An intake meeting is the structured kickoff conversation between the hiring team and the executive search firm at the beginning of a mandate. Its purpose is to define the role requirements, success criteria, candidate profile, compensation structure, interview process, and decision-making authority before any sourcing begins. A weak or skipped intake meeting is the primary root cause of searches that stall, produce weak shortlists, or result in a mis-hire.
What an Intake Meeting Covers
A rigorous intake meeting covers significantly more than a job description. It captures the organisational context the role operates in (reporting structure, team size, budget authority), the specific outcomes expected in 90 days and 12 months, the traits that have made previous leaders in this role successful or unsuccessful, the deal-breakers, and the compensation envelope — including what the hiring team is actually prepared to offer versus what is in the job description.
It also establishes the decision-making process: who interviews, how decisions are made, what constitutes a pass at each stage, and who has final authority. Without this, candidates move through an undefined process and the search loses momentum at the decision stage.
Role context
Reporting structure, team, budget, and where the role fits in the company's strategic plan. What changed that created the opening?
Success criteria
What does the hire need to accomplish in 30, 90, and 365 days? What failure looks like — not just what success looks like.
Candidate profile
Non-negotiable requirements vs preferences. The 3–4 capabilities that actually differentiate strong candidates from adequate ones.
Compensation and process
The real offer range (not the stated range), equity budget, timeline, and exactly how and by whom decisions will be made.
Why Most Intakes Are Inadequate
The typical intake meeting at a company without search experience runs 30 minutes and produces a list of requirements that mirrors an existing job description. This is not an intake — it is a brief. The output is too vague to drive sourcing decisions and too generic to attract senior candidates who are evaluating the role against other opportunities.
An effective intake requires preparation on both sides: the hiring company should complete a structured intake document in advance, and the search firm should challenge vague requirements, probe for the real success criteria, and push back on unrealistic expectations around compensation or timeline.
“The quality of the intake determines the quality of the shortlist. A vague intake produces a vague shortlist. A rigorous intake — one that defines success and not just requirements — produces candidates the team actually wants to hire.”
The Intake Meeting as a Quality Gate
At Majhi Group, the intake meeting is treated as a quality gate rather than a formality. We will not begin sourcing on a mandate where we cannot clearly articulate: what success looks like in 12 months, why the best available candidate would take this role over their current one, and what the company is genuinely prepared to offer.
The answers to these questions shape every subsequent decision — which candidates to approach, how to present the opportunity, what questions to ask in assessment, and how to structure the offer.