Running the search

A search is a project that runs for months with no manager and no deadline. The administrative side of it is unglamorous and is the part that most often falls apart first — usually somewhere around week seven.

• Reference checks: what a former employer can actually say

  Reviewed by Marie-Ève Lacombe.

  23 Jun 2026

• Tracking a search that runs for months

  Reviewed by Wesley Boughton.

  28 Apr 2026

Reading a posting for whether it is real

• A posting reissued unchanged every few weeks for months is usually a pipeline exercise or a requisition that keeps getting frozen.
• A very long list of required qualifications with no indication of priority often means the role has been written by committee and has not been scoped.
• Where a competition is internal-first by policy or by collective agreement, an external posting may be an obligation rather than an invitation. It is fair to ask whether internal candidates are in process.