At Horizon Executive Search, the relationships we build with candidates are extremely important to us. Unfortunately, recruitment fraud and the impersonation of legitimate executive search consultants are becoming increasingly common.
The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) has highlighted a rise in fraudulent approaches, including individuals posing as executive search consultants, creating false or misleading LinkedIn profiles and contacting potential candidates from personal email accounts.
If you are contacted by someone claiming to represent Horizon Executive Search, we want you to feel confident that the approach is genuine.
How to recognise a genuine Horizon approach
All members of the Horizon team can be identified through our website and LinkedIn profiles.
Our business email communications will come from an official Horizon Executive Search email address. We will not conduct a search assignment using Gmail, Hotmail, iCloud or another personal email account.
Horizon will never ask a candidate to pay a fee in connection with an opportunity. We will also never ask you to provide banking details, make a payment or purchase equipment as part of our recruitment process.
As an executive search business, we may occasionally contact you about a confidential opportunity where we are unable to disclose our client’s identity during the initial conversation. However, we will always be open about who we are and provide sufficient information for you to verify that you are dealing with a genuine member of the Horizon team.
If you are unsure
If you receive an approach claiming to be from Horizon and something doesn’t feel right, please don’t hesitate to check with us.
Rather than responding to the original message or using the contact details it provides, contact Horizon directly using the details published on our website. We will be very happy to confirm whether the person contacting you is a member of our team and whether the approach is genuine.
The AESC recommends that candidates “Check Before You Connect” – verifying the sender and the search firm before providing personal information.
We wholeheartedly support that advice. A genuine executive search consultant will understand why you want to verify who you are dealing with.
If in doubt, check. We will never be offended that you asked.