A TIG search is a highly focused process that involves:

• Consultation with the board of directors or senior management, as appropriate, at the hiring company and with the company's senior human resources executives. TIG's job is to develop an understanding of the company's products or services, the business issues it faces, and its culture. TIG uses this understanding to develop a description of the position that will guide recruitment efforts. TIG also helps in designing positions so that they are most likely to achieve the client's business objectives.
  
  
• Identification of appropriate candidates. TIG's principals tap their broad range of contacts and experience as operating executives to identify appropriate candidates. Most often, these candidates are not in the job market and thus unlikely to respond to employment advertising.
  
  
• Screening candidates to determine their likely fit. After initial telephone conversations, TIG principals meet with promising candidates for one or more discussions that help flesh out details of a resume or curriculum vitae and determine how the candidate might fit with the hiring firm's culture.

• Presentation of promising candidates to the client. TIG's goal is to save its clients time, and thus money, by presenting a small and well-screened group of final candidates that meet the client's standards. At this stage, TIG also may become involved in helping its client determine how best to "sell" an especially desirable candidate who may not be actively looking for a new position.
  
  
• Identification of potential issues. TIG, unlike most recruiting consultancies, screens final candidates with an assessment tool designed to discover underlying issues of personality or style. TIG principals are specially trained in using the Hogan Assessments tool (www.hoganassessment.com), which has been validated over many years of use with tens of thousands of people and which exhibits no bias based on race, ethnicity, gender, or proscribed characteristics.
  
  
• Reference checking. Once a client has settled on a prospective hire, TIG conducts detailed checks of the candidate's background to uncover any possible problems or issues. These checks include not only conversations with former colleagues, but extensive research using the many Internet resources now available.