EXECUTIVE SEARCH
How our executive search works
Every search follows the same process, from the written agreement to the day your new leader starts. Here's what we do at each step, and what you'll do.
Our placements include organizations like
Every search starts here
We look where other firms stop looking.
Beyond the job boards
We map who's actually doing this job today, at your competitors and beyond, not just who's applying.
Beyond the inbox
When email and LinkedIn go unanswered, we write handwritten letters, and when it matters, we show up in person.
Beyond the résumé
One-to-two-hour interviews uncover what a résumé never shows: judgment, motivation and fit.
Then we bring you two candidates you'll struggle to choose between.
Included in every search.
The depth you'd expect from a global search firm. Delivered personally.
Every step below happens on every search, so the only thing you need to decide is whether the candidate is the right fit.
Our goal: your hire from the first two candidates we present, and a tough choice between them.
- 01
Intake that goes deeper than a job description
No two companies, teams or goals are alike. Our intake covers the outcomes this hire must deliver, your 30-60-90-day and first-year milestones if you have them, what's truly required versus nice to have, and the team they'll join, including its history, the good and the bad. That lets us speak to candidates as an extension of your leadership: building real excitement, qualifying for skills and culture fit, and doing due diligence on your behalf. Candidates know exactly what they're walking into, so your hire is set up to succeed and stay. Where we've run similar searches, we'll share what we learned. Every search is built from scratch, so you never get leftover candidates from someone else's.
You get: a search partner who represents your company to candidates like one of your own leaders.
- 02
Outreach that reaches the people others can't
As soon as your engagement fee is received, our outreach campaign begins. We go directly after your ideal profile, including people who aren't looking, through direct digital outreach, handwritten letters, and in-person approaches when someone can't be reached any other way. When the easy channels run dry, we keep going.
You get: the right people hearing about your role, not just whoever applied.
- 03
Interviews that go deep
We interview every candidate for one to two hours, covering their experience, results, motivations and how they'd approach your role. Every interview runs from a playbook and slide deck built for your search, and candidates who move forward get a one-page summary of the role. Only candidates who clear our bar are presented to you. Hired or not, every candidate should walk away thinking more of your company.
You get: only candidates we would stand behind.
- 04
A private website for every candidate we present
Instead of a résumé and a guess, you get a private web page built on each candidate: video highlights from our interview, a rating against each requirement with the reasoning behind it, interview questions for each of your interviewers, the practical details, offer letter support and why we recommend them. Their résumé and LinkedIn are linked, and we also email the résumé.
You get: more signal on every candidate before you spend a minute interviewing them.
- 05
We keep going until you've hired
Approved candidates move into your interview process while we keep sourcing, right up until you tell us you've chosen your hire. Along the way, we share real-time market feedback on compensation, candidate response and approach whenever it helps you decide.
You get: a search that never stalls, and market insight when it matters.
The interview kit
Every candidate hears your story the right way
Before the first candidate call, we build an interview kit for your search.
A playbook
Our script for every interview: your story, every requirement, straight answers on pay, and the real challenges of the seat. Every candidate hears the same accurate picture.
A slide deck
We share it on screen during the interview, so candidates see your company, the role and each requirement as we walk through them together.
A one-page summary
Candidates who move forward get it right after the call, so they can stay present in the conversation instead of taking notes.
Most firms send a résumé. We send a website.
A private website on each candidate we present, shared only with your hiring team.
Candidate A · VP of Operations
Recommended: Advance
SampleVideo preview: background and experience
- Multi-site operations leadershipExceeds
Led a multi-site operation through a regional expansion.
- P&L ownershipMeets
Owned a division budget and reported results to the CEO.
- Scaling a team through growthExceeds
Built the operations team from a small core to a full leadership layer.
- Availability
- 30 days
- Location
- Open to relocation
- Relocation
- Not a factor
- Compensation target
- Within your range
- Status
- Employed, seeking a larger scope
- Background check and drug screen
- Ready to complete both
Why we recommend
Has already delivered the kind of multi-site growth your first-year plan calls for, and wants the larger scope this role offers.
Each presented candidate gets a private page with video highlights from our interview, a rating against each requirement with reasoning, interview questions for each of your interviewers, practical details, offer letter support and our recommendation.
Candidate A · VP of Operations
Recommended: AdvanceSampleVideo preview: background and experience
- Multi-site operations leadershipExceeds
Led a multi-site operation through a regional expansion.
- P&L ownershipMeets
Owned a division budget and reported results to the CEO.
- Scaling a team through growthExceeds
Built the operations team from a small core to a full leadership layer.
- Availability
- 30 days
- Location
- Open to relocation
- Relocation
- Not a factor
- Compensation target
- Within your range
- Status
- Employed, seeking a larger scope
- Background check and drug screen
- Ready to complete both
Why we recommend
Has already delivered the kind of multi-site growth your first-year plan calls for, and wants the larger scope this role offers.
TAP Client Access
Your search, in plain view
Every client gets a private, sign-in-only page for their search, plus a direct line to the person running it.
Who we're talking to
Anonymous examples of the leaders we're reaching out to, speaking with and interviewing: level, type of company, area and a one-line background. No names, so nobody's confidentiality is at risk.
Target companies being worked
See which of your target companies we're actively working, so you always know where the search stands.
A direct line to the founder
Jonathan's cell and email, for a quick text, a weekly call or anything the page doesn't answer. We work the way you work.
Your steps, from agreement to hire
- 1
Agreement
Complete your company information, review the agreement and sign. No payment is due at this stage.
- 2
Intake call
Meet with TAP by video to discuss your hiring needs, ask questions and explore the appropriate search package.
- 3
Engagement
If you decide to proceed, approve the search package and fees, then pay the engagement invoice.
- 4
Recruiting begins
Once TAP receives the engagement payment, our outreach campaign starts and we begin interviewing candidates.
- 5
Interviewing
Interview the candidates we present and share your feedback. We keep sourcing until you tell us you've made your hire.
- 6
Hire
Select your candidate and coordinate the offer and start date with TAP.
No payment is due simply for signing.
Prefer to meet before signing anything?
We're glad to. Many clients like to talk through the role, our process and the agreement first. Book a call or ask us anything in the chat. There's no obligation to sign.
Frequently asked questions
- Most leadership searches take 4 to 10 weeks from kickoff to accepted offer, depending on the role, the market and how quickly interviews move.
- A private website on each candidate we present, with video highlights from our interview, a rating against each requirement with the reasoning behind it, interview questions for each of your interviewers, their motivations, availability, location and relocation, compensation target, employment status and reasons for looking, readiness to complete a background check and drug screen, links to their résumé and LinkedIn, and why we recommend them. When you're ready to hire, we also help with the offer letter. We also email the résumé.
- Direct digital outreach, handwritten letters, and in-person approaches when someone can't be reached any other way.
- Each package includes a conditional Replacement Candidate Guarantee measured from the candidate's start date: 90 days for Executive Search, 60 days for Specialized and Professional Search, and 30 days for Select Search. It is a one-replacement remedy subject to Section 4 of the agreement, not a cash refund.
Tell us who you need to hire next.
A straight conversation about the role and whether TAP is the right fit to run it.