Non-profit recruiters?

September 12, 2017 11:26 PM

I am the executive director at a large and well-known regional environmental non-profit and am ready to move on. This is my first ED job, and I didn't go through a recruiter to get the position. I think though, that would be best for the next job. How does one find a recruiter?

Any tips on finding a recruiter and working with them without necessarily alerting my board immediately would be appreciated. This is in the U.S.

Anonymous because, well, it's my job.

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (5 answers total)

There are definitely recruiters that specialise in placing executives. What I might suggest in your circumstances is networking with your peers in the non-profit industry (or whatever industry(s) you are looking to enter) and finding out if they have a recruiter they used and enjoyed working with. If you are concerned with your board finding out, tell your peers that you are interested in helping another executive you are mentoring or something similar.

Contact those recommended recruiters and they'll take you through an informal interview and find out what you are looking for. Recruiters often specialise in specific industries, so it's OK to have a few looking out for you if you are looking across several different industries. I might suggest interviewing several and going with the one you feel comfortable with in any one industry, as it won't do you many favours to have them both presenting you to the same organisations.

When you are presented to another organisation, it's anonymously until you decide that you want to have a conversation. I've never know an organisation to betray a potential candidate's interest back to their own company before a contract has been signed, especially at your level. That being said, if you are in a very close business community, you might want to have meetings with prospective employers at neutral locations during the early stages if you think other co-workers might recognise you and get word back through the grape vine.

Hope that helps.
posted by qwip at 12:48 AM on September 13, 2017

If you can memail me, or reach me through mods, I'll send you a contact. They can work with you or suggest someone in your area.

Seconding the idea to ask your peers how they got their jobs.
posted by ramenopres at 6:57 AM on September 13, 2017

Do recruiters occasionally call you? Or, think about other major job searches that you've been adjacent to: Did they use recruiters?
posted by salvia at 7:59 AM on September 13, 2017

Oh, you can also join the Nonprofit Happy Hour Facebook group. Search past posts or submit an anonymous post. There will be lots of people to connect you with resources. I think there's also a specific group for EDs. Just be careful not to share too much identifying information, even anonymously.
posted by ramenopres at 10:37 AM on September 13, 2017

Recruiters are often small-shop private consultants, and you can just email them with some background and a CV and say you'd like to be added to their list for notice of future openings. They will treat this as confidential (their work depends upon it).
posted by Miko at 5:22 PM on September 13, 2017