After 25 Years of Executive Search: What the Algorithms Still Can’t Do
After 25 Years of Executive Search: What the Algorithms Still Can’t Do
By Paul Freed, Co-Founder, Herd Freed Hartz
I co-founded Herd Freed Hartz as a retained executive search firm in Seattle in July 2001. LinkedIn didn’t exist. Indeed was still three years away. The premier recruiting tool was Monster.com, and most sourcing happened through phone calls, referrals, industry lists, and a well-maintained Rolodex. Finding a great CFO or VP of Sales in the Pacific Northwest meant knowing the right people—or knowing someone who did.
Twenty-five years and more than 1,000 searches later, one truth stands out: the tools have changed almost everything—except the part that matters most.
The Wave I Watched Coming
I remember when LinkedIn first entered our conversations. Reactions ranged from excitement to anxiety. Finally—a searchable database of professionals. A way to reach people directly. A shortcut.
Access to names was never the hard part.
Platforms multiplied: LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, AI sourcing tools that scan thousands of profiles in seconds, and ATS systems that filter resumes before a human sees them. For volume hiring, the modern toolkit is genuinely impressive. Need 50 customer service reps? There’s a tool for that.
But a flawed assumption took root: that what works for volume hiring also works for executive search. That finding a great CFO is like finding a great call center rep.
It isn’t. And many organizations have learned this the hard way.
The Best Leaders Aren’t on Job Boards
The candidates who can truly transform a company are rarely looking. They’re running teams, closing deals, and building organizations. They aren’t refreshing LinkedIn on a Tuesday afternoon.
Reaching them requires relationships built over years—knowing who is quietly ready for a bigger challenge, who just experienced a leadership change above them, or who was passed over and might now take a call. It means picking up the phone for a real conversation, not firing off another templated InMail.
No algorithm has cracked this. None ever will.
When CEOs ask how to approach a critical leadership hire, I tell them: tools excel at surfacing profiles, but they fall short on assessing long-term culture fit, career trajectory, personal and professional motivations, and the grit required for success.
What 1000+ Searches Actually Teach You
The metrics I’m proudest of aren’t the flashy ones—though we’re honored by three consecutive years of Forbes recognition as a top executive search firm in the Northwest and CEOWORLD naming us the region’s leading executive search firm.
What matters most: We deliver a finalist candidate in an average of 37 days. And 95% of our placements remain in their roles two years later.
A fast hire that doesn’t stick isn’t a win—it’s expensive, disruptive, and demoralizing. Our retention rate reflects 25 years of mastering what no keyword search can measure: genuine culture fit.
Skills can be screened. Experience can be documented. But whether a leader will truly thrive with your team, in your culture? That demands human judgment honed through hundreds of organizations and dozens of industries.
Storytelling: The Part Technology Will Never Replace
Great recruiting is fundamentally a storytelling challenge.
The companies that consistently attract exceptional leaders aren’t those with the biggest budgets or most advanced tools. They’re the ones that tell a compelling, honest story: who they are, what they’re building, and why a strong performer should leave a comfortable role to join them. Top talent receives recruiter outreach weekly—they’re not scanning job boards—so you must stand out.
When I begin a search with a CEO, my first question is simple: “Tell me about your company.” Not the investor deck—the real story. Why are you winning? What’s genuinely challenging right now? Why would someone exceptional want to come here? People want to be part of something bigger—to feel like a hero in an epic journey with real purpose.
That honest story is worth more than any sourcing platform. Tools get you in front of the right person. The story makes them want to engage.
Twenty-Five Years In, Still Doing It the Hard Way
Herd Freed Hartz turns 25 on July 4, 2026—coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary.
We’ve outlasted firms that bet everything on technology solving the hardest parts of this work. We’ve watched platforms rise and fall. We’ve seen companies exhaust themselves with tool-driven hires, only to call us when they’re ready to do it right.
We use every modern tool available and have refined our processes to move faster than ever. But we’ve never confused speed with wisdom or efficiency with judgment.
Placing the right leader—for a specific organization, at a specific moment, within a specific culture—remains a deeply human endeavor. It demands experience, relationships, and the patience to get it right rather than simply get it done.
After 25 years, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Let’s Talk
If you’re facing a critical leadership hire in the Pacific Northwest or shaping your team for the next chapter, let’s connect. We’ve been doing this since before the algorithms existed—and we’re better at it than ever.
Paul Freed is co-founder of Herd Freed Hartz, the Pacific Northwest’s top-rated retained executive search firm. Since 2001, Herd Freed Hartz has completed 1,000+ nationwide searches for clients across Technology, Healthcare, Consumer/Retail, Manufacturing, Family Business, Private Equity, NonProfit and more.