The Deep Dive^®: We Learn the Job Before We Search

More Than Duties and Pay

Duties, compensation, and benefits are where a search begins, not where the work ends.

The Deep Dive^® looks at what the job is really like on your team, and what makes someone excellent at it.

The Deep Dive^® at a Glance

1. 1Meet the hiring manager
2. 2Visit the team
3. 3Ask the hard questions
4. 4Define your DNA
5. 5Build your interview package
6. 6Present a short list

What the Deep Dive^® Includes

• Time with the hiring manager. We sit down with the manager directly in charge of the role, not only with the job description.
• A visit to your team, when possible. We shadow your top performers, listen to customer calls with your consent and within your privacy rules, and observe the workspace dynamics.
• The hard questions. Routine days tell us little. We ask what the toughest calls, customers, and deadlines look like, because that is where the right person and the wrong one part ways.
• Your team's DNA. Your hiring manager chooses the three qualities every person on the team must share. See Team DNA.
• A custom interview package. Once you send your Top 3, we build interview questions and a scoring guide made for your position. It is part of the Deep Dive^®, and it is never shared with candidates.
• Interview coaching for your managers. Your managers are experts at their own jobs, and interviewing is not their main one. We show them how to ask DNA-based questions and score the answers the same way every time.

The Most Common Interview Mistake

Many interviewers make up their minds in the first few minutes. From then on, often without noticing, they look for evidence that supports that first impression. The pressure grows when a role has been open too long.

We coach the opposite: hold your judgment until you have the facts. An interviewer who has not decided yet asks the questions that would otherwise be skipped.

Why Accuracy Matters More Than Ever

Résumés can now be tailored to any job description, at scale. A polished résumé proves very little. Precise questions about the real work show who has actually done it, and the details are where a fabrication falls apart.

What You Get

We would rather send you three candidates you want to meet than ten you have to sort through.

• Risk named up front. If a candidate carries a risk, we tell you exactly where it is. You never have to discover it on your own.
• Verified before you meet them. References are confirmed with the person who truly managed the candidate. Current employment is verified. Résumé, LinkedIn, and dates are checked against each other.
• Concerns found early. After each interview, we dig for doubts on both sides. If a candidate is not right for you, or you are not right for them, we will step back rather than push the hire through.
• A real step forward for the candidate. We only present a role that is a genuine move up for the person, because people who step forward stay.

After the Offer

We stay close through the resignation period, when counteroffers, exit interviews, and cold feet can derail a start date. After the start, we check in with you and your new hire through the first three months. If either side raises a concern, we act on it the same day.

Leadership and Executive Searches

A senior seat shapes everything below it, so the Deep Dive^® goes further. The DNA list for a leadership role can be a little longer than three, but it stays short. Less is more.

Before we start an executive search, we ask you to look inside first. Measure your internal candidates against the DNA and interview them. If no one is quite ready, we will show you what the market holds.