What is search and selection?
Search and selection is a recruitment approach in two parts. Search: actively looking for the people who could do the job, wherever they are, including those who are not applying anywhere. Selection: assessing them against the role, and narrowing the field to the few worth an offer.
It is the core service of most recruitment firms. Sparagus uses the term for its Search & Selection service, which covers permanent recruitment, freelance talent and executive search.
The two parts are often sold together, but they are different jobs. A firm can be very good at finding people and weak at judging them, or the reverse, which is why it is worth asking how each half is done.
What happens in the search, and what happens in the selection?
The search starts with an intake meeting where the role is defined, then moves to sourcing: networks, databases, direct approach, referrals and, sometimes, advertising. Its output is a list of people who are relevant and reachable.
The selection reduces that list. Screening sets aside the profiles that clearly do not fit, interviews and a technical assessment test the others, and a shortlist goes to the client. The two halves need different skills: the first is about reach, the second about judgement.
How is search and selection different from executive search?
By the level of the role, and therefore by the method. Executive search applies the search logic to senior leaders, where almost nobody is looking and the approach has to be researched, discreet and personal. Search and selection is the wider category: it also covers specialists and managers, and it can mix direct approach with active applicants.
In Dutch, werving en selectie is the usual everyday term. Strictly, werving puts more weight on attracting applicants, through job adverts for example, while search stresses going out to find people. In practice the two overlap.
When is search and selection worth paying for?
When advertising will not reach the right people. That is the case for scarce technical profiles, for roles that need a specific combination of skills and languages, and for confidential replacements.
It is less useful when the market comes to you. If a job advert produces enough relevant applicants, the search half adds little and the selection half can be done in-house. The decision is about where the hard part sits: finding people, or choosing between them. On its service page, Sparagus gives 48 hours as its average time to present a first shortlist.
