This is the operating rhythm behind every search we run, from the first conversation through your new hire’s first year. It shows what we do at each stage, why it protects your hire, and the few things we need from your team to get it right.
Most searches don’t stall because the candidates don’t exist. They stall on unclear terms, a target that was never defined past the job description, criteria that shift after interviews start, slow feedback, and lost visibility at the moment a candidate is deciding. Every step below exists to close one of those gaps, and most of the work happens where you never have to see it.
What happens
A working conversation about the roles you need filled, what has and hasn’t worked so far, and the constraints you are hiring under. When it helps, we follow up with a short written proposal that lays out the paths we see, sourced market compensation for the profiles, and plainly how we would work together.
Why we do it
Some searches need a different shape than the one on the posting. It is cheaper to find that out in a conversation than three weeks into a search.
What it gives you
A clear, honest read on the market and the options before you commit to anything, including when we are not the right fit.
What we need from you
Candor about the roles, the timeline, and what has already been tried.
What happens
We send our standard agreement in Word so your team can mark it up directly, work through any redlines together, and then send the final version for e-signature. When a company has several roles with different needs, we can structure one agreement for all authorized positions with a separate agreement for any role that needs its own terms.
Why we do it
Clear terms up front prevent the disputes that quietly stall searches: which roles are covered, who introduced a candidate first, and when a fee is earned.
What it gives you
Your team never has to track dates or referee between agencies. Whoever presents a candidate first in writing owns that introduction, the burden of proof sits with whoever claims otherwise, and your team is never asked to monitor presentation dates. Fees are invoiced at the new hire’s start date on standard terms, not before.
What we need from you
Your markup, a signer, and the list of roles you are authorizing.
What happens
We start mapping the market for your roles right away: where the relevant talent sits, who has done this work before, and which companies are competing for the same candidates.
Why we do it
Most of the calendar time in a search is lost at the start. Mapping while paperwork and scheduling happen means outreach can launch the moment the target is defined.
What it gives you
Days back on the front end of every search.
What we need from you
Nothing yet.
What happens
A focused 30-minute intake with each hiring manager, with your HR partner joining when possible. We go well past the job description: why past finalists fell short, what success looks like at three, six, and twelve months, which backgrounds translate and which are off the table, the real non-negotiables versus the nice-to-haves, and how the hiring manager interviews.
Why we do it
A job description describes the role. The intake defines the hire. Searches that drag almost always trace back to a target that was never defined past the posting, or to criteria that surfaced only after interviews began.
What it gives you
We screen against what your hiring manager actually rewards and rejects, so every candidate you meet already clears the bar they would have set in the room.
What we need from you
Thirty minutes per hiring manager, and four answers before we present anyone: the approved compensation band (base, bonus, and equity), your interview steps and who is involved, hard constraints (commute radius, on-site expectations, travel), and eligibility requirements (work authorization, export-control limits, and whether your company can hold or sponsor a security clearance).
What happens
You share every candidate who has already applied, interviewed, or been submitted by another agency. We cross-check it against our search universe before a single message goes out.
Why we do it
Re-approaching a candidate your team already passed on wastes everyone’s time and chips at your reputation in a small market.
What it gives you
Zero duplicate outreach and clean ownership from day one.
What we need from you
The list, in whatever format you have it.
What happens
We rank the candidate universe against your intake criteria and send a written assessment: where the talent sits, the strengths and risks of the search, a projected pipeline, and the shortlist date we are committing to.
Why we do it
You should see what the market looks like before we spend weeks in it. We commit to the conservative end of our own projection.
What it gives you
A realistic plan you can share with leadership, and a date you can hold us to.
What we need from you
A read, and a reply if anything conflicts with what you know about the role or the market.
What happens
Targeted outreach to the ranked list, plus a job ad written in your company’s own language and tone so candidates hear your culture, not ours. Candidates who reach out about your role are routed to us so every conversation is screened the same way.
Why we do it
The strongest candidates are rarely applying. They are employed, performing, and need a specific reason to take a call.
What it gives you
Access to candidates who would never see your posting, and a consistent first impression of your company.
What we need from you
Approval of the job ad, and a heads-up the moment anything about the role changes.
What happens
Every candidate we consider presenting completes an in-depth evaluation, typically about an hour, covering their experience, their measurable results and the decisions behind them, their leadership approach, compensation, timing, motivation, and fit with the culture you are building. We work toward a short slate of fully vetted candidates, move each one forward as they clear, and keep you calibrated along the way.
Why we do it
Resumes list percentages. We test whether a candidate can explain what actually moved the number, because that is exactly what a strong hiring manager will test.
What it gives you
On a recent senior operations search, we evaluated 53 candidates and completed 15 in-depth screens to present three. You meet the three.
What we need from you
Quick answers to calibration questions when the market raises them (for example, whether a specific work-authorization status or an adjacent industry background is acceptable).
