Executive Hiring Benchmarks Database
How long executive searches actually take, and how often they succeed — by role level and industry, sourced from named third-party research and Majhi Group's own placement data.
Executive searches (VP and above) typically take 60–120 days from launch to accepted offer — two to three times longer than non-executive hiring. Director searches run 10–14 weeks, VP searches roughly 14–16 weeks, and C-suite searches 12–17 weeks, though a decisive, well-prepared organization can close in 5–6 weeks. Majhi Group's own placements average 41 days.
Time-to-Fill by Role Level
| Level | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Director | 10–14 weeks | Lower end of senior-hiring complexity |
| VP | 14–16 weeks | Stakeholder count roughly doubles vs. Director |
| C-suite | 12–17 weeks (60–120 days) | Board involvement and comp-committee review add time |
| Majhi Group average | 41 days | Internal placement data, 25+ VP/C-suite placements |
Sources: Talentfoot's 2026 Executive Time-to-Fill Benchmarks Report puts senior searches at roughly 2.5–3.5 months (Director), 3.5–4 months (VP), and ~4 months (C-suite). For baseline comparison, SHRM's State of Recruiting data puts average U.S. time-to-hire across all roles at ~44 days; a separate breakdown from The Richmond Group (2026) puts non-executive time-to-fill at ~52 days versus ~62 days for executive roles.
What Moves the Timeline
A decisive, aligned client can close a search in five to six weeks, while board involvement, scope changes, and interview bloat can push the same search past sixteen weeks. Regulatory complexity matters too: JRG Partners notes that highly regulated sectors — financial services, pharma — tend to run longer due to compliance and deeper vetting, while high-growth technology searches tend to move faster in dynamic talent markets.
Board involvement, scope changes, and interview bloat are the three most common causes of a search stalling past its expected close date.
Failure & Retention Benchmarks
This page covers speed. A companion asset covers durability:
Executive Hire Failure Rate
The 35–50% first-18-month failure range, cause breakdown, and what reduces it. Kept as a separate asset deliberately — each page answers a different question and needs to stand as its own citable source.
Read the Failure Rate Database →Methodology
FAQ
Most VP and C-suite searches take 60–120 days from launch to accepted offer, compared to roughly 44–52 days for non-executive hiring.
Stakeholder count, compensation-committee and board review, and deeper reference/vetting requirements all add time relative to non-executive roles.
Five to six weeks is achievable with a decisive, aligned client and a sharply defined brief — the exception rather than the norm.
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