Executive Search Testimonials from Clients Who Hired Through Perry-Martel

We’ve partnered with Perry-Martel International for the past several years and consistently been impressed by their ability to identify and attract top-tier talent. Their strategic approach and deep understanding of our needs and company culture have made them an invaluable asset to our growth.

David Perry is a world-class executive recruiter. He is a brilliant man, dedicated to his profession and to the success of his clients. He understands leadership and he is able to use this understanding to separate the wheat from the chaff.

One of the things that David does that other recruiters just don’t, is actually listens to your requirements as an employer – who you’re looking for, what the qualities and qualifications are. He tries to quantify and understand the ideal candidate. Most recruiters don’t do that. They take a bunch of notes, promise you they’ve got lots of people in their database that fit the description and then deluge you with resumes of candidates that don’t fit the bill.

David completely redefines what your expectations of a recruiter should be. He helped me assess the skills I needed, coordinated the hiring plan cross functionally and finally presented outstanding candidates that accelerated my plans and reduced my hiring needs from 7 down to 4. Those new candidates then helped me accomplish in 18 months what was scheduled to be done in 36. If you are looking for talent management for your organization – you should begin with David.

David breaks the mold. You tell him what you need, he assesses your business, then shows you the actual profile of the person you need to align with your objectives. If I simply wanted to find a warm body, I wouldn’t waste David’s time. He understands the process, the objectives, and that I’m paying him for his business acumen as well as for his dynamic skills. David had published many books. He is an incredible adviser and trusted business partner.

The thing that struck us the most, and the predominant reason why we chose David was that David listened, but he also gave us ideas… There was an interesting comfort feel. As it turned out, what we couldn’t do in nine months, David did in under three.

One of David’s most noticeable attributes is his passion around spending the time and effort needed to find the best people for the role and the best fit. He is very knowledgeable in the executive search field, always well prepared, and connects with his clients to understand the organization and the culture.

David Perry and Perry-Martel International have raised the bar on how executive search should be carried out – responsive, decisive and relentless in aiding CATA Alliance companies to make a quantum leap in building their leadership teams. For eight years he represented CATA on the boards of the Software Human Resources Council (ICTC) and the Canadian Technology Human Resource Board (CTHRB). David hired our Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing who has been with us now for more than 10 years, as has the Vice President of Research. He has hired executives for more than 50 CATA member companies across Canada.

Execution and commitment are absolutely essential to any strategy or initiative in an era too full of plans, process and procrastination. You may have a technology which gives you an edge, but your people determine whether you win. David gets that. He delivered only the best.

Our new CFO is working out wonderfully – he is everything we wanted and the fact that you were able to connect him to us so quickly was very much appreciated.

As a past client of Perry-Martel, I appreciated David’s superior, professional approach to sourcing senior executives in a complex/competitive hiring environment. David’s organization was the executive search firm that really worked to understand all facets of the recruitment project from a corporate needs, culture, candidate experience and total relevance perspective. He delivered on all fronts.

David has boundless energy and displays a commitment to projects that borders on obsession. He establishes a strong and almost uncanny understanding of the companies he works with and balances the empathetic (and frequently competitive) relationships that are crucial to the success of his projects. He is innovative and highly creative. But most importantly, David consistently displays a level of integrity far beyond the standard in his industry.

David Perry brings to the assignment an intensity that rarely comes across in recruiting, or frankly anywhere else.He took an extreme personal interest in the success of the search.

I can offer the reader my unequivocal recommendation of Perry-Martel International and of David personally. He delivered, delivered and over delivered in my opinion and remains even today a trustworthy advisor.

We have found PMI to be totally professional, discrete and above all else extremely tenacious. It is the commitment and never-give-up attitude that you bring to your profession that, I think, distinguishes your firm from the pack.

David always showed tremendous professionalism and poise in his ability to continue on what he knew was a tried and proven method that he knew would yield the right result.

Perry-Martel was determined, timely and innovative in their search efforts. Insightful, fun to work with, and ultimately successful – we always felt that Perry-Martel was in our corner producing results from the get-go! The quality of candidates was excellent, and we would not hesitate to use them again in the future.

He nailed it right on. I think what the biggest thing was, is because we had that conversation beforehand, he asked some hard questions, he had a real good idea as to what type of fit we were looking for, what type of person we needed. When he brought forward the candidates, like I said, there was no doubt that either one of the first four would have been a good fit.

If you fast forward, we roughly tripled the valuation of the business. The valuation was in the 20s of millions of dollars when I got there, and the business sold for about $70 million.  We did this in 14 months.

We have been so successful with his searches that David became the exclusive recruiter for Simware/NetManage. Before Simware’s acquisition by NetManage, Perry-Martel International filled all the key executive positions including the President, Chief Technology Officer, VP of Engineering, VP of Sales, VP of Business Development, VP of Professional Services and VP of Marketing.

My experience working with David Perry fundamentally disrupted my understanding of what talent guys mean to a company and what they could mean to me, professionally and personally. There are interviewers, there are guys who just want to place gigs, there are folks who force a fit to make a number. Dave isn’t anything of that. He’s a pro, and a damned good one. He changed my view of talent management and acquisition forever. He changed my view of what I could do with my career. Don’t believe me? Call him. Then call me to say thanks.

One of the unique aspects about David Perry of Perry Martel International’s approach is how the search life cycle is managed. The executive team is guided through a detailed evaluation of core organizational beliefs, business growth strategies and intended outcomes to create a job profile that clearly articulates the opportunity and provides the conditions for success. As a candidate in the process, David Perry required a detailed response to poignant questions that necessitated internal probing and clear communication of capabilities, personal beliefs and the root causes of failures and successes. It was a tough, insightful and invigorating experience and it was just the preparation phase. The interview framework was purposeful, intense and adaptive to the learnings in the process. I would recommend Perry Martel International as key part of an organizations search process as well as a trusted Advisor on how to ensure you succeed and differentiate with top talent.

Senior level searches are never easy but the effort and energy we invested in the search has been repaid in full. Thanks!

David is a innovative thinker who provides you value beyond your expectations. He is creative, smart and practical!

The essential behind the scenes look at the nuts and bolts to recruiting and hiring the next generation of leaders in the 21st century.  A must have for Corporate Talent Acquisition leaders, CHROs and anyone working with…or around them.”

Perry-Martel are a force to be reckoned with. David and Anita first recruited me out of the Justice Department with the Canadian Federal Government into Nortel. Years later David Easied my transition into Alcatel and then recruited me to start CATA’s Executive in Residence Program. Thorough, thoughtful and relentless best describe them AND honest. Their feedback is tough but always on the money.