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The process
A search you can see into, at every stage
You should never have to ask a recruiter what is happening. Here is exactly how a SaMquest search runs — IT or life sciences, contract or permanent — what you get at each stage, and when.
IntakeDay 0
A working session with the hiring manager, not a form. We map the role against the team it joins: what breaks today without this person, who they will work beside, how success gets measured at ninety days, and which of the listed requirements are real. We leave with a written brief and you approve it before we go anywhere.
Market readDays 1–3
Before we start outreach we tell you what the market looks like: how many people plausibly fit, what they are paid now, and how long a search of this shape usually takes. If the compensation band or the requirement list makes the role unfillable, this is where you hear it — not two months in.
SourcingWeek 1 onward
Referrals first, then direct outreach to people currently doing the work, then the applicant channels. Passive candidates get a personal message about your role specifically, because generic outreach gets generic results.
ScreeningContinuous
Every candidate has a real conversation with a recruiter before their name reaches you. Capability, motivation for moving, compensation expectations, notice period, competing processes, and location constraints — all confirmed up front so nothing detonates at the offer stage.
Short listTypically week 2–3
Three or four candidates, each with a written assessment: what they bring to this specific brief, where they are stretched, what to probe in interview, and their compensation position. You read four pages, not forty résumés.
Interview managementWeeks 3–5
Scheduling, prep on both sides, and feedback collected within a day of each round. Candidates are told where they stand after every stage. Silence is how good candidates get lost, so we do not allow it.
Offer and closeOn decision
We know each candidate’s number, their counter-offer risk, and what else is on their table, because we asked at screening. We handle the negotiation, references, and resignation coaching so an accepted offer stays accepted.
First ninety daysPost-start
Check-ins with the hire and the manager at week one, month one, and month three. Most placements that fail, fail early and quietly. We would rather catch it while it is still fixable.
Commitments
What we hold ourselves to
These are not aspirations. They are the terms of the engagement, and you should hold us to them.
- No candidate you have not been told about. We check for existing relationships before we approach anyone.
- No profile sent without consent. Candidates approve every submission of their details.
- No ghosting, in either direction. Every candidate who interviews hears an outcome, with a reason.
- No poaching from placements. We do not recruit out of a client we placed into.
- No surprise invoices. Fee, guarantee, and timeline are agreed in writing before work starts.
Questions we get
Straight answers
How long does a search take?
For most professional roles, a short list in two to three weeks and an accepted offer in five to eight. Executive and confidential searches run longer because the market has to be mapped first. We give you a specific estimate for your role at intake, and we tell you if it slips.
Do you specialise in an industry?
Two: information technology and life sciences. In life sciences that means clinical operations, biostatistics and statistical programming, data management, safety and medical review, regulatory, and bench science. In IT it means software and data engineering, cloud and platform work, AI/ML, and validated-system QA. If a search sits outside those, we will tell you rather than take it on.
What if the hire does not work out?
Direct hire placements carry a replacement guarantee, agreed in writing before the search begins. Within that window we rerun the search at no additional fee.
Can you work confidentially?
Yes. Executive and replacement searches are routinely run without the role being public, including where the current holder is still in the seat. Outreach is done under a described-but-unnamed brief until a candidate is serious and under NDA.
Next step
Start with an intake call.
Thirty minutes is usually enough to tell you what the search will take and whether we are the right firm to run it.