Hand-picked interim talent.

No brief yet. An ex-BCG consultant on the bench needed his next engagement. Separately, an old client relationship needed checking in on: a newly-appointed COO for whom 325 had originally built out a strategy team years earlier, now into a new role at a healthcare business, with no confirmed open roles.

Rather than waiting for a formal mandate, 325 used the relationship to get ahead of it. A catch-up was arranged with the COO, partly to see how he was tracking in the new role, partly on the instinct that a newly-appointed leader often has needs before he has had time to scope them. Two CVs were brought along on spec: the ex-BCG consultant, and a second candidate with direct healthcare experience. The COO trusted that judgement enough to interview both, and hired both.

Two candidates placed from a single relationship-led conversation, with no formal brief in place. Both delivered above expectations and were extended beyond the original contract.

Post-transaction, a newly PE-backed business needed to stand up a transformation office, a PMO to run a portfolio of initiatives. The CTO was weighing an MBB or Big 4 consultancy to lead it.

325 pitched an alternative: a direct senior resource rather than a firm engagement. An ex-McKinsey, ex-Chief Transformation Officer who could run the PMO with more day-to-day control and influence than a firm engagement typically allows. The client went the direct-hire route, and 325 placed a second consultant to support the lead. When a further transformation resource was needed, the brief skewed toward MBB pedigree, but 325 put forward a specialist from a different strategy background, on the reasoning that the actual work was delivery rather than strategy on paper. They proved exactly right for the role.

A full transformation office stood up with direct hires rather than a consulting firm. Three placements made across one program.

An urgent three-month strategy role at a PE-backed business. The client needed someone senior enough to start almost immediately, with specific PE exit-deal experience. 325 broadcast the role across a network of 10,000+, locally and offshore, with a razor focus on the best available candidate.

Rather than restricting the search to local candidates for speed, 325 backed the offshore candidate’s experience directly with the client, and did additional diligence by cross-referencing mutual connections at a consulting firm where he had worked. First contact Monday, interview Wednesday, offer Thursday, on a plane from Mexico to Sydney and starting the following Monday. Remuneration was handled transparently throughout, including holding firm on the candidate’s ask at the top of the range.

Offer extended within four days of first contact. One of at least five placements 325 has made at this client. The candidate was hired for a twelve-week exit and retained for eighteen months post-acquisition.

Not a single brief, but a relationship told across years. A five-star bench candidate, placed by 325 five separate times: three into existing briefs, one role effectively created around her, and one introduction made with no placement fee attached, because the fit mattered more than the transaction.

Rather than treating each engagement as a fresh search, 325 maintained the relationship between placements, understanding her skillset, working style and what she needed from her next role well enough to bring her opportunities proactively rather than wait for her to apply. One of those was a three-day-a-week internal role, found specifically because she needed the balance of part-time hours with a young child at home. Not because a client had briefed for part-time, but because 325 knew what mattered to her at that point in her career.

Five placements across ten years, including one part-time role sourced around her personal circumstances rather than a client brief.

A new client, the CEO of a healthcare business who had previously hired through 325 for her direct team at a former company, needed a mid-level strategy manager to help her and the CFO build a new three-year strategic plan. Budget was tight, quoted at $1,200 per day.

Rather than searching within the stated budget alone, 325 identified a more senior candidate, normally commanding $1,600 to $1,800 per day, whose profile solved the brief differently. He had direct healthcare experience, sat on a non-profit board, and was genuinely purpose-driven rather than rate-driven. His seniority meant he needed minimal guidance and could deliver the same outcome in three to four days a week rather than five. A decade-long relationship made the creative structuring possible: a slight rate trade for a purpose-aligned engagement, rather than compromising on capability to hit the day rate.

A three-month engagement converted to a permanent role at an elevated level, delivered within budget through structure, not compromise.