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Anjali Prayag

Bangalore, Nov. 29The tables have indeed turned. Executive search firms that were working on mandate-based assignments which involved wooing candidates for jobs are now witnessing a reverse trend in senior management placements.

An increasing number of CFOs, COOs, CPOs and CEOs are now proactively approaching search firms looking for ‘more exciting opportunities’, thus forcing headhunters into reverse marketing.

Mr Atul Khanna, Partner, Hunt Partners India, a global search firm that launched its Bangalore office recently, told Business Line that candidate placement (as opposed to mandate-based headhunting) has ‘increased significantly’ in the last one year and that the company may start a separate service for such placements.

The most wanted sectors for top management currently are private equity, financial services and IT, according to Mr Khanna. Mr K. Sudarshan, Managing Partner, EMA Partners International, says that though most assignments are mandate-based, search firms do build relationships with CXOs who become ‘potential candidates’. “They do share their moments of agony with us and once they are comfortable with us will become our potential candidates.”

Reverse marketing, however, needs to be done with a high degree of care and finesse, cautions Mr E. Balaji, Chief Operating Officer, Ma Foi Consultants. “There are times when we have top-notch resumes and there are companies that they could fit in, but the client (the company) should not get the impression that the CXO is desperate for the job.”

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