“Real Executive Search Firms Advertise Roles,” Said Absolutely No One Credible, Ever
Loud recruiters call it “executive search.” Real firms call it discretion. Here’s why advertising roles misses the entire point.
A self-described “executive search” firm in Indonesia recently graced the internet with a masterstroke of professional comedy:
“Real executive search firms advertise roles.”
This gem, plucked from a local recruiter’s website and presumably written without irony, set a new benchmark in what happens when loud confidence meets minimal understanding. It’s the kind of statement that raise eyebrows, and resets expectations. According to this philosophy, the global heavyweights of executive search: Spencer Stuart, Heidrick & Struggles, Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds, and Korn Ferry (collectively, SHREK), are technically not doing executive search. Their crime? They don’t blast confidential CEO searches onto LinkedIn with “DM for more info” under a stock photo of a handshake.
You have to admire the conviction. It’s like telling Michelin-star chefs they’re not real cooks unless they hand out menus in a mall food court.
And while it’s tempting to laugh it off as another harmless misunderstanding in a market known for semantic freelancing, this isn’t just a one-off. It’s a blinking red indicator of an industry losing grip on its own vocabulary, where process is replaced by performance, and shouting is mistaken for seniority.
SHREK Doesn’t Advertise Because SHREK Doesn’t Need To
Let’s begin with the SHREK firms. Between them, they dominate the world of retained executive search in volume, credibility, discretion, and access.
Their domain? C-suite transitions, board succession, confidential leadership replacements, pre-IPO readiness, and post-merger executive reshuffles. We are not talking about finding someone to manage warehouse inventory. This is about selecting the next CEO of a publicly listed company or advising a family-owned conglomerate on who replaces the patriarch. Roles with governance implications, investor optics, and, often, direct financial consequences.
What do these firms have in common? They do not advertise roles. Not because they forgot their LinkedIn passwords, but because that is not how executive search works. Posting a job ad for a confidential CFO search is not proactive recruitment. It’s strategic malpractice.
Instead, these firms are engaged exclusively by boards or investors. They surgically map the market, identify viable successors, approach discreetly, assess rigorously, and present a curated shortlist to stakeholders. Their process is designed for precision and control.
So when someone in the local recruitment sphere confidently declares that “real” executive search firms advertise roles, what they’re really saying is: “I have no idea how the top of the market actually operates.”
It’s not just wrong. It’s professionally embarrassing.
SHREK firms don’t post. Because when you’re trusted with high-stakes decisions, silence is part of the service.
When “Executive Search” Means “We Posted a Job Once for a Head of Sales”
In Indonesia, and similar talent markets globally, the terms “headhunter” and “executive search” have been run through a marketing blender. The result is a thick paste of jargon, loosely applied to anyone with a LinkedIn Recruiter license.
Today, virtually every recruitment firm is an “executive search” firm. Even the ones whose most senior placement last year was a Regional Marketing Manager for a discount beverage distributor.
The job? Advertised.
The candidate? Already applying to five others.
The process? A three-way race with zero exclusivity and a placement fee paid only to whoever hits “send” first.
That’s the model. And somehow, it’s now being presented as industry best practice.
Title inflation is the norm. A controller becomes a CFO. A business unit lead becomes a CEO. Send them into a regional boardroom and watch the room politely blink.
Then there’s the mandate delusion. A contingent, non-exclusive brief passed to six agencies, advertised across job boards, internal referrals, and WhatsApp. In any real search firm, this would be a disqualification.
In this world, quiet is suspicious. If your process isn’t visible, noisy, and emoji-heavy, people assume you’re not doing anything. Which leads us to the now-immortal statement:
“Real executive search firms advertise roles.”
By that logic, MI6 isn’t a real intelligence agency because it doesn’t have a TikTok. And therapists? Useless, unless they live-stream sessions with client tags.
This is what happens when vocabulary outpaces understanding.
