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Keller is widely recognized as a leading executive search firm in the education, academia, and research industry. As a leading retained executive search firm, we aim to bridge the gap in the industry by assisting clients in finding outstanding leaders to fill top-level positions.
Academia & research is an industry characterized by its focus on discovery, knowledge creation, and spreading information and awareness via education, scholarly activities, and research. It includes a broad range of fields, such as humanities, engineering, and science. Key areas in this industry include STEM, Training and Mentorship, and Language Technology. Education plays a vital role in raising the quality of life, enhancing the growth of society, and creating an environment conducive to the development of talented people.
While it differs between disciplines and institutions, the academia and research industry shows a high demand for professionals in specialized fields who are able to advance research, address challenges in society, and contribute to education. With rapid advancements in technology, there has also been an increase in the need for professionals with expertise in artificial intelligence. Disciplines related to emerging technologies, such as computer and data science, typically experience a higher demand for workers. Furthermore, the higher education field, which includes research institutions and universities, is constantly looking for candidates to fill research and faculty positions.
However, this industry is also categorized by high competition as a result of its limited roles, resources, and funding. It is made all the more competitive by the high standards for publication and research. With some fields evolving rapidly, job seekers may also lack the needed experience and expertise to fulfill roles, creating a skill gap. These factors can make it difficult for organizations to find the right talent for their needs.
That is where Keller can assist companies in the industry.
Having strong leadership at the helm of an educational organization can aid in evaluating past challenges and policies to develop better solutions for the future. At Keller, it is our mission to provide the companies we serve with top talent for their academic positions. In this way, we help our clients achieve academic excellence.
Keller’s commitment to excellence and the extensive hands-on experience of our team have helped us gain a proven track record for supplying clients in the academia and research industry with top-tier talent.
At Keller, we are dedicated to presenting only the most suitable candidates to our clients. Our team of professional recruiters achieves this through a tailored executive search process that includes Assessment, Talent Acquisition, and Organization Transformation.
At Keller, we kick off our search process with a thorough assessment of the client’s needs. To do so, we have a meeting during which we strive to gain a more in-depth understanding of the client’s company, its culture, and its existing team dynamics. Our passionate team of expert consultants also aims to understand the job description, the challenges candidates may face in the position, and what the job duties will include.
Finally, we take the opportunity to discuss our client’s expectations for prospective employees, in terms of their qualifications, experience, skill sets, work ethic, and leadership traits.
Armed with these important insights, our recruiters establish search parameters to guide us when identifying potential candidates for the position.
Our next step is to acquire talent for the company. Keller’s headhunters access a variety of channels, both traditional and unconventional, in our hunt for the perfect fit. Through our recognized membership with NPAworldwide, we have access to an extensive network of connections and senior-level candidates. This allows us to extend our reach to national and international talent in order to find the cream of the crop.
This provides our team with an initial group of possible candidates.
Following our search process, our headhunters perform an extensive vetting and screening procedure.
During our vetting, we check candidate backgrounds for criminal records and to authenticate their work history and references. We also make use of advanced psychometric tests to determine each professional’s personality, leadership style, motivational drivers, and work ethic. These results are compared to our client’s requirements.
The professionals who successfully pass our vetting are shortlisted and given to our client for final interviews and selection..
We are devoted to delivering the highest value services to help our clients maintain their competitive advantage in the academia & research industry and unlock their organization’s full potential.
We also provide additional services that can help our clientele transform their organizations, including support during onboarding, strategy development for employee retention, system updates, workflow optimization, and more.
By aligning processes with the goals of a company, our clients are able to transform their organizations and reach new success.
At Keller, your success is our success. As such, we invest time in gaining an in-depth understanding of your business and its unique needs. This dedication has helped our agency build a long track record of successfully placing eager job seekers in their ideal positions. We do so by identifying skill gaps, determining areas for improvement, and utilizing our tailored recruitment method.
Our agency’s mission is to provide excellent service. As part of this mission, our experts value continuous learning. It gives us the ability to stay abreast of the latest developments, findings, market shifts, and technological advancements in the academia and research sector. We use this advanced technical knowledge to find senior leaders and other talent capable of traversing the complexities of the industry and overcoming challenges.
Another part of our mission involves the fair treatment of all candidates. We select candidates purely on their suitability for the vacancy, and hold no bias against anyone’s age, gender, ethnicity, or religion. Instead, our search process focuses on their skills and traits, and how well these align with the company’s requirements. In doing so, we foster a more inclusive and diverse workforce in the academia and research industry.
