Older than the market it serves
Founded in New York City in 1982. Forty-four years in one sector is something no firm can decide to have.
Why the firm
Why Rand Thompson Consultants.
What the firm holds to, and six reasons, each one a fact rather than a claim.
- Founded
- 1982
- Years
- 44
- City
- New York
What matters most
Careers before jobs.
In John F. Mazzei's words.
Organizations are operating in an era of unprecedented change. Artificial intelligence, automation, and evolving business models are reshaping how organizations compete and how careers develop. Change creates challenges and possibilities. My work helps people recognize both.
For more than four decades, I have helped organizations and professionals navigate dynamic markets, evolving industries, and pivotal career decisions. Career conversations expand possibilities by recognizing the transferability of current experience, and by discovering opportunities not previously considered.
Clients, candidates, and executive recruiting colleagues have trusted me to have career conversations with members of their families, including spouses, siblings, children, and even three generations of the same family.
Whether the conversation begins with a recruiting assignment, a networking introduction, or career advice, the objective is always the same: to create conversations of maximum possibilities.
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Careers before jobs.
We think about a person from a career viewpoint, not about whether they will fill a job.
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Relationships before transactions.
The firm has followed some of the people it works with since they were analysts. A search is one moment in that relationship.
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Mentorship before management.
A candidate does not need to find a good manager today. They can find a good mentor.
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Possibilities before positions.
A career conversation finds the opportunities a person had not considered, by recognizing what their experience transfers to.
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Long-term growth before the next move.
The next move is judged by where it leads, not by the title on it.
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Education before credentials.
What a person has learned, and keeps learning, over the letters after their name.
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Curiosity before certainty.
A smart candidate is good. A curious one is better.
The second call, before the search
The firm answers the question behind the brief: what the market pays, who is movable, whether the plan is realistic. Sometimes that closes the search before it starts.
One sector, one city
Financial services, almost entirely in New York City. The person who can tell you who is movable is the person who has been calling them for years.
The partner runs the search
John F. Mazzei takes the brief and runs the search. No pitch team that hands the work to someone junior once the engagement letter is signed.
The firm publishes what it knows
Every open search, the firm's notes on the market, and the forms it uses itself, each one a link to the thing itself.
Open roles, in the open
Live mandates published with title, sector, location and, where New York requires it, a good-faith range. The client stays confidential.
Since 1982
Forty-four years in one sector, in one city.
The firm has placed people in financial services in New York since 1982, from the analyst class to the managing director who builds the group.
Time in a market cannot be bought or hurried. It is why the firm can tell a client who is movable rather than who is available, and why the first call is usually about the market rather than about the firm.
How a search runs
The same five steps, on the same calendar.
Retained or contingent, every search runs this way. The calendar is agreed at the start and the client sees it before anyone is called.
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01
The brief, and the question behind it
What the seat is, what it reports to, and what would make the hire a success a year in. This is also where the firm says what the market pays and who is movable, which sometimes changes the brief and occasionally closes it.
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02
The map
Every person who could do the job, not every person who is looking. The firm works from its own network first, which is the reason it can name people rather than produce applicants.
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03
The approach
John makes the calls. A confidential approach to someone who is not looking is a different conversation from a posting, and it is the part of a search that cannot be delegated.
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04
The shortlist
A small number of people the firm would stand behind, with a written view on each: what they are strong at, where the risk sits, and what it would take to move them.
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05
The offer, and after it
Structuring the offer, managing the counter-offer, and staying in touch through the notice period. A search is not finished when the offer is signed; it is finished when the person is at the desk.
In public
What the firm publishes.
Open searches, notes on the market, and the forms the firm uses itself. Each one is a link to the thing itself.
Next
Start with the second call.
Before a brief, before an engagement letter.
jmazzei@randthompson.com
+1 (212) 758-6737
Get in touch
Email and telephone reach John F. Mazzei directly. The form reaches him and the firm’s team.