Advertising: The Recruitment Equivalent of Spray Tan
Advertising roles isn’t inherently bad. It’s a functional, even essential, part of many recruitment workflows. For high-volume hiring, mid-level management roles, or fresh grad pipelines, posting jobs publicly makes sense. It helps cast a net, generates inbound traffic, and moves processes efficiently. No shame in that.
The issue is not that advertising happens. The issue is pretending that it defines executive search. Because it doesn’t. Not even close.
To claim that the mark of a “real” executive search firm is whether they advertise roles is to miss the point entirely. It’s like judging the quality of a courtroom lawyer by how often they post memes about contract law on Instagram.
At the top of the leadership market, the best work is done out of view. Actual executive search is built on controlled conversations, trust, and influence. The work happens behind closed doors, in longlist review calls, in quiet referencing loops, and in meetings where nobody is taking notes for LinkedIn content.
When you see someone advertising a “confidential CEO search” on social media, the confidentiality has already been compromised. The value is already diluted. And frankly, the credibility is already in question.
Real executive search is a luxury advisory service. It is not supposed to feel available to the masses. It is not meant to be part of your morning scroll. If you’re seeing it, it’s probably not it.
The louder someone shouts about their “executive” mandates, the more you should wonder who they’re trying to convince. Because it rarely needs to be said by the people actually doing the work.
And once you understand that, the idea of “posting equals legitimacy” starts to look very hollow indeed.
The Self-Regulating Snake Pit
Just when it seemed like things couldn’t get more absurd, they do. Not only are we contending with warped definitions of executive search, we’re now witnessing an attempt by some of the loudest culprits to crown themselves as the standard bearers of the profession. That’s right. The very actors misusing the terms are now forming a “professional body” to clean up the mess they helped create.
The irony would be funny if it weren’t so concerning.
These are not the stewards of quality or ethical reform. These are firms that have confused visibility for credibility, and job-posting frequency for expertise.
“Executive” is often anyone whose salary clears IDR 25 million a month.
“Search” means forwarding CVs en masse, often without consent.
“Confidential” usually translates to “publicly viewable on three job boards.”
Now, having misrepresented the work for years, they are positioning themselves as the ones who will define its standards. The goal isn’t to raise the bar. It’s to fix the bar at a convenient height, so they can pat themselves on the back while standing flat-footed.
What will these so-called standards likely include? Probably things like
Mandatory advertising of every role,
Claiming candidate ownership indefinitely,
Calling a search “complete” when a dozen CVs have been flung into a client’s inbox.
Meanwhile, firms like SHREK and credible boutiques continue doing what they always have: mapping talent discreetly, guiding succession planning, managing sensitive transitions, and placing C-level leaders with discipline and care. They do all of this without fanfare. And now, absurdly, they’re being told they “don’t count” because they don’t advertise their work loudly enough.
Professional standards indeed.
Repeat a flawed idea enough times, and people stop questioning it. That is the real danger. The louder this rhetoric that visibility equals credibility, and that noise equals value gets, the more it rewires the market’s expectations.
Eventually, buyers stop asking about process. They start asking why you haven’t posted the role yet. Sophisticated clients begin disengaging altogether, disillusioned by the circus. Meanwhile, strong candidates retreat after being mishandled one too many times by recruiters who think “executive search” means clicking “Easy Apply” on their behalf.
The discipline of retained search is eroded. Replaced with spray tactics dressed in expensive language. Strategy is substituted with speed. Confidentiality becomes a punchline.
And then the whole market forgets what proper looks like.
So the next time someone enthusiastically claims,
“We’re a real executive search firm. Just look at all our job ads,”
Don’t argue. Just ask them, calmly,
“Which board did you advise last quarter?”
Then watch as they blink, and mumble something about candidate ownership.
Meanwhile, quietly call someone at Spencer Stuart (or StratEx).
You know. One of the fake executive search firms.
At StratEx - Indonesia Business Advisory we help clients cut through the clutter and engage real leadership talent. Contact us to identify the right leadership fit for critical moments in your organisation.