What happens
Each candidate arrives with a written brief tied directly to your intake: background, results and how they were achieved, how they lead, compensation expectations and our recommendation on where they should land, reason for looking, location, relocation and start timing, work authorization, any prior history with your company or another agency, and the gaps we would validate in interview. A resume or a confidential profile is attached.
Why we do it
Your hiring manager should be able to decide on a first conversation in five minutes, with the risks already on the table.
What it gives you
We name the gaps before you find them, so no one wastes an interview slot. Compensation is aligned before your team invests time, not after.
What we need from you
A yes, a no, or a question within 24 to 48 hours.
What happens
We follow up on every submission until there is a decision, relay feedback to the candidate the same day we receive it, and send pipeline summaries ranked by what is closest to closing, so you always know where every candidate stands and what we need from you.
Why we do it
Strong candidates are almost always in other processes. When they go days without feedback, you risk losing them, disengaging them, or leaving a poor impression of your company in a tight market, and the same candidates and networks are often the ones you will need to recruit from again.
What it gives you
Candidates who stay warm, backups who are still interested if a first choice falls through, and an employer reputation that survives the no.
What we need from you
A clear go, no-go, or next step at each stage within 24 to 48 hours, including a no with the reason behind it. A clear no helps us recalibrate faster than a maybe.
What happens
You send us time options. We confirm with the candidate, check that nothing has changed on their side, send prep, and confirm the meeting on your behalf. Please copy us on every calendar invite.
Why we do it
Coordination is where we learn what has shifted: a new offer elsewhere, a move in compensation expectations, cooling interest, a family constraint. When scheduling moves directly between your team and the candidate, those signals go dark at the exact moment they matter most.
What it gives you
No crossed wires, no logistics for your team to chase, and early warning on anything that threatens the close.
What we need from you
Route all scheduling and candidate communication through us, through the offer stage.
What happens
Before each interview, the candidate receives a prep guide built around what your hiring manager values and how they interview. After each round, we debrief the candidate and send you what we heard before the next conversation, including any open questions the candidate needs answered.
Why we do it
A prepared candidate gives your hiring manager a true read instead of a nervous one. A debrief surfaces concerns on either side while they are still fixable, so the next interviewer walks in with context instead of discovering a deal-breaker at the offer.
What it gives you
Better interviews, fewer surprises at the offer, and a candidate whose interest you can see.
What we need from you
A few minutes of candid feedback after each interview, and answers to any open candidate questions before the next round.
What happens
Compensation alignment is tested from the first screen, not the last. We track competing offers and counteroffer risk throughout, prepare the candidate for when the offer is coming, and stay with them through acceptance, notice, and a confirmed start date.
Why we do it
Offers are rarely lost at the offer stage. They are lost to signals that surfaced earlier and were not acted on.
What it gives you
Offers that get accepted, on terms that fit your internal structure.
What we need from you
The offer details and timing before they go to the candidate, so we can confirm acceptance before it is extended.
What happens
We stay close to your new hire through their notice period, relocation (including a relocation checklist when a move is involved), and through their first months on the job. Placements carry a replacement guarantee per your agreement.
Why we do it
A search is not finished at a signed offer. The most expensive hire is the one you make twice.
What it gives you
A hire who arrives, settles, and stays, and a partner accountable well past the invoice.
What we need from you
A heads-up if anything about the role or the fit changes after start.
For every candidate who reaches your calendar, dozens were mapped, contacted, and ruled out. Before you see a name, we have already confirmed their compensation fits your band, their location and timing work, they can meet your eligibility requirements, they have no prior history with your company that would muddy ownership, and they can explain the results on their resume. Between your interviews, we are keeping candidates warm, resetting expectations when they drift, and passing you what they tell us that they would never say to a hiring manager. That is the job, and it is why we ask for the few things below.
We keep this list short on purpose. Each one exists because skipping it has cost a company a finalist.
Ten items, most of them things your team already has written down somewhere. Getting them to us in the first week is what lets outreach start on time.
Print this page to take the checklist into your first internal meeting.
A finalist had a strong first interview and the hiring manager wanted a second conversation. The follow-up was scheduled directly with the candidate, and we heard about it from the candidate. Nothing went wrong, but for a few days no one could see what the candidate was weighing, which is exactly when a competing offer lands. Coordination is not about control. It is how we see a problem early enough to fix it.
A candidate cleared every requirement from intake and was scheduled with leadership, then the interview was cancelled the same day because the team decided the role needed a different background. The instinct was right, but the timing cost a strong candidate a bad experience. When criteria shift, tell us the moment they do, and we will recalibrate the search instead of the calendar.
On a multi-hire search, several strong candidates waited more than two weeks for feedback after their first interviews, checking in with us every few days. The hires that closed fastest were the ones where decisions came back within a day or two. A clear no is always better than no answer, for the candidate and for your reputation in a small market.
Adrian is a call or text away at 213-772-8274, or write to adrian.munoz@alachrsolutions.com.