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Wilton-Based Firm Searches For The Right Stuff In Job Candidates

WILTON, Conn. -- Finding the right candidate for that hard-to-fill job is the specialty of a Wilton-based search firm.

Vision Search Partners is a Wilton-based search firm. Pictured from left are its four partners: Pio Imperati, William Bardini, Richard Champagne and Matthew McMahon.

Vision Search Partners is a Wilton-based search firm. Pictured from left are its four partners: Pio Imperati, William Bardini, Richard Champagne and Matthew McMahon.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern

William Bardini founded Vision Search Partners in 2000, with Matthew McMahon coming on board two years later. Pio Imperati joined in 2004 and Richard Champagne in 2014.

It started with specialties in finance and accounting, but Vision Search Partners has moved way beyond that, McMahon said. 

"Traditionally [we did] just finance and accounting, but we have broadened the practice over the last couple of years. We have done work in IT, and we have done work in HR," he said. 

"If we have a good client and they need help, we are more than happy to step outside the specialty. And so usually if it is outside of accounting and finance, it is usually the director-VP level position."

The firm focuses on the Connecticut and metro New York market but is looking to spread into Massachusetts, especially with Champagne's experience in that area.

Vision Search Partners gets called because it is able to find the right candidate when a company is having difficulty doing that, they said. 

"They are paying you because they can't do it themselves," McMahon said.

The firm sets itself apart through a number of factors, the partners said.

"Speed. Speed. We feel we can find the best people the quickest," said Imperati. "We spent a lot of time and money on leveraging technology to do that. We have created a system that has allowed us to get to the right people fast."

Technology has changed the industry dramatically, Bardini said, and they cull candidates from a variety of sources.

"That is probably our competitive advantage," he said.

"Technology, LinkedIn specifically, has put everyone out there," Bardini said. "When we got into this business, we literally went to restaurants and stuck our hands into fishbowls and pulled out business cards and hopefully got lucky with some names. We don't do that anymore because of technology. Technology has put everyone out there, which is a good thing and a bad thing."

They all agreed that technology is important but so is the personal approach combined with hard work. 

"Persistence is another driver of our longevity," said McMahon, a Wilton resident.

Bardini, Champagne and Imperati have financial backgrounds as a CPA, accountant and auditor, respectively. McMahon has been involved in the executive search field since the late 1990s.

The partners said the executive recruiting business is one that they enjoy.

"I think you can make a very good living at this business and still make all your of your kids Little League games and dance recitals."

The firm changed its name from Vision Financial Search to Vision Search Partners last year as it expanded its reach, said Bardni, an Easton resident. 

"By broadening our name it allows us to go after business we want to go after," he said.

The company also merged Jones Management, run by Frank Jones, into its practice. He is a senior adviser to the firm.

Imperati and Champagne live in Orange.

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