Choose an expert Consultancy search partner for senior talent shortlists that always hit the target
Your consultancy is driven by the quality of your consultants and their leaders. McKinsey’s claim superior talent is up to eight times more productive, so there's always a battle going on for this scarce resource. In these circumstances you need a search partner that truly understands your consultancy's unique opportunity and how to successfully present and promote your position to a passive and discerning talent pool
Is your consultancy business using the right strategy & tactics to land the best senior consulting and leadership talent?
Sign up below for my free report to find out.
Delivering senior talent for clients across Consultancy
Management Consultancy
Consultants who help clients improve the performance of their business, projects and operations through both advisory services and implementation support.
Economic Consultancy
Economists conducting all types of economic analysis such as competition, policy, regulation, or market analysis.
Strategy Consultancy
Consultants with a focus on strategic topics like corporate and organisational strategy, economic policy, government policy and functional strategy.
Financial Advisory Consulting
Consultants who specialise in Financial Advisory from transaction advisory, corporate finance to risk management, tax, restructuring, or actuary.
Energy, Infrastructure & Technical Consulting
Consultants using their deep expertise in a specific market or discipline to tackle specific technical problems around planning, design, engineering, environment, asset management, and due diligence.
IT & Digital Consulting
IT, ICT or digital consultants with a focus on helping clients with the development, application and transformation of Technology within their organisation.
I can help you piece together your senior team
If your are looking to grow your consultancy, open new markets or develop new service lines I can deliver the senior work winning talent that can make that happen.
Work with me
Successful recruitment revolves around the relationships and the trust you develop with people rather than faceless brands.
When you engage Mindset Search you will know exactly who you are dealing with throughout the process.
I will be your single point of contact and I will deliver your assignment, do the research and interview your candidates.
I am an international head-hunter with a recruitment career spanning over 20 years focussed on the consultancy sector.
During this time I have recruited across professional services, successfully completing mid to Partner level assignments in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, France, Germany and the Middle East.
I have particularly strong experience of tackling senior, winner-doer practice building roles and hard to fill problem positions where the pool of potential candidates is small, highly specialist and hard to reach.
Put simply I help the owners and leaders of Consulting company's hire senior, hard to find, and niche talent.
If you are striving for growth in your consultancy practice I would be happy to talk through your plans and how I am able to help you.
Tony Talbot
DIRECTOR
07816 656267
My Consultancy focused Podcast
Each episode is an in-depth interview with a renowned consultancy leader explaining how they reached the top in their career, their key career advice and exactly what they're looking for when they hire.
My ESG Search Practice
I completed my first senior sustainability search in 2001. Today ESG is an increasingly important consideration for employers, investors and candidates. To meet this demand I have created a new search practice to deliver exceptional talent with a genuine ESG Mindset.
My Career move advice Podcast
An insider's guide to getting hired in the hidden job market. In each episode, I interview a special guest including seasoned recruiters, experienced hiring managers and successful individuals who have developed great careers through making great career moves.
Successful search involves identifying the correct talent pool and then applying the correct strategy and tactics
There has always been competition for top talent in the consulting world. The term “war for talent” was coined by McKinsey’s Steven Hankin back in 1997. Is your consultancy business using the right tactics to win this talent war?
My personal commitments to you
When you engage my search services and commit to working with me, I want you to have confidence in my commitment to honesty and excellence.
Commitment No.1
I will take the time and effort to understand your business, your reputation and your culture. I will work hard to understand the gap you have in your team and the value you want to gain from this new senior recruit.
Commitment No.2
I will explore the entire market of potential candidates before approaching and assessing the targets that I feel best meet your needs
Commitment No.3
I will only deliver candidates that genuinely can do the job, meet your requirements and are serious about exploring the opportunity with your business.
Commitment No.4
I will cap my fees so that you can be confident that my salary negotiation advice is driven purely by gaining the best win-win compromise rather than the best fee .
