Q: Why should I work with a startup boutique talent advisory firm vs an established executive search firm?
A: Being a small firm, we will be able to provide more personalised services and be more flexible with our terms. Moreover, given our experience working for top notch executive search firms in the past, you will be assured of the same or even better quality of service as these firms, at a much more favourable price point. To put things in perspective, the top retained executive search firms would charge on average, search fees of SGD150k and above for a single search assignment. The payment terms are generally rigid and the client typically would have incurred the full fee after 60 days of starting the search assignment, regardless of the results. Working with us would mean you only pay a fraction of the fees charged by the large search firms and we can be flexible, with much lower/no upfront financial commitment from the clients. 

Q: Established recruitment firms would have a big database of candidates. What can a small startup firm offer?
A: Indeed, we acknowledge that is the case. Different search firms exist to serve different market segments and needs. If you are looking to fill junior to mid level roles with active jobseekers as your candidates, many recruitment firms will serve your needs better as they post job openings regularly and would have a big database to select candidates from. However, if you would like to hunt down top talents who are not always active on the job market and hence will be less likely to be on the databases of search firms, then the experience and ability to track and hunt down such talents become crucial. We have a decade of experience in headhunting of senior executives which is a somewhat different skillset from screening job applicants.

Q: Can you share more about your signature service - Agile Contingent Executive (ACE) search?
A: Basically, for an ACE search, we would request that you grant us the exclusive rights to work on a search assignment for a short period of time (say 2 to 3 weeks). We will focus our efforts and surface the best candidates for the role within this period of time. If you are satisfied with the candidates, that would be a quick and great outcome. If not, we “fail fast” and you can consider alternative options. Based on our experience, there is a gap in the market for such a service to hire senior executives especially. Top tier executive search firms typically are not willing to do work on a contingent basis. Clients sometimes are also unsure about committing a substantial amount of search fees for a role they are unsure of or whether there are good enough talent to fill the role. Hence by offering a “sprint” approach to the search, we can very quickly ascertain if the search is a viable one with no upfront cost to the client and we are also protected from committing resources to a contingent search indefinitely to achieve a win-win outcome.