Recruiting

Process
The View is Different at the Top: The Pinnacle Advantage
Step 1. Information Gathering

Key Actions:
• Meet with company representatives to learn about the company including how it started, where it is now and where it is heading,
employee demographics, and the current and desired internal atmosphere.
• Create benchmark specific to the position through Chequed.com, a predictive employee performance suite of products
• Learn about the position including who holds the role now, current responsibilities, if those responsibilities are expected to
change with the new candidate and how, as well as the way the position impacts the strategic direction of the company.
• Learn about the desired experiences for the appropriate candidate including the amount of experience, the type and size of
company he or she should have experience in, the desired industry the candidate should work in, the responsibilities he or she
should have had, and any other special wishes of the company.
• Research for sourcing direction and outlets as well as develop target lists of companies that fit the profile consistent with the
search criteria, and begin to work networking list, speaking with contacts that could help educate and direct us on the search.
• Identify tools, technology, and methodology to be utilized during search.

The Pinnacle Advantage: It is the objective of Pinnacle Recruiting and HR Solutions to partner with our clients to provide a
staffing solution that is most suitable for our client’s investment. The first step of our recruiting process is designed to give our
team a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the company, the role to be filled, and client expectations. We are the
only recruiting firm in the area in which all members of our management team have advanced business degrees, certifications, or
equivalent experience developing and running multinational organizations. This experience elevates our view of the search from
a simple recruiting objective to a broad-view strategic business decision. We’re not just recruiters.

Step 2. Sourcing

Key Actions:
• Communicate with current candidate pool for direction and leads.
• Communicate with current networking contacts for direction and leads.
• Utilize a range of technologies to build call lists to contact including Broadlook
products like Diver, Eclipse, and ProfileX that capture data from various
companies, and lead-generating software like eGrabber, AutoSearch, and
Talenthook.

The Pinnacle Advantage: We are the only firm in the Capital

Region who invests in recruiting tools and technology combined
with regular recruiting forum discussions among top recruiters all
over the world on a weekly basis. To provide our clients with the
best possible service, we make sure to keep up to date on the
latest and greatest tools and techniques being used in the
recruiting world. While a few agencies may purchase the
occasional search tool, we purchase and subscribe to a broad
variety and use them in ways that only the most cutting edge
recruiters can imagine. Additionally, in this phase we leverage our
massive and exclusive network of professional services firms like
insurance agency and accounting firm leaders for direction and
information for searches within all disciplines.
Step 3. Recruiting

Key Actions:
• Establish relationships with all leads that may be appropriate for position.
• Learn candidates’ professional history and objectives, including information on each candidate’s current role, past experiences,
and desired future roles.
• Learn the “hot buttons” of each candidate, like what makes him or her happy about the position, frustrated about his or her
current position, and anything he or she looks for in a new position.
• Learn candidates’ parameters and likes and dislikes, such as geographic, financial, and work environment-related.
• Learn candidates’ decision making process including any family discussions and personal obligations affected by a potential
relocation or job move, such as club memberships, positions on boards, or geographically constraining investments like rental
properties.

The Pinnacle Advantage: Regular trainings give Pinnacle a competitive edge, allowing Pinnacle employees to continuously
develop and fine-tune our skills for executing effective conversations and gain necessary information from potential candidates
throughout the recruiting process. A recruiting process is only as good as the recruiters’ abilities to execute the various stages.

Step 4. Screening

Key Actions:
• Personally speak with references to establish a snapshot of experiences, personality, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Use references to network with potential new candidates and potential new references.
• Use Chequed.com’s predictive hiring tool to assess candidate against pre-established benchmarks.
• National Background Check - This service is performed on the final candidate at offer stage.

The Pinnacle Advantage: At Pinnacle, our recruiters are trained to conduct reference checks that enable us to develop a very
comprehensive snapshot of the candidate’s personal and professional abilities and shortcomings. We are also fortunate enough
to be the only recruiting or staffing firm to elevate the screening portion of our services to include the full suite of products offered
by Chequed.com.

Step 5. Presentation to Client

Key Actions:
• Present top 1 – 5 candidates to client for final consideration, illustrating a
complete scenario of each candidate with personal feedback and
recommendations.
• Leave behind resumes, written summaries including reference
summaries, and all info from Chequed assessments with our
comments.

The Pinnacle Advantage: This stage further amplifies our

commitment to partnering with our client in an effort to
identify the single best solution combined with our
advanced business experience. At this time, Pinnacle
consults with the client not only to walk through
all top candidates and their backgrounds, but also to
include opinions and feedback specific to the candidates’
potential fit within the client’s organization.
Step 6. Interview Stage

Key Actions:
• Coordinate all interviews.
• Debrief and consult with candidate and client regarding
proceedings.

The Pinnacle Advantage: It sounds easier than it is.

With the stress of the availability of the hiring manager,
along with the potential need to be discreet on behalf of the candidate, not to mention geographic obstacles, it is often a
monumental task to pull off several interviews within a reasonable period of time. We coordinate with everyone in an effort to
keep stress levels to a minimum.

Step 7. Offer Stage

Key Actions:
• Consult with client to develop a comp package that ensures both client and candidate are happy.
• Work with or on behalf of client to extend offer in such a way that the offer is given fair consideration by the candidate.
• Work with or on behalf of client to ensure that candidate considers the offer on its own merits or when comparing with another
offer we ensure that candidate is comparing apples with apples.
• Ensure that offer is delivered and expectations are set so that offer is not used to “shop” other offers or is leveraged for a raise.
• Perform national background check.

The Pinnacle Advantage: As part of our recruiting process, we gain an understanding of the candidate’s financial thresholds
and other factors contributing to the candidate’s financial and personal snapshot. With our understanding of these items,
we are able to utilize our HR side of the business to develop comp structures based on the latest trends in compensation like
deferred compensation plans and clawback provisions. We leverage our relationships with CPA firms at this point to ensure that
the compensation plans have minimal tax implications to either the executive or the company. At this stage, we also offer our
experience in orchestrating the actual offer extension to ensure that the candidate cannot use it to invite a raise or promotion
from his or her current company.

Step 8. Transition Counseling

Key Actions:
• Work with client to establish expectations of candidate during transition and into first few weeks of work.
• Work with candidate to coach on dealing with counter offers.
• Work with candidate to establish expectations of client and firm both during and after transition.
• Maintain contact with client and candidate during first months of work to help identify any communication breakdowns with
regard to expectations or potential problems and act as intermediary, addressing potential issues before they grow.
The Pinnacle Advantage: This stage is the most commonly overlooked and potentially most important facet of completing
a placement at any level. Our consultants are trained to prepare both the client and the candidate for communication and
expectations throughout the transition. Early in the process, the candidate is educated about the dangers of accepting a
counteroffer so there are no last minute surprises.
 For more information, please contact us at:

Albany Office
12 Elmwood Road | Albany, NY 12204

Saratoga Springs Office

18 Division Street, Suite 302 | Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

phone: 518-618-1150 | fax: 518-618-1151

Member of Albany-Colonie Chamber, Rensselaer Chamber, Saratoga Chamber, Center for Economic Growth,
and the Capital Region Human Resources Association