Likely to be an SME with an interesting output, whether that's a product or service. Or a similarly sized business unit that operates independently.

You'll probably be a marmite company. Some people will hate working for you for the same reasons others relish the challenge. That's why recruiting the right person is so important - compelling CVs are one thing, but it's damaging to hire the wrong people.

You might be a wonderful employer with an exceptional brand, but unless you're struggling with difficult vacancies, why would you need me?

You'll be big enough to have some structure in place, while small or agile enough that your key hires can own their roles, come armed with fresh ideas that challenge the status quo, and make an individual contribution.

Rather than be a cog in a slick machine.

Likely to be apolitical and definitely not in the rat race.

You probably don't have everything right and you get frustrated by "yes" people.

What you need is the expertise that challenges you in the right way, covers off your blind spots, sets the roadmap to where you want to go, then delivers as agreed.

Transactional recruitment, with promises-promises, doesn't cut it for your critical vacancies.

You have a unique context that can be hard to explain to outsiders, and peeling back the layers of your onion, getting to the heart of your DNA, is the only way to give you the service you need. That means probing questions and open answers.

It's nice if you're friendly, but you can be as difficult, challenging or demanding as you like as long as you are honest, give us the tools we need to do our job and recognise that a reciprocal relationship is the best way to reach our common goals.

You need a partnership, not a commodity servant.

You value process and clarity, over slick pitches and hyperbole, with open, clear answers to your own probing questions.

It goes without saying that you pay fairly, are decent to your staff and behave with integrity behind closed doors.

That's not too much to ask, is it?