One Search Reviews

4.3

74% would recommend to a friend

(29 total reviews)
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Dan MCCarthy

78% approve of CEO

90% positive business outlook

One Search has an employee rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, based on 29 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The One Search employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Human resources and staffing industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

29 reviews
2.0
17 Apr 2024

No Smoke without Fire

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

No Smoke without Fire One Search is an interesting company - has some brilliant Principals and Associates. Reading most of the reviews here it would appear that the CEO is truly exceptional. My own experience was that on the positive, he was extremely hard working and passionate. The base pay is generally very market fair.

Cons

One Search is plagued with very high staff turnover - in the last 18 months it has lost two COOs, four Partners and three Principals - and this is for a business which has roughly 30 employees. Across the board staff turnover is annually running at over 30% and in the first four months of 2024 it has already 'lost' 5 employees already. There are some significant downsides which people considering joining should look into - I strongly recommend that anyone thinking of joining talks to some of the ex employees to get a real sense of the company and the culture. Is there micromanagement? Are people trusted? Is it really an Exec Search firm or just a jazzed up recruitment consultant with significant market share in one niche? There is no smoke without fire and to have this degree of staff turnover has to mean there is a pretty major source of combustion within the business.

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One Search Response
2y
Whilst we are of course sorry that an ex-colleague would Marcus down to a 2* review, we have to accept that occasionally a disgruntled former employee will weaponize this anonymous forum. In this case, the review contains numerous factual inaccuracies and has been flagged to Glassdoor moderators for attention. A few facts in response: - SIX former One Search employees have rejoined the company in the last 5 years alone. We are proud of this record of 'boomerangs' and invite any prospective new joiner to talk to them about why they came back - NONE of One Search's revenue in 2021, 2022 or 2023 was from contingent "recruitment consultant" work. We are absolutely a retained search partner to our clients - some the world's most prominent investors who have very high standards indeed. - In Q1 2024, our average fee was GBP 100,000. Very happy for this to be audited by anyone interested. Does this sound like a "jazzed up recruitment consultant" to you? It is significantly higher than the career average fee of the gentleman who wrote the above review. - This very morning, a young woman resigned from the business the above author now works for, to join One Search. The timing of this review is no coincidence. - People are absolutely trusted at One Search. Highly skilled search consultants are given the opportunity to lead and build out their own business and have done so in style. That's why our Principals (average age 32) are some of the best known names in our segment of the industry and are earning tens of thousands of pounds more than their peers. - We agree with the above author that anyone thinking of joining us should talk to some of our ex-employees and we will be more than happy to put you in touch. - With 28 days holiday, healthcare, pension (401K), and hybrid working (3 days in office per week) we put the wellbeing of our people front and centre of our approach. Again, we are sorry that our former employee feels the way he does, but would urge people to do their own research rather than be guided by factually incorrect anonymous diatribes on the internet.
5.0
10 Jul 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I have been working at One Search for over 2 years as part of the Support Team. I have been very impressed with the company's culture and values, as well as the company’s flexible work arrangements. One of the things that I appreciate about the company is the non-hierarchical feel. Everyone is treated with respect, regardless of their position in the company. This creates a very collaborative and supportive team culture. The team are always willing to help each other out, and everyone is very approachable; I have met not just some good colleagues at the firm but also made some great friends. I also very much appreciate the new opportunities and trust given to me by the companies CEO, Dan McCarthy. Dan has been very supportive of me in my position at the firm and has always made me feel valued, trusted and empowered. He gives me the freedom to do my job the way I see fit and has always encouraged me to share my thoughts; he is always open to new ideas and is willing to experiment with new ways of doing things to improve efficiency. One of the things that I appreciate most about One Search is the company's flexible work arrangements, I work 100% remotely, this has been a huge perk for me and allows me to have a good work-life balance. Overall, I am very happy to be a part of the One Search team. I am confident that I will continue to learn and grow in the supportive and collaborative environment that it provides. I would highly recommend One Search to anyone looking for a rewarding career in recruitment.

Cons

As One Search is a boutique search firm, you often get involved in a wide array of tasks and may be pushed outside of your comfort zone. This was a real positive for me as it has allowed me to really expand my skillset, but this could be tricky for individuals that don’t have a growth mindset.

5.0
8 May 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Dan McCarthy taught me an unbelievable amount in the 3 years I spent with him before moving on to the shrek world, and I remain in contact with him to this day. I have gone on to run a BU with a major global firm but I still seek Dan’s advice and still sense that he cares for me. I saw some of the attacks against him on this website and wanted to come on to defend him - he is a sitting duck to some cowardly keyboard warriors who in my view are jealous of his success. Building a global brand (and reputation for excellence) from literally nothing is damn near impossible and Dan has done it. Our own Infrastructure focused colleagues admit that One Search has better brand awareness in the sector than any shrek firm does, and that is a remarkable feat. To build a business from nothing you have to be tough, and Dan is tough. This doesn’t always play well with people who struggle to maintain the pace, in what is a pretty unforgiving industry. Dan is in a results business and he gets results but admittedly some relationships have gone by the wayside over the years. But he is fundamentally a good person who has developed countless young people into highly skilled specialist recruiters at the top of their game. Several of his competitors would still be placing back office temps if Dan had not trained them and introduced them to the infrastructure sector, and I know that he rightly wears this as a badge of honor. His haters hide behind their keyboards and make barbed attacks on websites like this because they are jealous of his success and upset that it didn’t work out for them, but don’t let them put you off - One Search is a fantastic firm and I will always be grateful for the time I spent there. Ps - this point that keeps being weaponized around Dan being a “conspiracy theorist”. This is total nonsense. His close friend and colleague (fit, healthy 42 year old) dies of a heart attack in 2021. A few days prior, he had received his 2nd Covid jab. For pointing this out and asking for it to be looked into, Dan was labeled a conspiracy theorist by some. He was also briefly banned from LinkedIn in 2020 for suggesting that the virus may have come from the Wuhan lab but I don’t think too many people still regard that as a conspiracy theory any longer. This is just a lazy slur being used against Dan, but rather than let it get him down he laughs it off - typical Dan - I hear that his slack avatar is Donald Trump in a tin foil hat …

Cons

Whilst the pay is very good (at least 20% above market), the standards are high and fools will not be suffered gladly. This is not a place for lazy people to go and rest, it is a place for people who want to build something. That said, for those who are committed and bring energy and passion to the job, they will be well looked after. The team is truly diverse, they have something like 30 days vacation pa, after 5 years service people get sent on luxury holidays and they are constantly it seems (from what I see on LinkedIn) being flown around the world for whole-team functions.

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Glassdoor has 29 One Search reviews submitted anonymously by One Search employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if One Search is right for you.