Answers
Executive search, answered plainly
Straight answers to the questions we get about executive and management search in the green industry and the field services around it.
- What is retained executive search?Retained executive search is an exclusive, fully committed engagement in which a firm is hired, and paid in stages, to fill a senior role from kickoff to placement. Instead of competing to submit resumes, the firm dedicates a senior recruiter to map the market, approach passive candidates directly, and deliver a vetted short list. It is used for leadership seats a company cannot afford to get wrong.
- Retained vs. contingency search: which do you need?Contingency search fits important roles where you only pay when someone is hired and you want options moving in parallel. Retained search fits senior and executive seats you cannot afford to get wrong, where you want one firm's exclusive, dedicated capacity and the diligence a critical hire deserves. The more senior, confidential, or hard-to-fill the seat, the more it leans retained.
- How much does executive search cost?It depends on the engagement. Contingency searches are typically a percentage of the hire's first-year compensation, due only when they start. Retained executive searches are a structured fee paid in stages from kickoff to placement. The investment scales with the seniority and difficulty of the seat, and a clear proposal spells it out before any commitment.
- How long does an executive search take?A specialist search that works from an existing network is far faster than a cold one. Because Bloom tracks the green industry's operators year-round, a first slate of vetted candidates typically lands in weeks, not months. Total time to a signed, started hire then depends on the seat's seniority, your interview process, and candidate notice periods.
- What is the green industry?The green industry is the set of businesses that design, build, and maintain landscapes and outdoor environments: commercial and residential landscaping, lawn and turf care, tree care, irrigation, and snow and ice management, plus the field services that operate the same way around it, such as pest control, HVAC and mechanical, and facilities. It is a large, fragmented, people-driven industry where leadership quality decides who scales.
- Why use a specialist recruiter instead of a generalist?A specialist recruits in one industry, so they already know the roles, the compensation, the seasons, and the people who run these businesses, and they can tell a genuine operator from someone who just interviews well. A generalist works across a dozen industries off a resume and a good interview. For a green-industry leadership hire, the specialist's network and judgment are the difference between a hire who performs and one who looks good on paper.