Why Most Executive Searches Fail
The industry average for a VP or C-suite search is 65–90 days. Many run longer. Roles get reposted. Multiple firms cycle through the same names. The CEO grows frustrated. And 40% of the executives who do get placed fail within 18 months.
The failure isn't random. It follows a pattern: an unclear brief produces poor sourcing, which generates weak candidates, which leads to a drawn-out process, which eventually forces a compromise hire. The methodology is the fix — not the individual recruiter, not the network size, not the number of candidates screened.
Every Majhi Group search runs through the same five stages. They exist because each one eliminates a specific failure mode that contingency search cannot prevent.
The core difference: Contingency firms get paid only when they place someone. That incentive structure rewards speed over quality and breadth over depth. Retained search aligns incentives to the right outcome: the right person in the right role, who stays.
The Five-Stage Methodology
Search Brief and Criteria Alignment
Before any sourcing begins, we spend the first 72 hours establishing what success looks like. This means a detailed intake with the CEO or hiring authority — not a job description review, but a structured brief covering: the business problem this hire solves, the profile of candidate who has succeeded in adjacent roles, the compensation structure and its market position, the realistic deal-breakers versus the wish list, and the internal dynamics the hire will need to navigate.
Most searches fail because this conversation never happens rigorously. The brief becomes a generic job description. The sourcing reflects it. This stage exists to prevent that.
Targeted Market Mapping and Outreach
We do not post job ads and wait. Executive search at the VP and C-suite level means reaching candidates who are not actively looking — because the best people rarely are. Stage 2 is a structured mapping exercise: we identify 60–80 candidates who match the brief exactly, rank them by fit against the scoring criteria, and begin direct outreach through channels where passive candidates actually respond.
Outreach is personalised to each candidate's background and current situation. Response rates on passive executive outreach are a function of specificity, not volume. We do not blast. We target.
Evidence-Based Candidate Assessment
Every candidate who responds goes through a structured assessment before reaching the client. This is not a screening call. It is a rigorous conversation built around the specific requirements of the brief: what they have built, how they built it, where they failed and what they learned, how they manage in ambiguous environments, and whether their expectations — on role scope, compensation, and company stage — are aligned with reality.
We reference-check directionally before the shortlist is submitted. Surprises at offer stage are a sourcing and assessment failure. They should not happen.
Shortlist Presentation and Client Interviews
We present three to five candidates — never more, rarely fewer. Each one has cleared the full assessment. The shortlist is accompanied by a written brief on each candidate: their key proof points, the reasons we believe they fit, and the specific risks or open questions to probe in interview.
We facilitate the interview process — structuring questions, calibrating the client on what to weight and what to discount, and managing candidate experience throughout. Candidate management at this stage is where many searches lose their best options. Strong executives have choices. How they are treated during the process determines whether they stay engaged.
Offer Management and Close
Offer stage is where retained search earns its fee most visibly. We manage the conversation on both sides — preparing the client for the negotiation, advising on structure (base, equity, bonus, start date), and ensuring the candidate feels heard rather than processed. Our offer acceptance rate exceeds 90% because we surface and resolve misalignments before the formal offer is made, not after.
The search closes at signed offer. We remain available for onboarding support and provide a 90-day replacement guarantee at no additional charge if the placement does not work out within the first three months.
What Makes This Different
Retained commitment, not contingency pressure
Retained search is structured as a partnership, not a transaction. One-third of the fee is paid at signing, one-third after candidate submission, one-third at placement. This structure means we do not pressure clients into accepting candidates they have reservations about. Our interest is the right outcome, not the fastest close.
One mandate at a time, not a portfolio race
Contingency firms run dozens of open roles simultaneously. Every candidate is shared across multiple clients. The firm's incentive is to place anyone, anywhere, fast. We take a small number of mandates concurrently and work each one with full attention. That is why the average close is 41 days, not 90.
Exclusivity protects the quality of the search
Every engagement requires exclusivity for a minimum of 45 days. This is not a contractual protection for us — it is a quality requirement. When multiple contingency firms work the same role, they are competing to present the same candidates faster. The candidate experience degrades. The signal about the company degrades. The process becomes a race to the bottom. Exclusivity allows the search to run properly.
Weekly reporting, not silence
Every active mandate receives a written weekly status report: candidates contacted, responses received, assessment progress, pipeline status, and next steps. Clients should never have to chase their search firm for an update. If they are, the process has already broken down.
The 41-day number is not marketing. It is the result of starting with a precise brief, reaching passive candidates directly, assessing rigorously before presenting, and managing the offer without surprises. Every stage compresses the timeline by removing a failure mode. Remove any one of them and the average regresses toward the industry median.
Who This Process Works For
The methodology is designed for companies with a genuinely difficult executive hire — a role that has been open longer than expected, that previous search attempts have not filled, or that is complex enough to require more than a job board and a network blast.
Specifically, we work with:
- Series A through late-stage companies hiring their first or second VP in a critical function
- Growth-stage companies where the right hire directly accelerates revenue or product velocity
- CEOs who have tried contingency or independent sourcing and exhausted those options
- Companies where the cost of a wrong hire or extended vacancy is measurable and significant
We are not the right firm for every search. If the role is straightforward, the candidate pool is large, and any of ten similar profiles would work, a contingency firm or internal recruiter can handle it adequately. We exist for the searches where adequacy is not enough.
The Commercial Structure
Majhi Group operates on a retained search model with a fee of 20–25% of total first-year compensation. The payment structure is:
- One-third at signing — confirms the engagement and initiates the search
- One-third at shortlist submission — reflects the assessment and sourcing work completed
- One-third at placement — contingent on successful close
The 90-day replacement guarantee means that if the placed executive does not work out within three months for any reason, we conduct a replacement search at no additional fee. This is not common in retained search. We offer it because it is the right commitment to make when asking a client to trust us with a critical hire.