Stretched out in front of you is the gleaming new rehabilitation wing of Memorial Hospital. You stand tall, pumped up with pride and elation. The $15 million capital campaign was a resounding success. It was your project from start to finish. You helped recruit the general chairman, wrote the case for support, developed the committees, researched individuals, corporations and foundations. You even helped solicit one of the largest gifts.

After two weeks of a much needed Hawaiian vacation, you return to your development office. The moment you step through the door you realize something is wrong. The room is too small, it's suffocating. Your In-basket is filled with accumulated mail, for some reason it aggravates you. Calls from volunteers and board members bore you, comments and questions from your CEO don't motivate you like they once did.

"What's wrong with me," you ask yourself after a week of chronic blahs. Then one day in a blinding flash of understanding you realize you're burned out. In the seven years you've been the Vice President of Fund Development you've successfully accomplished all the goals you initially established for yourself. It's time to move on. You need new challenges. You decide to bravely go where you haven't gone in a very long time. Job hunting.

But where to start?

Your first thought is the classified section in one or more of the national publications devoted to fundraising and non-profit management. Each month numerous fundraising positions are listed for universities, hospitals, museums and a wide range of other not-for-profit organizations. Several things trouble you as you peruse these Development Director and VP for Advancement ads: none list the salary range of positions advertised, most are looking for beginners in the field with only three to five years of experience, and all are vague about the duties of the position and the experience needed to perform the job.

After a self-evaluation and resume tune-up, you find you have 16 years of experience, have successfully conducted three capital campaigns, are skilled in planned giving and can write a case for support like no one else. Your current salary is a respectable $82,000, however you feel your successful track record should be better compensated.

Perhaps you should consider an executive search consultant.

What exactly is an executive search consultant? According to Sheila McLean, President of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) in New York, "Executive search consulting is a specialized branch of management consulting that assists corporations in the identification, evaluation, and selection of executives. Executive search consultants work only for the client company, never for individuals seeking employment. Executive search evolved during the 1940's to assist companies in restaffing management ranks after World War II. It's now a $1.5 billion industry."

Executive search consultants are not for the novice to the field of development. "Our clients retain our services to help them find the very best candidates for their open positions," commented Christopher Bryant. His company AST/BRYANT Consultants in Executive Search of California and Connecticut, specializes in the placement of senior level advancement professionals for not-for-profit organizations. "The salary range for the candidates we seek are generally $75,000 and above."

Executive search consultants are constantly seeking the right professional to fill these top positions. How can you attract their attention?

"Be visible," advises Wesley Poriotis of Wesley, Brown & Bartle. "For those seeking an employment move, the simplest way to get discovered is to be visible. Job seekers are advised to move up in trade associations, accept speaking engagements, get quoted in magazine articles, and network at industry luncheons. Moreover, it is helpful to scrutinize industry contacts for individuals who could make references to recruiters."

Bryant agrees. "A person should carefully plan their career to reach their ultimate employment and life goals."

Bryant lists the following ten-step plan to assist fund-raisers, and other advancement professional, in the process of career planning:

STEP #1 Update your resume. Provide an accurate description of your job history, with brief descriptions of your responsibilities.

STEP #2 List your major accomplishments. These should be things for which you are/were responsible and of which you are most proud. Examples could include: a very large gift, articles written and speeches presented, new programs conceived, initiated, and implemented.

STEP #3 Decide if what you have been doing is what you do best. Be brutally frank with yourself. Ask yourself questions like: Am I a generalist or a specialist? Am I an internally focused manager, or a more externally focused fund raiser?

STEP #4 Decide what kind of advancement professional you are or want to become.

1. The MANAGER/LEADER Institutions need people who are highly organized and consistent. There is more need for this skill than any other.

2. The SALESPERSON/ENTREPRENEUR This individual emphasizes innovation and start-ups. This person changes jobs more frequently as they tend to get bored with management details when a program achieves "maintenance" level.

3. The CONSULTANT These are the fixers and generally require experience both as a manager and as an entrepreneur. This is a growing trend, however the travel required and long hours can be hard on families and the body.

STEP # 5 Decide what skills or additional education you will need to meet your career goals. Effective development work requires excellent communications skills. Consider enhancing your writing and public speaking skills with writing classes or membership in your local Toastmasters Club. Specific skills may be acquired from sources such as:

STEP #6 Decide who your competition is and watch how they go about implementing their own career plans. If you are new to development, find a mentor who can guide you and provide counsel. If you have been in the field a while, be a mentor to a newcomer.

STEP #7 Decide where you want to work. Quality of life issues and standard of living issues, and the consequent financial implications, should be taken into consideration. Consider, too, if you are happier in a large urban area, a suburb, a small town or a rural area. Think about what part of the country you prefer.

STEP #8 Decide what kind of institution you want to work for. Higher education, health-care, arts and culture, independent schools, environment or social service agencies.

STEP #9 Decide about other personal considerations. What about your spouses career? Will there be ample opportunity for his or her professional growth? What about your children's education? Are there aging parents to be considered?

STEP #10 Write it all down. Assemble the information in plan format, including objectives and a timetable. Review your plan every six months (try January 1st and July 4th to help you remember) and update it as necessary.

If you have been in the development field for a number of years you probably have many of these steps completed. Now your goal is to advance to the next, or highest level. What should you do to locate a search firm?

