BH Associates™ Case Study
Presenting Best-in-Class Direct Hire Candidates Leads to Second Placement
Challenge
In July 2024, after being referred to us, the chief executive officer (CEO) of a mid-sized real estate, leasing, and asset firm reached out to Beacon Hill Associates asking for our help in finding a personal assistant who could organize our client’s home and contacts, manage and schedule our client’s personal calendar, coordinate all travel needs for the executives and their family (including maximizing earned travel points), manage gifts for clients, and more. The personal assistant needed to be able to work with the CEO’s executive assistant at work, as well.
Solution
Knowing that the CEO felt she hadn’t been able to find the right person for this role, we prioritized learning more about her needs, work style, communication preferences, and what she thought was missing from candidates. In those conversations, it became clear that the CEO was looking for someone who would not only thrive in a fast-paced, sometimes intense environment, but also make order out of chaos.
Using our experience sourcing personal assistants, we customized our interview and screening process and quickly identified eight candidates within two days of accepting our client’s requisition. Because of our thorough conversations with our client, we had earned her trust to narrow it down to three candidates we felt she should meet. These candidates represented a broad range of focused expertise, including household management and personal and business assistant experience. All candidates felt they would excel in a fast-paced environment.
Within two weeks, the CEO had interviewed our three candidates and made her decision. We extended the offer to our candidate, who had focused their expertise on household management, and they happily accepted. We are pleased to share that the personal assistant still supports the CEO today.
Achievements
When we presented the three final candidates to our client, she recognized that our second candidate, who had focused expertise in high-level business executive assistant experience and staff, would benefit the CEO’s real estate firm. She sat down with us to see if we would extend an offer to this second candidate for an executive assistant/chief of staff position at the CEO’s firm. We’re pleased that our candidate accepted this position and started in September 2024.
By getting to the heart of our client’s needs and our candidates’ motivations, we quickly onboarded a personal assistant and helped our client recognize a new need they weren’t aware of. We conduct regular check-ins with the CEO and the two people we placed, and we’re pleased to share that everyone is happy with the current state of things. We look forward to supporting our client for any other future needs she may have.
