
SEARCH FAQ'S

Heads of School Seeking Leadership/Staff
We are transformation-driven, not volume-driven. We carefully and purposefully select a limited number of Head of School searches each year. Our willingness to take on fewer searches allows all 5 FSG partners to devote extra time & effort to conduct a thorough & timely search for a transformational leader.
We measure our success by “How well our placements succeed”, not “How many placements we’ve made.” Our success with placing Heads of School is best articulated by our previous Trustees and Search Committee members whom we've assisted. Please contact us, and we'll gladly provide you with a list of prior Trustee clients who can provide referrals.
Our smaller size works to your advantage. Unlike some larger search firms, we dedicate all 5 Finney Search Group partners to your search, which is why we carefully limit the number of searches we take on at one time.
Most search firms claim to have large networks. The Finney Search Group is no exception. However, it’s not the size of our network, but the quality of our network that sets us apart from other search firms. Our national network is comprised of “1%’ers” i.e. respected leaders who are priceless credits to their school communities. Many are so passionate about their work that they rarely take the time to look for other opportunities. We specialize in proactively reaching out to these leaders to tell your School’s story.
We do not subcontract the search management to junior staff members or to former Heads of School now working as independent consultants. We never outsource the search management process to consultants outside of our firm. We will, when appropriate, bring a consultant into the process as a team member. In all cases, our client schools get all 5 Finney Search Group partners working on their behalf. We call this our Total Team Approach.
Our team partners bring a wide range of diverse backgrounds & experience to the search process. Our backgrounds in independent school education, professional & youth sports, entrepreneurship, as well as corporate finance and even manufacturing enable us to view the hiring process and the critical "Candidate-School fit" from unique vantage points and perspectives.
Our retention rate for placing Heads of School is 100%. Our overall retention rate is 95% for all other positions. We have placed hundreds of candidates since our inception and consider these rates Best-in-Class. We define Retention Rate as remaining at the School where placed, for at least 5 years. These extraordinary results speak to our ability to listen and understand each of our client schools’ unique requirements, and match those needs with exceptional leaders of great character.
Each member of our firm has undergone thorough and comprehensive training to mitigate the impact of implicit bias in the hiring process.
As our success in delivering diverse candidate pools has grown, our national network of diverse candidates has likewise expanded.
As part of the services offered for our Head of School searches, we offer 3rd-party training to our client schools' Search Committees on Implicit Bias in the Hiring Process.
Our Total Team Approach insures we always have multiple Finney Search Group partners assessing and vetting our candidates, in order to have more than one "set of eyes" at every stage of the process.
We go to great lengths to understand the skills and qualifications required for the position. We focus intensely on assessing candidates against those factors, while also considering diversity markers that are important to our client schools.
Rather than assessing a candidate's "cultural fit" to a school, we concentrate on whether a candidate is a "culture add" to the school, and how that person's values align with the school's values.
We are committed to ongoing training, reflection and discussion of the role of bias in the process of hiring.
For more information on our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging and our actual results in placing diverse candidates, please visit our website at: https://www.thefinneysearchgroup.com/diversity-and-inclusion
We offer a range of services and assistance to Head of School Search Committees, some of which include:
Creation of a detailed timeline for the process
Support and guidance for the creation of a Job Position Statement
Support and guidance for the creation of a Head of School Search website page
Support and guidance for the creation and execution of a stakeholder survey
Optional training for Implicit Bias in the Hiring Process
Onboarding and transition support for the incoming Head of School
A typical Head of School Search might last 12 – 18 months from announcement of the search to the selection of the new Head of School. However, The Finney Search Group has developed a successful accelerated process whereby the process is condensed to 6 – 8 months. For more information on how we’ve accomplished this in several of our most recent Head of School searches, please contact Sherm Bristow or Bo Dixon.
Our firm serves client schools from across the entire U.S. Our focus is exclusively on the national independent school market. Of the hundreds of candidates we’ve placed in our 12+ year history, approximately one third of our placements are for Heads of School or Division Heads of School, more than one fourth are for Athletic Directors, and over 40% are for teacher-coaches, administrators or leadership staff.
