We’re known nationally for our track record with senior finance positions and professional services firms. However, we tend to view ourselves as generalists by tradition and inclination.

We successfully recruit executives for a range of senior positions:
›  General Management
›  Marketing
›  Finance
›  Human Resources
›  Information Technology
›  Operations/Supply Chain

We operate across a diverse industry spectrum including automotive supply, capital equipment, consumer products, financial services, graphic arts, health care, medical device, publishing, and technology.






Yes, as we believe that a successful search is most likely to be achieved when both the client and the search firm have a tangible and upfront commitment of time and resources.






We customarily focus on opportunities at the Director level and above, since our experience is that we can be most effective on more senior assignments.

Given our deep experience in senior finance positions, we are particularly well suited to assist Board audit committees in identifying Board of Director candidates that meet new regulations for finance expertise.






We are proud to serve a number of companies and firms in our hometown of Chicago, yet nearly half of our engagements involve clients, opportunities and candidates from major metropolitan areas to remote rural headquarters. At any given time, we have searches underway in such disparate locations as Washington, DC, Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, San Francisco and New York.

Most of our clients understand that we will search nationally for the right candidate, so we are accustomed also to identifying talent across the country as well as across industry.






We work very closely with our clients to develop a detailed position profile and candidate specification document. This process develops consensus and support for the goals of conducting an external search and in turn helps us zero in on a target list of best practices companies.

Almost all searches require original research, and at our firm, senior partners personally conduct research. We also draw upon an extensive network of sources developed over the years from prior assignments, professional associations and clients. Our proprietary talent database is also referenced on every search that we undertake.

We do not “inventory” candidates, nor do we follow the dubious practice of introducing candidates to clients in parallel.






The more the better! We adhere to rigid standards of confidentiality, but we believe that all research generated by our firm in the course of an engagement should be shared with the client. At least weekly, we provide clients with a summary of our sourcing activity and an update of active candidates. We welcome frequent and informal contact as it invariably helps to move the search along to a successful and timely conclusion.

We are also transparent about disclosing “blocks,” (i.e., companies where our firm has existing client relationships that naturally prevent us from discussing new opportunities with members of the executive team) as well as companies that our clients may exclude from the search for other reasons.






Absolutely. We think new leader on-boarding is very important. In fact, in situations where it appears advisable, we go so far as to suggest a formal on-boarding program.

During the recruitment and offer process, we nudge the hiring executive team to be very specific about the expected contribution of the new executive in the first year and we make sure those expectations are well communicated.

During the course of the engagement, we remain closely tuned to corporate culture, analyzing the likely fit of the successful candidate to the new culture. When we conduct reference verifications, for example, we seek suggestions from the candidate’s closest colleagues for ways that the hiring executive team might help the successful candidate reach their highest potential.

We stay in touch with the successful candidate and the hiring executive for at least a year after the hire date. Without violating a confidence, we listen and offer advice as needed. If we sense that things are not going well, we play a neutral, constructive role to try to help resolve issues that are getting in the way of success.

In the rare case where an executive leaves within the first year, we offer to redo the search without an additional fee.






Whenever possible, we recognize efficiencies in the sourcing effort to our clients by means of reduced professional fees.






We regularly serve clients seeking a candidate slate of highly qualified executives balanced by gender, race, and cultural background. We are pro-active in advising clients about how to retain and develop diversity candidates to be long term leaders of the organization – often far more challenging that the initial hire.

Two of our partners are women executives with an extensive network of relationships with senior female executives across many companies, professions and industries. We have a strong realtionship with the Chicago Finance Exchange, a professional association of over 200 senior financial women in Chicago.






While the right answer to an executive position is rarely found in a database, we frequently contact members of our database as sources and referrals. We are happy to include executives from a range of industries and backgrounds in our database for that purpose.

We encourage finance executives and those interested in Board of Director opportunities to contact us confidentially via e-mail.

Simply email your bio data to us and know that we will respect your privacy at all times.

Chris Bertschy:
cbertschy@mccarthybertschy.com

Anne Driscoll:
adriscoll@mccarthybertschy.com

Jerry Herb:
jherb@mccarthybertschy.com