The combined first-hand experience of our team members has helped to shape our recruitment approach over the years. One of these experiences was particularly vital in developing the tailored approach we use today.
When we first began offering search services, we opted for a generic approach that was the industry standard at the time. We served a modest client base made up of companies with similar needs, and our approach worked well enough as a result. When our agency grew as a result of this success, we were approached by a larger organization in need of academic talent. Thinking it would yield the results we had become accustomed to, we applied our generic approach in good faith.
Unfortunately, our agency was not able to make a successful placement. While our approach allowed us to suggest candidates with the correct qualifications, it failed to take work ethic, personality type, and leadership style into consideration, and the candidates we recommended were poorly matched with the company’s culture.
This experience was challenging, but it taught our team the importance of providing our clientele with a methodology and services tailored to their unique needs instead of relying on a cookie-cutter approach that has many limitations.
Since then, Keller has achieved much greater success by adapting and perfecting our methodology. We have gained an enduring reputation for the quality and reliability of our services, and we have fostered lasting relationships with our clientele. Our success has also made a significant impact on the industry, as it inspired other agencies to begin using similar approaches. As a result, Keller helped to shape a better global understanding of executive search in academia and research. Our name has also become synonymous with premier executive search solutions.
Find more valuable resources in our exclusive Insights and Thought Leadership content below.
Our team of recruiters finds talent for a broad range of fields in the education, academia, and research industry, such as (but not limited to):
Keller’s experts leverage their expertise, extensive professional and academic qualifications, and specialized executive search skills to find talented job seekers and visionary leaders for a wide range of roles. Our experts find talent across the country who would benefit the strategic efforts of our clientele and contribute to their success.
In other words, Keller helps academic institutions, universities, colleges, and other organizations in the industry to find the next generation of leaders guaranteed to contribute positively to their companies, as well as the sector as a whole.
We are able to secure talent for executive positions, as well as for lower levels in the company. These include roles such as vice presidents, provosts, and chief financial officers, among many others in the academia and research industry.
Over the years, our team has gained more than four decades of collective experience recruiting leaders and other academics for companies in the industry. This has helped us build a lasting reputation for reliability and quality in our searches.
When you trust Keller, you gain access to a team of experienced headhunters dedicated to giving you the highest-value services possible. Our team delivers results in a short period, all without compromising the quality of the search.
In addition, Keller recruiters work as an extension of the company during the search process. This means we guarantee that we are working in the best interests of our clients and partner organizations.
At Keller, we have the highest regard for confidentially and professionalism. We are committed to performing executive search and placement without compromising the safety of all parties involved. At no point before, during, or after the search will we reveal sensitive information about the candidates, client, and company. Instead, we protect user data by adhering to a strict standard of conduct and making use of responsible and ethical practices in our searches.
Keller is committed to connecting clients with outstanding talent with the skills needed to lead the business to new growth. However, we understand that even the best plans can fail. Similarly, we acknowledge that even our tailored approach may sometimes have its limitations. For this reason, we guarantee to perform another search for a more suitable replacement at no extra cost to the client, should the selected candidate fail to meet expectations within their first 90 days with the company.
We pride ourselves on our excellent support services. Each member of our passionate team is dedicated to keeping contact with our clientele constructive and respectful, so that we may use the feedback to make positive changes and improvements in our firm.
Contact us today and find out more about how we can contribute to your business’ success.
“Working with Keller was a great experience. Their team helped us find a candidate who is already reshaping our learning and bringing bold ideas to the university. We’re lucky to have her. Thanks, Keller!”
- Jennifer T., University President
“We are very impressed with how well Keller’s team was able to match candidates to what we needed. The director we chose feels like he’s always been a part of our team, and he is doing great things for our community engagement. Keller just gets it right.”
- Thomas K., Research Director
“We’ve worked with other recruitment agencies before, but Keller has hands-down been the best in the business so far. The team is very proficient and was able to help us find great people. Will definitely be returning next time we need leaders for our departments.”
- Emily P., Dean
Because every search agency is different, specializing in different areas and employing different teams, it’s impossible to estimate an accurate average cost for engaging an executive search agency and its services.
However, the fee typically ranges between the equivalent of 15% to 35% of the successful placement’s first annual salary. Reach out to Keller to learn more about our pricing.
Executive search researchers lay the foundation for a successful search process by utilizing their in-depth knowledge of the client’s company, their expertise, and their extensive experience. They also determine the search strategy, identify suitable and qualified candidates, and create shortlists for the firm’s client.
At Keller, our passionate team of headhunters and recruiters fulfill this role, ensuring that our clientele is matched with their ideal candidates.
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