We take your confidentiality very seriously. We will not ever send your resume to a company without your knowledge, so that you will know exactly where you are being represented. As professionals, we commit to taking the necessary steps to ensure confidentiality, including coaching our hiring managers about the nature of your search. 

We work with a wide variety of publicly and privately held companies throughout the areas of Tampa Bay, Lakeland and Sarasota. These companies, ranging from small start-ups to well-established Fortune 200 giants, compete in a variety of industries.

Most of the companies Ferreri Search works with have had a presence in the Tampa Bay market for a long time, and we have had a long standing relationship with them. When we work with a new employer or hiring manager we conduct thorough due diligence, getting as much information as possible.

It sounds strange, but you need to come into our office because you are busy. The truth is that the time we spend in our first meeting will prevent us from wasting your (and our) time by discussing or having you interview on the wrong opportunities. During our initial meeting, we will get a much clearer understanding of what you have done, what interests you, and what the most logical next step is for your career. We will talk about the market and trends we see, and brainstorm about your search. You will most likely meet other team members so that we can all work simultaneously to find the right environment for you.

Also, we commit to our client companies that we will meet our candidates face-to-face before we present the candidates’ backgrounds to them. Our clients realize, too, that resumes only tell a small part of a candidate’s story. Meeting them in person will increase our probability of making the right “cultural fit” as well as technical fit.

We are sorry you had a bad experience with your previous recruiter. We typically tell our candidates that we won’t be wasting their time by calling them every week just to “check in.” Instead, we are spending our time identifying more opportunities in the market. That said, we always welcome a call from you! We can be a resource to help you with your job search by providing advice and insight that will help you get that special job offer. If we meet with you and determine that the opportunities we are working on are not in sync with your skills, then we will honestly tell you that. We cannot help every person we meet. Your recruiter will discuss a tailored follow-up process with you so that you have a clear understanding and agreement on the best way to communicate going forward.

Absolutely not. Our policy is to discuss EVERY opportunity with our candidates before we ever send their resume to one of our clients. It is not in anyone’s best interest to blast your resume all over town. We urge anyone working with multiple recruiting firms to make sure they ask the other firms to treat their resume the same way, by not sending it out without their knowledge and permission. Our candidates will always know where their resume has been presented, thereby avoiding awkward situations. When multiple submittals occur, the candidate is always the one who loses.

Great question. We do this for several reasons. First, your references give us amazing insight into you, and that helps us do a better job of identifying the right opportunities. It also validates that you are who you say you are, and helps us feel more confident in presenting you to our client companies.

Secondly, this is a promise we make to our client companies. We submit your reference along with your resume to a potential employer. Our clients appreciate that we have done our due diligence and they are typically that much more excited about meeting our candidates if their resume is accompanied by a glowing reference!

Having at least some of the references checked early in the process also expedites the search process. There is nothing more frustrating than going through the interview process and expecting an offer PENDING the references coming back strong. But if your reference is on vacation, has a crazy deadline or cannot be reached for any other reason, then you may have to wait for 3-4 days to get your offer. That situation can be excruciating!

That depends on you, your background, the confidentiality factor, and more. Our suggestion is to meet with just one. Then have them give you an honest assessment of what their strategy will be to target your search. If you are pleased, give them two weeks to see what they come up with. Look for a firm that will be proactive in their representation of you. Do they have the market knowledge and relationships to pick up the phone and call high level managers at the companies you have targeted? Can they create interest in your background whether there is a current opening or not?

Some employers work with multiple search firms while others have exclusive relationships with just one firm. While you don’t want to miss out on the exclusive opportunities, you don’t want your resume to arrive on a hiring manager’s desk from multiple firms. We believe it is a big mistake to work with a lot of firms, as you may get less personal attention if your recruiter knows your resume is already all over town.