AESC Member Login
Benefits of Membership
Identification with the Highest Professional Standards
As the worldwide professional association for the Retained Executive Search Industry, the AESC exists to promote the highest standards of professionalism in retained executive search consulting. By joining the AESC you demonstrate to your clients that you subscribe to the profession's Code of Ethics and Professional Practice Guidelines, considered cornerstones of best practice in executive search. We encourage members to showcase their AESC membership by using the AESC logo and links on their websites, as a "seal of approval" for their clients.
Recognition and Visibility with other Top Quality Executive Search Firms
By joining the AESC, you associate your firm with the best executive search firms in the world. Your firm, with its designated industry specialists and other key details, will be included in SearchConnect, the AESC Online Directory used by clients to locate retained search firms and principals by specialty. AESC pursues an aggressive PR and direct marketing campaign targeted to hiring organizations, to raise awareness of the Association and its support of best search practice.
Voice of the Industry
AESC is the face of the retained executive search industry to the outside world.
We regularly survey AESC member firms, hiring organizations and senior executives to generate trend information that is then shared with those groups as well as the press.
We publish a quarterly report on financial and type of search activity trends in the global retained search industry, collected from a consistent sample of AESC member firms and representing the activity of over 1,200 retained search consultants around the world. This report is made available exclusively to our member firms.
We publish the Client's Bill of Rights and are significantly involved in promoting to clients the value of quality retained executive search, as practiced by AESC members. Increasingly, recruiting managers are making membership a top criterion for granting search assignments.
Stay on Top of Government Affairs
The AESC Government Relations Committee and legal counsel keep members abreast of important legal and legislative issues that directly impact executive search. In 1997 AESC accomplished moving the SIC code for executive search into the category of "management consulting." AESC has influenced court cases in Germany and is lobbying the EU on data privacy regulations.
A Valuable Research Tool: BlueSteps
As a member you will have free and exclusive access to a large global database of senior executives at www.bluesteps.com/member. This online resource managed by the Association is a free research tool for our members and is actively marketed to executives worldwide. BlueSteps is also ideal for managing your unsolicited resumes without incurring the time or administrative costs of maintaining the data in-house.
An Online Forum: The AESC Researchers' Forum
This is a confidential discussion forum that enables researchers and associates to reach out to hundreds of AESC peers at retained executive search firms around the world. Conducted bi-weekly via email, using a question and answer format, the Researchers' Forum allows members to share knowledge and experience, research tools and valuable tricks of the trade.
Education and Training: AESC Campus
AESC Campus offers a range of training courses, forums and programs to our member firms. This resource base provides training on key parts of the executive search process for researchers, associates and consultants and is led by the AESC Researcher/Associate Certification. This certificate encompasses a focused training regime that allows researchers and associates to gain industry accreditation and recognition of their skills.
Alongside Certification, members may choose to tailor AESC courses to meet the needs of their individual firms and a range of bespoke programs and products are available upon request. Single forums, online courses and discussion groups are available throughout the year.
Meetings and Conferences in North America and Europe
Members can stay abreast of industry trends, technological advancements and "best practices." Acclaimed speakers, work groups and panel discussions cover topics of critical importance. The Small Firms Forum and its accompanying newsletter allow firms with fewer than 18 consultants to convene for discussion on issues of particular interest to that group. The Researchers Summit focuses on topics such as knowledge management, state of the art research tools, and best practices.
Member Services
Special discounts are available to you as an AESC member, such as online services, research tools and purchasing of supplies.