Pros
-You get a lot of autonomy in how you do the work, plus some of the partners have a good work/life balance due to the ability to work from home -The older client base (clients aged 40+) have generally dealt with/known about the firm for 10-15 years, so you get a huge amount of credibility -The IP is almost unrivalled - the number of senior individuals who have been placed is really quite high and other firms who've been competing for 5 years or less just can't compete -The database system has been upgraded to a cloud-based system that has increased speed and reliability and lowered down time -Diversity of work - both geographically (no real boundaries) as well as subject matter -Commission scheme is very good -Some very nice people who will not shaft you -Because the group is on very few PSLs (and usually on the exec search PSL), clients generally see the group as being a senior level specialist
Cons
-The group is not PSL-driven so you don't get the constant "flow" that some of the contingent mid & low-level agencies have -Difficult (but not impossible) to do international work without a presence on the ground, so could do with more overseas offices -Like all exec search work, you get a "boom and bust" cycle that's very difficult to break, but this is more an industry thing rather than a specific issue for HSG