When industry pioneer Hank Higdon, vice chairman of RSR Partners, and Russell S. Reynolds Jr., started in the executive search business in the 1960s, “it was unprofessional,” Higdon said in an Institutional Investor story about top recruiters. “Anybody could do it because it was an easy business to enter. No capital requirements, no certification, no graduate degrees, no licensing, no regulation. With a nickel and a phone booth, you could get into the business, and that’s how some people did."