When you engage a retained executive search firm, you’re not just hiring a recruiter to “find someone.” You’re investing in a sophisticated, multi-phase process that filters a vast pool of potential candidates into a select group of top-tier leaders. This process is commonly visualized as a funnel—wide at the top with comprehensive market outreach, and narrow at the bottom where only the best, most aligned candidates remain.
In this article, we’ll walk through what that funnel actually looks like, what numbers to expect at each stage, and why this method delivers better long-term hiring outcomes for senior leadership roles.
Key Stages of the Executive Search Candidate Funnel
1. Initial Market Research and Mapping
Before a single candidate is contacted, the search firm conducts deep market research. This includes defining the total addressable talent pool based on the ideal candidate profile, industry, geography, and competitive landscape.
How many people are on a typical recruiter long list?
For most senior-level roles, a long list may include 150 to 300 potential candidates. This isn’t a random list—it’s a rigorously built database of professionals who could potentially meet the requirements, drawn from proprietary databases, LinkedIn, talent intelligence platforms, and industry networks.
2. Candidate Outreach and Screening
From this long list, the search firm begins direct outreach, typically through personalized emails, calls, or referrals.
How many candidates are contacted for an executive search?
Depending on role complexity, about 80 to 150 individuals are actively contacted. This phase is critical in a retained model, especially when dealing with passive candidates—those not actively looking but open to compelling leadership opportunities.
Candidate outreach and screening process for passive talent involves more than just sending a message. It requires crafting a compelling narrative around the role, assessing interest, and pre-qualifying candidates based on key motivators and availability.
3. Preliminary Assessment and Interviews
From those contacted, typically 20 to 40 candidates express genuine interest and meet the initial criteria. These individuals are then screened through a series of structured interviews to evaluate experience, cultural fit, and leadership competencies.
Typical executive search candidate funnel metrics at this stage might look like:
- 150 in long list
- 100 contacted
- 30 engaged in initial calls
- 12-15 advance to structured interviews
This is where recruitment analytics for a retained search project comes into play. Search firms use detailed KPIs to track progress—engagement rates, interview conversions, diversity representation, and more—ensuring transparency and accountability.
4. Long List vs Shortlist: What’s the Difference in Retained Search?
The long list is the firm’s internal research product—it’s broad, exploratory, and never shown to the client.
The shortlist, on the other hand, is curated and client-facing. It typically contains 3 to 6 highly qualified, thoroughly vetted candidates. These individuals have been interviewed multiple times, referenced, and benchmarked against your leadership and cultural needs.
From 100 contacts to 3 finalists executive search process: That ratio isn’t an exaggeration—it’s a testament to the depth and precision of the retained model.
5. Final Interviews and Offer Negotiation
The shortlist is presented to the client, who conducts their own round(s) of interviews. Following mutual interest, reference checks and psychometric evaluations may follow before an offer is made.
Managing Expectations Around Volume
Managing candidate volume in a senior leadership search is not about flooding you with resumes—it’s about focusing your attention on only the most strategic options. This can be a mental shift for clients used to contingency recruiting models, but it’s essential.
Why retained search emphasizes quality over quantity is simple: hiring the wrong executive is expensive. A curated list saves you time, minimizes decision fatigue, and increases the likelihood of long-term success.
Strategic Coverage = Better Results
How comprehensive market coverage impacts a search is crucial. When a search firm engages with over 100 candidates and maps 300, you can be confident the shortlist represents the best of what’s available—not just who’s actively job hunting.
Conclusion: A Funnel Built for Quality, Not Quantity
The retained search candidate funnel is more than just a set of numbers; it’s a disciplined methodology designed to convert comprehensive market coverage into a shortlist of perfectly aligned leaders. By starting wide and applying rigorous screening at every stage, the process ensures that the immense effort of contacting hundreds of individuals is translated into a simple, strategic decision for you: choosing the best from a slate of the best.
Understanding this funnel is key to appreciating the rigor of the retained model. To see how this funnel fits into the complete, end-to-end search lifecycle, from initial strategy to final onboarding, explore our full process guide.
➡️ Explore the Full Search Journey: The Retained Search Process: A Step-by-Step Timeline from Mandate to Onboard
To learn how our firm applies this disciplined, data-driven methodology to find transformative leaders, visit our main practice area page.
➡️ Discover Our Approach: Retained Executive Search
