Hiring experienced consultants without a headhunter

A consulting firm can hire experienced consultants directly if it does three things well: describe the assignments and career path precisely, reach employed consultants where they spend time beyond recruiter tools and job sites, and run a short process led by the partners.

Why hire directly

Executive search remains useful for partner roles or very rare profiles. For experienced consultants and managers, hiring directly keeps control of the message, builds a talent pool for future hires and keeps cost per hire under control.

What makes an experienced consultant move

• The assignments: sectors, type of clients, share of strategy, operations or technical work.
• The career path: a realistic timeline to manager or senior manager, evaluation criteria.
• The team and partners: who they will work with day to day.
• The pace: travel, remote work, workload during closing phases.
• Pay: base, bonus, and what triggers it.

An ad that answers these points with concrete examples of assignments is worth more than a generic description of "firm values".

A short process in five points

1. Write the profile from the assignments. Instead of "senior consultant, 5 to 8 years", describe two typical assignments and what the consultant will lead.
2. Reach consultants on assignment. They do not necessarily browse job ads while on assignment. Advertising targeted by role, sector and area, on social networks, online press and apps, puts the offer in front of them during downtime. Job sites and referrals complete this for active candidates.
3. Have a manager or partner lead the first conversation. An experienced consultant wants to talk about the work from the first call.
4. Keep the process to three stages. A conversation, a short case study or oral case, a meeting with the team.
5. Decide in under three weeks. Sought-after profiles are often approached by several employers at once.

Screening on facts

• Recent assignments, the exact role held, the size of teams managed.
• Ability to structure a problem, tested on a short case.
• Client relationships: an example of a difficult situation and how it was handled.
• Whether career expectations match what the firm can offer.

Metrics to track

• Cost per hire for direct hiring, compared with past hires.
• The share of employed candidates among qualified profiles.
• Time from first conversation to offer.
• Acceptance rate, and the reasons for any refusals: pay, assignments, pace.

Common mistakes

• An ad about the firm rather than the assignments.
• A process with five or six interview rounds.
• Multi-day case studies to complete during an assignment.
• Not getting back to strong candidates who were not selected, who would be perfect six months later.

What a consulting campaign shows

Stanley Field, a consulting group (recruitment, technology, outsourcing), used this approach to hire full-stack developers for its Stanley Digital business: 714 applications in two months, 42% of them qualified. See the Stanley Field case study.

Our page on hiring consultants and managers in consulting covers targeting by role. The article on strategies to recruit passive candidates completes the messaging part.

Frequently asked questions

Can you hire senior consultants without a headhunter?

Yes, for most experienced and manager roles, provided you reach employed consultants with a precise message and a short process.

What timeline should you aim for?

Under three weeks between the first conversation and the offer.