Over the years, I have called my biggest competitor in tax executive search on occasion. We are both well-known as two of the most experienced tax recruiters for multinational corporations, law firms and accounting firms (probably in the world). We recently discussed the years of experience we have in searching for tax executives for our multinational clients. Our competitiveness disappeared long ago into a mutual respect and admiration for each other with the challenges we faced working on tax executive searches that are some of the toughest encountered.

For the unknowing beginner, it takes years to build the skills required to represent multinational corporate clients. We understand search for tax executives involves a lot of very hard work. You do not just go into your files to find a candidate for a client. The work involves helping clients build a job description that attracts the right candidates, extensive research of tax candidates in the industry, thousands of emails, hundreds of phone, working nights and weekends; it is seven days a week. You need to know what you are talking about when you interview tax executives. They are highly educated and very strategic thinkers. The bottom line is it takes years to acquire the level of expertise a highly skilled tax executive search expert brings to company. It is truly the art of search for tax executives that you learn over many years to master.

Most people are unaware of the industry knowledge we have built into our executive search careers. People trust us because we have earned their trust. An expert recruiter masters protecting your privacy and information; we go out of our way to ensure you are safely and securely introduced to our clients; we never send out a resume or link to their online profile unless we have the candidate’s permission to do so in each and every instance. We are very protective of the candidates we work with on every project. I can tell you that I personally go as far as arranging for tax executive candidates to enter or exit through a back or side door of a client’s building if there is a chance they may run into a public accounting firm consultant who would know or recognize them. Experienced recruiters plan out every step of the way to guide the interview process appropriately. There are multiple steps in the process, more than most people could ever imagine. However, an expert recruiter will handle the process meticulously for the company and the tax executive candidates. An inexperienced recruiter will cost a company access to the very best candidates in the tax profession. Companies who hire inexperienced recruiters in tax executive search often lose out on the greatest talent pool. Tax executives are very selective about the recruiters they will even work with or return a phone call.

Recently, I had a conversation with a company executive who had five offers turned down on a management level search. I explained to the company executive that the screening process would have been handled very differently by me and what I would have done. They have had this tax position open for one year now. Given that the tax job has been listed online for over a year now, prospective tax candidates are reticent to come forward with interest. The majority of tax executive searches we are retained on… we do not even advertise. We look at every retained search for a tax executive as a unique introduction of company and tax executive candidate. As an experienced tax recruiter, you look at the company culture, the personality of the person the role reports to, compensation fit on what the tax executive will accept and what the company offers, personal background like kids in school or new parents, flexibility of the company, health matters in family, care of an aging parent, insurance issues around a pregnancy or an ill spouse, kids with special needs, etc. You cannot discover this information by looking at a resume submitted into a resume portal. This is the information that comes through a highly trained recruiter who spends the time to understand the needs of a tax executive and why they would even consider a move in the first place. Without a trusted source tax executive search expert, a lot of things will go wrong, and a lot of time is wasted in the search process.

There are so many moving parts involved in the executive search process that companies are best served having an expert tax recruiter partner with a company to drive the process. You will save a lot more time and money while ensuring you get access to the very best pool of tax executive candidates. We have in excess of a 1M tax professional database we reach out to on searches for clients nationally and internationally. Interestingly, many of the tax executives in our private database you will not find anywhere else online. They are hidden behind corporate walls, association walls or paywalls and you would not even be aware they exist or even available. These are the passive candidates that an expert tax recruiter knows; this is the pool of candidate you will want to access on a search.  The value of knowing a tax executive search expert who has access to a highly specialized field of tax experts is significant. The value of knowing and working with a tax executive search expert makes a significant difference.

If you have any questions regarding search for a tax executive, please email kat@taxconnections.com or call 858.999.0053. We are here to help you through this important process.

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