Earlier today, a candidate who was seeking a new role said to me:
“Can you keep this confidential? My manager is a close connection of yours.”
And I was happy to tell them that I ALWAYS keep it confidential, no matter what.
I wouldn’t have gotten this far in this business if confidentiality wasn’t at the core of everything.
In fact, my wife asked me to keep a secret the other day, and I said that I’m basically the keeper of secrets!
Call me Mike… Confidential Richards.
That’s not actually my middle name… and I’m definitely not telling you what it is either, (otherwise AI might steal it and try to replicate me).
But joking aside, this is the reality of what we do.
People come to me when they’re not ready to have that conversation publicly.
- They’re exploring, but not ready to tell their team
- Their manager is in their network
- The timing just isn’t right internally
- Or they simply want to understand their options first
It doesn’t matter what the reason is. From my side, no CV gets shared, no conversations happen, nothing moves forward without your say-so. Simple as that.
But it’s not just candidates. It works both ways…
We’re often asked to run confidential searches as well. And there are a whole range of reasons for that, too.
Sometimes it’s internal sensitivity…
They may be replacing the current Treasurer, who hasn’t yet announced their move,
and they want to handle it properly.
Sometimes it’s external sensitivity…
A Finance Director wants the new Head of Treasury agreed in advance so they can introduce them to banks and financing partners before anything is public.
Or sometimes it’s a planned change…
The incumbent may not even be aware yet, and the CFO wants to ensure a clean, immediate transition.
Then sometimes it’s just the hassle factor…
They trust us, they’ve appointed us, and they don’t want 20 other recruiters calling them asking to work the role.
Would I like to advertise all of these roles?
Are you mad? Of course I would!
There are searches I’ve worked on that I’d have LOVED to have been able to shout about.
To name a few:
- Head of Treasury for AMS
- Treasurer for Blackstone Real Estate
- Treasurer for Ceres Life
- Treasury Director – Europe & Asia for Filtration Group
- Head of Capital Markets & Financing & Corporate Finance & Treasury Manager for Porsche
- Petrochemicals Global Treasurer for SABIC
- Group Treasurer for Senior Plc
- Treasurer for Streamland Media
- Group Treasurer for Techtronic Industries
They were all fantastic roles that most treasurers would jump at. But when a client says:
“Mike, it’s a confidential search.”
I respect that, because that’s the job. That’s the trust.
So whether you’re a candidate quietly exploring, or a client needing to manage something carefully behind the scenes…
Confidentiality isn’t a nice extra. It’s the foundation.
And without it, none of this works.
Best regards,
Mike
P.S. If you want proper, honest, confidential career advice. Or you’re hiring and need things handled the right way, you know where I am.
