many, many emails from prospective candidates is a minute you were not meeting with your staff to brainstorm for new ideas. And, every second that you spend repeatedly trying to contact references you could have been updating your strategic plan.

Conducting a search on your own may no longer look like a financial gain.

And, that does not even touch upon the extensive reach that a firm like Mersky, Jaffe & Associates possesses. In addition to the many contacts that come with a combined 100 years of experience in nonprofit work, each newsletter we send brings new interesting candidates from across the nation who express their interest in listening to “the right opportunity.”

The choice, as always, is yours. What will reap financial rewards for your organization?