Methodology

Every search runs the same six phases.

From intake to retention, every Venn search follows the same operating model. The same recruiting director runs every phase. The structure is deliberate; the discipline is what makes the 24-month guarantee economically possible.

The phases

Six phases. One director.

  1. 01

    Intake

    A working session with the hiring manager (and, where applicable, the CEO or relevant C-level peer) that produces a written role brief. The brief names the company stage, the team context, the success definition at six and twelve months, the hard requirements, the soft preferences, and the compensation envelope. The brief is the calibration anchor for every subsequent phase.

  2. 02

    Sourcing

    A combination of AI-driven enrichment across LinkedIn, GitHub (for engineering), and proprietary databases, paired with director-led pattern matching against the role brief. Sourcing typically surfaces hundreds of candidates per search; the director-led filter narrows that to the set who meet the hard requirements and a meaningful share of the soft preferences.

  3. 03

    Slate

    A calibrated slate of candidates delivered to the hiring manager, each with a written summary covering relevant background, why-fit, why-might-not-fit, references checked, and current status. The slate is the director’s actual recommendation, not a long list dumped over the wall. Most engagements close from the first slate.

  4. 04

    Close

    Active director involvement through final-round interviews, reference work, offer construction, and counteroffer management. The director is in the room (or the Slack thread, or the email chain) for the close, not handed off to the hiring manager once the slate is delivered. Close work is where most searches succeed or fail.

  5. 05

    Retention

    Structured 30/60/90-day check-ins with the hire and the hiring manager during the first quarter. Quarterly check-ins through month 24. The retention work is operational, not ceremonial — issues that surface at six months are typically fixable; issues that surface at sixteen months without warning are typically not.

  6. 06

    The director

    The through-line that holds the first five phases together. The recruiting director who runs intake is the same person who runs sourcing, builds the slate, supports the close, and owns the retention check-ins through the 24-month window. The person who understands the role is the person who fills it.

Why this structure

Three ways recruiting firms run searches. One of them is structurally different.

Contingency

Split across firms.

The search typically splits across three or four firms. Each firm hands the work to whichever recruiter happens to be available. The recruiter who calibrates the role at intake is often not the recruiter who runs the close.

Retained

Sold by one, run by another.

The work concentrates inside one firm but typically still hands off. The partner who sells the engagement is rarely the person who runs the search; associates carry the search. Retention windows cap at 90 days because that’s the maximum the firm can credibly stand behind without continuous director engagement.

Venn

One director, end to end.

One recruiting director carries the search through all six phases, supported by an AI-native delivery stack that absorbs the sourcing, enrichment, and scheduling work. Judgment concentrates where it matters. The structure is what makes the 24-month guarantee work.

One director. Six phases. Twenty-four months.

Want to walk through the methodology against a specific role?

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