Higher Education Search Firm – Getting the Most Out of a Search

You have an opening for an administrator at your college and you’ve decided to hire a search firm to assist you in this search. There are many firms that provide these services, and finding the right one can be a challenge. For advice on selecting the right firm in the enrollment and financial services sector this article can be helpful. Once you’ve made the decision to hire a higher education search firm, however, that is only the first of many decisions you need to make to ensure your search is a quality one, resulting in the candidate that is the best fit for your institution. One “size” does not fit all here. A good search firm should be flexible and able to adjust their practices based on your needs, but there are several things that, if addressed early in the process, can help assure a smoother search for all involved.

Point of Contact for the Institution – Search Committee?  Hiring Officer?  HR?

One of the first items to consider is the institutional point of contact with the firm. Is it an HR specialist? The hiring manager? The Search Committee Chair? While there might be different contacts as the search goes on, it is best to establish, at the start of the search, who will be the primary institutional contact as questions arise or when it’s time to move on to the next step in the process.

Position Description/Posting

In most cases a position description will already be in place for the position in question, but the start of a search is a perfect time to review and update that description. While it is always the institution that makes the final determination regarding the description, the search firm can offer suggestions for wording, key responsibilities, etc. It is also important is this process to make sure that any standard verbiage required by the institution is included. Of course, the HR representative involved in this search should be a key player in updating and finalizing the position description.

Typically, the search consultants will prepare the job posting, but it should be reviewed by representatives from the institution, as well, to ensure that it meets institutional requirements. Also, it is important at this point to come to an agreement about how this posting will be disseminated. Make sure, for example, that it is listed on the institution’s job posting site and any other sites mandated by institutional policy.

The proposed salary, or at least a salary range, should be determined at the start of the search and made available to inquiring candidates, when requested. This salary will be based on institutional policies, but the search firm can assist in this determination, if needed, based on their knowledge of the typical salary for the position in question. The decision of whether or not to include it in the job posting will be based on institutional policy. It is important, however, to be able to share the proposed salary or salary range with prospective candidates, if requested.

Application Process for Higher Education Leaders

A critical decision to be made prior to posting the position is how the application materials are to be submitted. Typically, when using a higher education search firm, the application materials will be submitted directly to the search firm so they can make their initial review. Some institutions, though, might require submissions via their HR portal. In that case, the search consultant(s) must be given direct access to those materials in order to expedite the review process. There are a few other considerations here, as well.

• What should be submitted?
  • Cover letter
  • Resume/CV
  • References – (no contact until notified) – how many?
  • Institutional EEO form – usually submitted separately (Find a better term here)
• Timing – is there a standard posting period required by the school?
• Does the search committee want to see all applications or only finalists? The search firm is hired to winnow down applications for the search committee. Unless there is an institutional/HR policy requiring all application materials to be submitted to the institution it is usually useful to only receive the application materials for those individuals recommended for further review by the committee. If the HR policy is to have all applications on file, those not recommended for review can be submitted separately to the institution.

Review of applicants

The search firm conducts the initial review of all applications, noting the relative merits and viability of each candidate, and then conducts initial interviews with those candidates identified as viable candidates for the position. This would typically be 10 – 15 candidates, interviewed via Zoom by the search consultants.

After these initial interviews, the search firm will submit their recommended candidates to the pre-determined institutional contact, and the number submitted should be by prior agreement between the search consultants and the search committee. Typically, that would be the top five candidates, but that number can be fluid, depending upon the quality of the candidates, as determined by the search consultants for leadership potential.

The materials to be submitted by the search firm should include all application materials – Cover letters, Resume/CV, and references for the candidates the search consultants recommend for institutional vetting.

There are a few considerations that should be agreed upon ahead of time.

• Does the institution want a ranked list of candidates or just an unranked list of the top XX candidates, with comments but no specific recommendations?
• The submission should include the search consultant’s comments about the candidates but the committee chair might want to separate those comments when submitting the materials to the committee members. That would be something the committee would have to discuss.
• Who arranges initial zoom interviews for the committee? While the search firm can make these arrangements it is sometimes easier for someone at the institution, working with the committee, to make these arrangements, as they have access to calendars, etc.
  • The search consultants can also assist the search committee, prior to these interviews (and the final on campus interviews, as well), in creating pertinent questions for the position.
• Who arranges the finalist, on campus, interviews?
  • Number to be determined by the committee and/or the hiring manager.
  • The same caveat that applies to the Zoom interviews applies for these interviews, as well. If the institution will make the arrangements, the search firm should assist wherever needed.
  • The search committee can help with interview questions, as indicated above, and also help with suggestions about the appropriate campus constituencies that should be involved in these on campus final interviews.
• Reference Checks
  • Who will do these – the higher education search firm or an institutional representative (Search committee chair or members)?
  • Will checks be done for the chosen candidate only, or all finalists? If, after interviews, there is a clear number one candidate it is better to check only that person’s references.
  • Be sure to notify the candidate(s) before contacting references.

Salary and Offer

When a final candidate has been selected the search consultants can advise on the proposed salary offer, if needed, but the final decision and the actual job offer should be made by the institution, per standard institutional procedures.

The role of various Institutional representatives should be established and agreed upon at the start of the search. These include the HR representatives, the Search Committee/Chair, and the hiring manager. Clearly agreeing upon the role of these various participants in the search process, as well as the role of the search consultants throughout the process will assist in making this a smooth and (relatively!) stress free process.