Sometimes the best search begins before there is a mandate. Market mapping is what you do when you want to know the field before you hire — who is where, who is moving, what the alternate paths look like.
Clients use market mapping in different ways: before a search to scope the landscape and calibrate the shortlist, alongside a strategic decision to understand who is available, as standalone competitive intelligence, or as an input to compensation and promotion decisions.
A mapping engagement covers what a search does not: a structured view of who is in the relevant roles across competitors and adjacent sectors, what they earn, how long they have been there, what they have done, and whether they are mobile. The deliverable is a thinking partner, not a directory.
Our approach combines desk research, interviews, and our own knowledge of the market built over decades. The interviews are the difference — they convert names on a page into a real picture of who is doing what well, and who only looks like they are.
Mapping done well saves time and money on the search that follows. The mandates that come out of a mapping engagement are typically shorter, better-calibrated, and produce stronger shortlists. They are also more likely to result in the right hire.
Market mapping is most useful as a thinking partner, not a directory. The value is in the conversations the data triggers, not the data alone. We structure mapping engagements around a working dialogue, not a one-time report.
We treat mapping engagements with the same confidentiality as searches. The fact that a client is mapping a market is itself information, and we are careful about how the work is conducted.
Most mapping engagements end up shaping a search that follows. The continuity matters — the team that mapped the market is the team that knows where the candidates are.
Every enquiry is handled in confidence. Tell us about the role or the question, and we will tell you honestly whether it is one we can do justice to.
Start an enquiry →