We were appointed to lead the search for a Head at a prominent Catholic co-educational, day and boarding school in the UK. The candidates needed to be extremely talented and experienced school leaders who were also practising Catholics, adding an additional layer of complexity to the search.
Our team visited the school, consulting with all governors, key senior staff, and senior pupils. Over a five-week period, we led a global search across independent and maintained schools. We also advertised the post to ensure transparency and fairness and to secure the best possible field of candidates for the School.
After in-depth conversations with all key prospects, during which we fully outlined the role and answered any queries or hesitations they had, all of the strongest potential candidates applied for the role. From the initial pool of 22 applicants, we held robust preliminary interviews with 18. Detailed candidate profiles were prepared ahead of meeting with the Selection Panel, who chose the 8 they most wished to interview.
We drafted strong differentiator questions for the Selection Panel and attended the first round of interviews with the Governors. First round interviews were held on Teams to accommodate international candidates.
Following the first-round interviews, the Selection Panel chose four candidates to progress to the short list. Each candidate was invited to visit the School for one–to-one sessions with the Chair, the current Head and the SLT, and a tour with pupils.
After these visits, we gathered feedback from all of these stakeholders. Comprehensive verbal and written references were gathered for all the short-listed candidates and we carried out social media checks. We also advised the school on the KCSIE checks they needed to complete and all safeguarding checks were carefully followed.
We prepared the presentation topic and all interview questions, which were shared with the full Board ahead of the final interviews. We provided a blind assessment task which each candidate had to complete. When these were first assessed, the candidates names were removed, providing a useful extra sense-checking assessment to help minimise any unconscious bias.
We know that clear and consistent communication with both candidates and client is of critical importance and can help to alleviate any concerns and we stayed in close contact with our client and with the candidates, checking that they remained enthused about the role and were reassured about any queries they had. Conversations about package were managed with care.
On the day of the final interviews, we briefed the full GB on the process, each candidate’s performance so far in the process, and on best interviewing practice. Following the interviews, our team joined the GB for their deliberations, contributing insights on the candidates and supporting the discussion until consensus was reached, and the chosen candidate was offered and accepted the role.
To ensure the experience was positive and constructive for everyone, long-listed and short-listed candidates who were not selected were contacted individually with feedback.
The successful candidate was thrilled to receive the job offer and the School was equally thrilled with their selection.