Quick-Start Guide: Executive Search Firms
**Audience:** Partners, delivery leads, and candidate success owners at retained executive search firms **Time to first value:** First candidate prep brief, within 1 hour **URL:** startingmonday.app/search-firms
What Starting Monday does for your firm
Starting Monday strengthens kickoff quality, shortlist velocity, and candidate readiness on retained mandates. Candidates arrive prepared at first-round interviews. Search professionals reduce prep admin and deliver a demonstrably better candidate experience.
Step 1 - Review the firm-level value case (15 min)
- Go to **startingmonday.app/search-firms**
- Review how Starting Monday maps to your three key delivery stages:
- **Kickoff:** mandate framing, candidate brief preparation, role-specific context
- **Shortlist:** candidate readiness scores, preparation quality benchmarking
- **Placement:** interview-arc tracking, post-offer follow-through
- See a sample brief at **startingmonday.app/search-firms/sample-cfo-brief**
Step 2 - Choose your entry point by role
| Role | Entry point |
|---|---|
| Partner or firm lead | Mandate-level ROI and kickoff quality evidence |
| Delivery lead or principal | Candidate prep workflow and execution cadence |
| Candidate success owner | Prep brief generation and readiness scoring |
Step 3 - Run your first candidate brief (30-45 min)
For any active retained search:
- Request a firm account at **startingmonday.app/search-firms**
- Add the mandate: target role, company, and stage of search
- Add the candidate: seniority, background, key transitions
- The platform generates:
- Role-specific interview prep brief
- Likely board or hiring committee questions
- Mandate context and company background
- Suggested talking points and positioning
Step 4 - Set up the candidate
If you want the candidate to use the platform directly:
- Send the candidate an invitation from the mandate dashboard
- The candidate sets up their own account (free for candidates)
- They access their prep brief, signals, and interview tracker
- You can see their prep activity and confidence markers before each round
Step 5 - Use the kickoff quality checklist
Before the first client kickoff call for any new mandate:
- Go to **Dashboard > Mandates > [Mandate name] > Kickoff prep**
- Use the structured checklist: position framing, success criteria, committee dynamics, search timeline
- The platform surfaces relevant market intelligence and comparable role benchmarks
What this improves
| Metric | Before | With Starting Monday |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate first-round preparation | Ad hoc, variable quality | Structured brief with role-specific arc |
| Kickoff quality | Dependent on individual consultant | Standardized checklist with intelligence layer |
| Between-round follow-through | Manual check-ins | Tracked commitments and activity visibility |
| Search intelligence | Point-in-time research | Continuous signal monitoring on target companies |
Trust and confidentiality
- Candidate data is visible only to the search firm and the candidate.
- No data crosses to competing firms or employers without explicit authorization.
- All mandate data is isolated per firm account.
First action right now
Go to **startingmonday.app/search-firms/sample-cfo-brief** to see a real prep brief. Then request a firm account to run the same quality brief on your next active mandate.