These seven reasons highlight the key benefits why you
should put your confidence in a specialist boutique agency
instead of a big global brand:
1. You know exactly who you are working
with: In a large recruitment agency, whilst the
Managing Directors or Partners might claim personal involvement
in the project, there is no guarantee that the people you speak
and meet initially will be involved in the project at all.
Executive search firms pitch for business using their senior
members of staff, then assign less experienced consultants to
do the actual work. With a boutique recruitment agency, you
know exactly who you are working with, and often the project
leader is regularly providing you with the work progress and is
available for discussions at your convenience.
2. Personal touch: When you know who you
are working with, you can build strong working relationships
that last for years, you can put trust in people and rest
assured that your requirements are understood correctly and
often on a personal level.
3. Competitive timescales:
The smaller the company, the faster decisions can be made.
There is no bureaucracy or red tape to slow the process down,
which means that candidates and shortlists are invariably
delivered well ahead of schedule. The speed of the process is
critical in terms of attracting the best available talent and
ensuring that the offer process is managed smoothly and
efficiently.
4. Pure professionalism – expertise backed
up by practical experience: In order to be successful,
smaller recruitment agencies must be founded and backed up by
industry professionals with practical experience. Their
existence among big recruitment brands is a proof of their
successful working relationships with clients and proven
reputation in the market. We believe there is no margin for
error in our business and we aspire to be one of the leading
tax and transfer pricing recruitment specialists in the
world.
5. Cost, flexibility and adaptability: Big
agencies must account for more man-hours, larger and expensive
offices premises and additional overheads that go into
establishing and maintaining a well-known brand. Smaller
agencies, without extensive co-ordination and excessive
branding can offer flexibility over recruitment fees. Success
will depend on a joint design that meets the
client’s particular circumstances and
objectives.
6. Partnership – smaller companies
focus heavily on long term sustainable partnerships, which over
the long term ensure a higher percentage of successful
placements, based on a better understanding of the cultures of
the company in question.
7. Open for suggestions
– smaller recruitment agencies will be always willing
to go extra mile in order to win a business and will strive to
achieve the results.
Current trends in tax and transfer pricing recruitment
We observed several changes within Tax and Transfer Pricing
recruitment over the last three years. A considerable slowdown
within Big4 firms worldwide became increasingly noticeable. Big
4 organizations are nowadays much more selective in choosing
the right talent for their teams. The tendency is to source tax
professionals from their country of origin but with the
requisite expertise gained abroad, and then bringing them
back.
Niche boutique recruitment businesses continue to remain
successful, in conjunction with the independent firms that are
of a significantly greater size. This is due to the extensive
demand for tax specialists that have particular expertise and
skills.
The continued depression of the banking sector resulted in
forced restructurings within larger tax departments, although
in some cases we observed periods of increased demand in
recruitment in tax compliance and reporting areas. Conversely,
the vast financial services sector is progressing, with
substantial amounts of recruitment in insurance and asset
management. Expansion recruitment in the corporate sector
continues, with a taste for VAT and transfer pricing
professionals, as well as those in compliance in reporting. The
demand for interim and contract tax specialists in this market
also continues to remain high.
Increasing demand for tax professionals in Europe is
becoming ever more noticeable, and although tax recruitment in
Switzerland has admittedly somewhat declined, steady
recruitment in various other key economies is clearly visible.
Furthermore, the Middle East is presently experiencing a rise
in levels of recruitment, with leading territories
predominantly in the Asia-Pacific region continuing to excel as
growth levels far exceed those of traditional Western
economies.
For market intelligence on tax and transfer pricing
recruitment, please contact us on +44 (0) 1273 380 008 or
email: ibh@ibhexecutive.com
| Izabela
Hollander-Bolton |
 |
Managing
Director & Chief Headhunter
IBH Executive
Tel. +44 (0) 1273 380 008
Email: izabela.hollander@ibhexecutive.com
Website: www.ibhexecutive.com
Izabela Hollander-Bolton is the Managing Director and
Founder of IBH Executive, with over ten years
international sales & search experience, including
VAT advisory. Izabela gained invaluable professional
experience at several leading international firms in the
UK: Kinsey Allen International; GRS Group; as well as
Euromoney Financial Training in London. Having worked as
a tax consultant, as well as managing a niche recruitment
tax business, together Izabela and her team thoroughly
understand and recognise their clients’
needs, and also are very comfortable in assessing high
level candidates. The primary geographical focus for IBH
Executive is EMEA, where the company recruits within the
professional & financial services, investment &
retail banking, and commerce & industry.
Practice areas:
Executive Search
Tax
Tax/Law Firm Mergers & Acquisitions
Transfer Pricing
High profile team moves
Izabela has written numerous tax related articles in the
Financial Times, Recruiter Magazine, Taxation Magazine,
and Tax Careers.
She has also recurrently worked on a number of
international assignments outside of EMEA, in both Asia
& the US. |