6 Step Retained Search Process:
STEP 1 – UNDERSTANDING YOUR CONSULTANCY
- Company Journey/Narrative: What's the history of the business, where is the consultancy on its evolution from start-up to maturity, how fast is it changing, and what does the ideal future look like?
- Current State: What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses, clients and services, culture and people? What is the opportunity to be leveraged?
- Impact/change: What's the hoped impact this hire will have on the business?
STEP 2 – UNDERSTANDING YOUR OPEN POSITION/NEED
- Job Description: Develop a clear understanding of the role remit and how this fits into the consultancies structure and reporting.
- Needs/Gap Analysis: What key skills, experiences or relationships does the senior hire need to bring to the table that the company needs.
- What success looks like: Establish and agree upon, observable and measurable 1-3-5 year key performance indicators.
STEP 2 – RESEARCH THE TALENT POOL
- Establish the talent pool: Where can the talent be found. Key competitors.
- Map the Market: Research is the cornerstone of every recruiting project. While often laborious, this tenacious upfront spade work will establish the talent pool depth.
- Create a long-list of potential targets: The list is largely composed of individuals who haven’t “applied” for the role, and may not know that much about your consultancy. This is why a proactive, professional, and highly informed approach is paramount.
STEP 4 – PROFESSIONAL TARGETED APPROACHES
- Approach the Long-List: Methodically and diligently approach every target on the list.
- Sell the Opportunity: Presenting a new career opportunity to targets who are likely happy and committed to their current company/role is a delicate sales process.
- Secure Interest or Intel: The conversations at this stage are all valuable. In the best case scenario I secure a capable candidate but if not, I aim to network further leads and gather market perceptions of my client/role/opportunity.
STEP 5 – SHORTLIST & INTERVIEW PROCESS
- My Interview - Mindset Matters: Uncover whether the candidate has the right skills and experiences. Establish the candidates mindset, motivation, and their culture fit.
- Deliver the Shortlist: The shortlist will consists of 2-4 candidate CV's that you agree are a good fit on paper and worthy of being interviewed for the role.
- Your Interview Process: I will provide logistic and feedback support throughout the process. A 2-3 stage interview process is ideal with final interview involving a candidate presentation.
STEP 6 –OFFER, ONBOARDING & ONGOING SUPPORT
- Due Diligence: I can support your efforts to conduct due diligence on the chosen candidate or stand aside. It's your call.
- Offer Negotiation support: I will cap my fees so that you can be confident that my salary negotiation advice is driven purely by gaining the best hiring outcome rather than the best fee.
- Onboarding and ongoing support: I want my hires to make the desired impact so I'm happy to continue to provide a valuable bridge between my candidate and the hiring manager through and beyond probation.
What my Clients and Candidates Say
JOHN WARD
Managing Director
VIVID ECONOMICS
"Tony proved invaluable in a recent recruitment round. After several false starts with other head-hunters, Tony took the time to really listen to what we were looking for and found us a number of excellent candidates, one of whom landed the job. Professional and supportive throughout the process - we'd definitely work with Tony again and would encourage others to do the same!"
Haley Hutson
Managing Director
IPA ADVISORY
"I have known Tony for many years now. He head-hunted me to lead the development of an Energy Economic Regulation Practice at IPA. He not only convinced me to take the role but also to bring several members of my consulting team with me. I went on to lead the whole IPA business and Tony was my recruiter of choice worldwide during this time. I have remained in contact with him ever since as my go-to recruiter. Tony is an excellent senior recruitment professional, and I am happy to recommend his services to others."
James Patterson-Waterston
Director Head of Cities
VIVID ECONOMICS
"Tony originally approached me as a head-hunter regarding a leadership role at Vivid Economics to develop a new practice area. He was very professional and knowledgeable and dealing with him has always been a pleasure. Having taken the role at Vivid I have since used Tony’s services for my teams hiring needs when we have a particularly strategic or difficult role to fill. I would be very happy to recommend Tony and Mindset Search."
Let's meet & talk
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