Unlike other search firms, this is the sole market space in which we operate. Some search firms focus more attention on higher
education markets, or even industrial/commercial markets.
Our market scope as “an inch wide, and a mile deep.”
Heads of School Seeking Leadership/Staff
We are transformation-driven, not volume-driven. Our willingness to take on fewer searches allows all 5 FSG partners to spend extra time & effort to conduct a thorough & timely search for a transformational leader. We emphasize “How well our placements succeed”, not “How many placements we’ve made.”
Our team partners bring a wide range of diverse backgrounds & experience to the search process. Our backgrounds in independent school education, professional & youth sports, entrepreneurship, as well as corporate finance and even manufacturing enable us to view the hiring process and the critical "Candidate-School fit" from unique vantage points and perspectives.
Most search firms claim to have large networks. The Finney Search Group is no exception. However, it’s not the size of our network, but the quality of our network that sets us apart from other search firms. Our national network is comprised of “1%’ers” i.e. respected leaders who are priceless credits to their school communities. Many are so passionate about their work that they rarely take the time to look for other opportunities. We specialize in proactively reaching out to these leaders to tell your School’s story.
The Finney Search Group is rooted in the Teacher-Coach Model. Our firm exists to uphold what we know to be an invaluable aspect of the independent school experience. Superior teacher-coach/mentors often form the single most important influence on a young person’s life in the formative years, aside from their parents.
The Finney Search Group enjoys a unique specialty in athletics. Over 25% of our retained searches have been for Athletic Directors, and since 2018 we've successfully performed more than 40 national searches for Athletic Directors.
Our firm is named after Reddy Finney, Head of School at Gilman School from 1960-1990. Mr. Finney was one of the first leaders in independent schools to not only admit and enroll students of color, but also hire faculty of color. He integrated Gilman School during challenging times and despite slow-moving Trustee Boards. Mr. Finney's pioneering spirit and courageous leadership permeates our culture at The Finney Search Group. As our success in delivering diverse candidate pools has grown, our national network of diverse candidates has likewise expanded. Please go to our DEI web page for further information on our results with placing diverse candidates with our client schools.
We do not subcontract the search management to junior staff members or to former Heads of School now working as independent consultants. We never outsource the search management process to consultants outside of our firm. In all cases, our client schools get all 5 Finney Search Group partners working on your behalf. We call this our Total Team Approach.
Our overall retention rate of 95% (100% for Head of School searches) for the hundreds of candidates we've placed since our inception is Best-in-Class. We define Retention Rate as remaining at the School where placed, for at least 5 years. These extraordinary results speak to our ability to listen and understand each of our client schools’ unique requirements, and match those needs with exceptional leaders of great character.
Our mission is to discover and place authentic, transformative leaders into independent school communities, who inspire both their students and their colleagues.
Candidates Seeking Jobs
An effective search firm helps place you in front of the individuals who make hiring decisions. In many independent schools the HR department serves as the "gatekeeper" by pre-screening the many resumes and applicants who contact the school directly. However the person making the hiring decision is often the Head of School or Assistant Head of School. Our team serves as your strongest advocate to the key decision-makers, helping you bypass the “gatekeeper” and paving the way for a successful match.
Always contact us first. We can provide you with job posting websites to review. At the same time our team is also in constant contact with our client schools, searching for the right fit for you. We contact you when an opportunity arises. If you find a potential opportunity through your own search, contact us before contacting the school directly. We will serve as your strongest advocate, helping you bypass the “gatekeeper” and paving the way for a successful match. Contacting us first will maximize your chance of success. We cannot advocate for you as strongly when you send your resume to the school.
We are a small firm of 5 partners who want to get to know everything about our candidates. Each person on our team is available to talk by phone, text, Zoom, or when possible, in person with our candidates. Our contact information is on the “Our Team” web page of our website. Please do not hesitate to contact us. We love the interaction.