Frank Barratt ⋅ Oak Park, IL Wells Fargo ⋅ 10 years experience

I would echo Jeff's response below. My husband works in executive recruiting for Wells Fargo and they use a number of retained search firms for work they either do not have the capacity to handle in house or where there is some sort of specialized need. Your best bet is to get connected and "in the books" of some of these firms so you're considered in their talent pool when an opportunity arrives. Some "passive candidate sourcing" I think is the term used.
In addition to the larger firms like Korn Ferry I would research boutique ones as well. K2 Search is a good example. I would steer away from hiring a search firm individually for placement services but, I've never used one so I cannot speak to the benefits.

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

Ken,
After working the 3-day tap program and executive tap I would say I have heard good and bad things about search firms. A key is not to sign an exclusive agreement with one, that requires you to work only with them. When the the DOD had the big draw down on 0-3, O-4 and 5's I heard a number of horror stories. Another concern was a transitioning Major was working with a search firm and had great success locally with his contact, he sang praises. He applied for a position in OR and the counterpart in OR was not as good as his home base recruiter was, hit and miss sometimes. You might check reviews in Glassdoor on employees of the company, happy employees make for quality work of course the reverse is true also. Thanks for your service and God Bless.

Lex Levin ⋅ Northborough, MA Lex Levin, LLC ⋅ 13 years experience

Colonel,

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Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

There are many good executive placement firms such as Korn Ferry, Spencer Stuart, Hedrick & Struggles, etc. I would encourage you to network with a recruiter at each firm or as many firms as you can. The wider net that you cast, the better you chances for success. Find them on LinkedIn and connect, have a quick phone call to introduce yourself, etc. The other thing to keep in mind is that each hiring company picks the firm it wants to use for executive placement. You might want to network at target companies and try to find out which placement firm they are using. This can help you bypass the black hole of resume submissions. A personal connection will almost always increase your chances of success. Sending in a resume or using an automated candidate profile is least likely to help you.
Good luck!