"Do your homework," Sheila McLean of AESC, advises. "Find out about executive search consultants. There are books in your library that list practically every search firm in the world. You should also understand there are two types of executive search consultants. All of our 130 member organizations are paid on a retainer basis. That means the executive search consultant receives a set fee from the client for using their skills and expertise to fill a position. They are paid whether the position is filled or not. Firms that work on a contingency basis are only paid if their candidate is hired by the client. Keep in mind, executive search consultants are not employment agencies."

Bryant agreed. "We don't hand our clients a list of potential candidates just to "fill the order." Our company provides a much broader and professional range of services to assist our clients. We offer enhanced efficiency, greater access to qualified candidates, and a more proactive role. It's been statistically proven that when an organization attempts to recruit a senior manager that position can take upwards of a year to fill. Bringing in outside search consultants can reduce that time to three or four months. That means the faster you bring someone into a position, the faster they become acclimated to the organization and the environment, and the faster they become productive."

If you plan to use an executive search consultant, it's essential to determine the caliber of the company. There are several precautions to take when shopping for a firm:

1. Inquire about the track record of the firm in their placement of development professionals.

2. Carefully inspect any application forms or legal documents provided by the recruiter for your signature.

3. You should refuse to deal with any firm that makes it obligatory to pay a fee upon signing a contract. Executive search consultants generally charge no fees to candidates.

4. Ask consultants about their own backgrounds.

5. Evaluate the kind of jobs recruiters have found for others.

6. Look carefully at the interviews the firm offers to set up to see if they truly understand your professional skills and the kind of job you're seeking.

Non-profits who have a senior level position open may want to consider using a search consultant, but should understand the expenses involved. "The industry standard fee for retaining a search consultant is 32 percent of the first years salary," explained McLean of AESC.

You've done your homework. Your resume is in order. You've selected an executive search consultant whom you trust and feel confident with. What happens next?

"A great deal of work takes place before the candidates are brought into the picture," said Bryant. "When a client such as a hospital or university retains AST/BRYANT to conduct an executive search, the first thing we do is schedule a survey of the key leadership of the organization. This will include the CEO, board members, advancement staff, and other key managers. We also look at the organization's published materials, previous fundraising efforts, and support from the community. What we want to find out is the culture, philosophy and dynamics of the organization. After accumulating our data, and completing the interviews, we develop a written document called a Search Specification. Basically it's the case statement for the position to be filled. It's not uncommon for this document to be 20 to 25 pages long. Included in this document will be fact sheets about the organization, biographical information about key managers and volunteers, the job description and any other pertinent information. For example if we learn that members of the Board of Trustees are terrible fund-raisers, that will be in the document. We also include an in-depth review of the organization's fundraising experience over the past three years.

Once we've completed our survey and present the information to the client, then we conduct a search of our computer data base to find any candidates who might have the specific qualifications the organization is looking for in their new employee. For example, if they want an individual with 15 years of experience in capital campaigns, we try to find people who would match that profile.

The next step in this process is to call potential candidates. At this time we're just updating our information about this person. Have things in their life changed? Are they still with the same organization? Have they successfully completed the campaign they told us about two years ago? Also at this time we tell them about the position and ascertain if they have an interest. If they do we ask the potential candidate to send us an updated resume.

Once we have a short-list of people who are not only qualified for the position but are also interested in it, I set up a face-to-face meeting. This meeting generally lasts from 90 minutes to two hours. Basically I want to see how the person responds in an interview situation, how they dress, and the professional image they project.

After all this preliminary work we are finally ready to present three or four "paper candidates" to the client. They will review the candidates resumes, along with our comments and recommendations, and will decide at this point who they wish to interview.

The candidates selected will be invited to the organization for a personal introduction. This meeting will usually last from 90 minutes to two hours, and generally entails the candidate talking with the CEO, Board Chairman, or both.

Also at this time we will be conducting a formal record check of the candidates credentials. We want to make sure all facts presented on the resume are correct.

There will be a second meeting with the client for the final one or two candidates, inviting the spouses to attend as well. While the candidate is being subjected to "gauntlet" meetings with top managers, the spouse is given a tour of the facilities, perhaps a tour of the community and in the case of a professional spouse, suggestions about carrier opportunities in the new community.

Finally an individual is selected and offered the position. At this point the executive search consultant will be available to help negotiate any details of the position that are unclear or unsuitable to the potential new employee. These could include salary, benefits and other executive perks.

AST/BRYANT will maintain contact with the client and the new employee over the next twelve months. Should the employee leave the position during that time, we will conduct another search for the organization. There is no additional charge to the client."

Executive search consultants can help you find and get that next great job. They have the contacts, expertise and experience. However, if you decide to use a firm keep one very important point in mind:

"Honesty really is the best policy," explained McLean of AESC. "Executive search consultants have a process of interviewing and reference checking in an extraordinarily precise and professional way so they can find out if a candidate really is as good as they might appear on paper. Unfortunately, some people do not tell the truth about their backgrounds. Our firms will always verify degrees. If you say you have a Ph.D. we will make sure."

For more information about executive search consultants, the following firms, organizations, and books will be of great assistance:

Consultants in Executive Search
2716 Ocean Park Blvd.
Suite 3001
Santa Monica, CA 90405
310-314-2424

152 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10016

AESC
230 Park Ave.
Suite 1549
New York, NY 10169
212-949-9556

by Thomas P. Gove
Gove Publishing Co.
1105 Lakeview Ave.
Dracut, MA 01826
Copyright 1993
508-957-6600

Kennedy Publications
Templeton Rd.
Fitzwilliams, NH 03447
Copyright 1994
603-585-6544

END