Modern is positively disrupting the search industry by putting the candidate first. Why? Because it is the right thing to do, and we hope that our candidates think so highly of our process that they convert into clients down the road. Negative feedback from candidates about the executive search industry is common and often appalling. Even the push for diversity, long overdue, is leaving a bad taste in many candidates’ mouths. It is so bad in fact that roughly 30% of the diverse executives in technology that we polled no longer choose to take calls from search firms!
A sampling of the feedback includes:
- “You can never trust that a search firm will give you honest feedback, that is if you get any feedback at all. They will tell you anything to get off the hook.”
- “I’ve been through 10 processes with search firms and in total received about 40 minutes of feedback. Half the time they don’t even call.”
- “I got called by the same large search firm multiple times in one day and they had no idea a colleague had already spoken to me. It’s disrespectful and tiring.”
- “Search firms never try and understand me as a person. They just sell me on any role, and I’m convinced it’s just because I’m black. They must know I know?”
- “I have yet to take a call from a search firm who represents their client properly. I’m unwilling to consider that company as a future employer as a result because I hold them accountable for choosing that consultant to represent them.”
- “I have named a Harry Potter house after each of the 4 large search firms” … (the rest cannot be shared)
So how do horrific experiences like these happen? Plain and simple, search firms pay consultants 100% of their bonuses based on client fees, with no financial incentives tied to the candidate experience. The candidate becomes a commodity and, to be frank, nobody to date has made any real effort to change the status quo.
At Modern, we are adamant that candidates and clients should be treated with the exact same care and consideration just as every person deserves the dignity of being regarded equally. To reinforce this operating principle, we pay our Modern employees based on candidate and client feedback…equally. No candidate is ever a commodity to us and no client is ever more important than any candidate.
What is Modern’s approach to the candidate experience?
- No initial conversation with a new candidate is about a specific role. We first spend 45 minutes learning about our candidates as people before considering a position.
- Candidates are always looked after by the same employee at Modern, so they never have to repeat themselves.
- Every candidate who goes through our full assessment during a search process receives a 60-minute coaching, development, and feedback session. No candidate is ever dropped.
- Our VP of Experience calls all candidates to ask for feedback and listens to their first-hand experiences from our process so that we can continually improve.
- Any candidate we place is supported with 100 days of integration from a world-class coach.
The experience is, quite simply, the beating heart of Modern and we are quickly becoming a Hero Magnet for the diverse candidate community as a result. Let’s have a conversation about…you. We guarantee the respect and consideration you deserve as well as the commitment to looking after you with the same care we give our clients.