The federal government raised some eyebrows when it opted to outsource the executive search to replace CBC chief Robert Rabinovitch, who leaves his post Nov. 20.

The powerful role of CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO is a position traditionally associated with hardcore lobbying in the bilingual corridors of Parliament Hill. So the decision to outsource the replacement search is an exceptionally pertinent example of a powerful industry trend.

Increasingly, media organizations are using both recruiting firms ('headhunters') and executive search firms to find candidates for key management positions. Headhunters traditionally target desirable candidates, while search firms generally execute a call for candidates. Bigger companies offer both services.

Egon Zehnder International is a firm with global reach (and offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary) that has been engaged by the Crown Corporation for this strategic bilingual hire. EZI has been used repeatedly by the Ceeb over the years, but never before at the CEO level.

EZI partner Tom Long doesn't comment on his clients, however he says the general media market trend includes a growing demand for nontraditional hires.

"Generally there is a war for talent going on across sectors, and it is a very robust economy out there right now, so there's a lot of competition for top people," he says. "There's a lot of convergence in the media industry, so an ability to be quick to adapt and to identify emerging trends is pretty important."

Slawko Klymkiw, who served as CBC's executive director of network programming before leaving for his current position as executive director of the Canadian Film Centre, says that during his time with the CBC the use of search firms was cyclical. He agrees, however, that today the industry is increasingly turning to search firms to fill senior positions.

"I think we use search firms more now than ever," says Klymkiw. "There is a sense that kind of professional search is going to reap more benefits than one that you do internally. The hiring of people is taken quite seriously, the jobs are getting more sophisticated, there's more at stake and inevitably you want to invest at the front end."

It was Searchlight Recruitment that conducted the search that placed Klymkiw in his current position at the CFC. Toronto-based Searchlight has a focus on the media and entertainment sectors.

According to Searchlight managing partner Daniel Weinzweig, searching for nontraditional hires is an important part of the recruitment process because, "it's a small industry in this country, and if you only found people from within the existing talent pool, it would have its limitations in terms of bringing in strong managers."

Searchlight draws on talent not only from outside the core industry, but also outside of Canada, and, according to Weinzweig, has a knack for finding Canadian talent working abroad and bringing them back home.

While Weinzweig himself would not discuss his company's particular hires, Searchlight had a hand in placing Kirstine Layfield, who took over Klymkiw's position at CBC, as well as Fred Fuchs, Ceeb executive director of arts and entertainment.