Sklar & Associates

What Sklar & Associates does

Sklar & Associates is a U.S. national media recruiting firm founded in 1998 by Patricia Sklar and headquartered at 200 East Randolph, Suite 5100, Chicago, Illinois, with a secondary office in New York. The firm matches digital and traditional media professionals — across media planning, media buying, programmatic, analytics, and advertising sales — with ad agencies, media companies, and corporate clients. Its operating footprint is described as nationwide, with named placements across 17+ U.S. metropolitan markets including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco. The company is privately held, founder-owned, and certified as a Women's Business Enterprise by the WBENC.

The firm's core product is professional recruiting services delivered through a single unified engagement model: it works as a strategic partner with each client, personalizing searches end-to-end from pre-interview screening through post-hire follow-up. The principal underlying asset is a proprietary candidate database of approximately 30,000 media professionals — described internally as 'unmatched' — which the firm uses to match candidates to individual client briefs. The team consists of two named recruiters (Patricia Sklar, Founder & President; Aimee Michalsky, Recruitment Specialist, NY office, since 2015), both of whom have prior operating experience inside the advertising industry at firms including Discovery Networks, Foote Cone & Belding, Carat, MindShare, and Warwick Baker O'Neil.

Commercially, Sklar & Associates generates revenue through retained and contingency search fees on successful placements, with pricing not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is direct sales-led: the firm cultivates long-cycle client and candidate relationships and supports sourcing via a content-marketing blog, LinkedIn presence, and memberships in roughly a dozen regional industry associations (thinkLA, CIMA, AdCrafter Michigan, Media Buyers/Planners Network, etc.). The company has no disclosed funding events, no acquisitions, no app or API surface, and no AI/ML capabilities — the business is fundamentally a relationship- and database-driven professional services firm rather than a technology product.

Name

Sklar & Associates

Legal name

Sklar & Associates

Website

https://sklarsearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sklar & Associates is a U.S. national recruiting firm founded in 1998 that matches digital and traditional media professionals with ad agencies, media companies, and corporate clients using a proprietary 30,000-candidate database and direct search engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Recruiting Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Sales, Marketing & Customer Success Direct Hire (BPACAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

Keywords

• Media recruiting services
• Executive search
• Media talent acquisition
• Ad agency staffing
• Digital media recruiting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Recruiting Services: Sklar & Associates operates as a recruitment firm placing digital and traditional media professionals with ad agencies, media companies, and corporate clients. The firm earns revenue by successfully matching qualified candidates with client organizations seeking to fill positions in media, analytics, programmatic, and digital roles.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sklar & Associates is a nationwide recruiting firm that places digital and traditional media professionals with ad agencies, media companies, and corporate clients. Founded in 1998, the firm maintains a proprietary database of 30,000 media-industry professionals and operates a personalized, strategic-partnership search process spanning pre-interview screening through post-hire follow up.

Product overview

Sklar & Associates is a nationwide recruiting firm offering professional recruiting services for the media industry. Founded in 1998, the company operates as a single unified service offering—matching digital and traditional media professionals with ad agencies, media companies, and corporate clients. The company maintains a database of 30,000 media professionals and works as a strategic partner with both clients seeking talent and candidates seeking positions, providing personalized search services tailored to individual needs across both digital and traditional media domains.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Professional Recruiting Services End-to-end recruiting engagements that match highly qualified digital media professionals and traditional media professionals with ad agencies, media companies, and corporate clients across the United States. The service includes search, candidate screening, interview support, and post-hire follow-up.
• Candidate Database Access An internal proprietary database of 30,000 media professionals with experience across media, analytics, programmatic, and digital domains, used to identify ideal candidates for individual client searches. Access is bundled into the firm's recruiting engagements rather than sold separately.
• Client Strategic Partnership A collaborative search engagement model in which Sklar & Associates works as a strategic partner with each client, focusing efforts on placing high-quality media professionals who will help grow their business. The engagement spans pre-interview screening through post-hire follow up.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully placing candidates with ad agencies and media companies nationwide since 1998
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• AdCrafter (Michigan)minorOthersIndustry association membership in Michigan.
• Chicago Interactive Marketing Association (CIMA)minorOthersIndustry association membership in Chicago for interactive marketing professionals.
• Diversitybusiness.comminorOthersDiversity-focused business membership organization.
• DRTV ProfessionalsminorOthersDirect response TV professionals association membership.
• eMarketing Association NetworkminorOthersDigital marketing association network membership.
• HR Staffing and Recruiting ProfessionalsminorOthersHR and recruiting industry professional association.
• Interactive Media WorldwideminorOthersGlobal interactive media industry association.
• Media Advertising Club of ChicagominorOthersChicago-based media and advertising industry club membership.
• Media Buyers/Planners NetworkminorOthersMedia buying and planning professionals network.
• Online Advertising ProfessionalsminorOthersOnline advertising industry professionals organization.
• Phoenix Advertising ProfessionalsminorOthersPhoenix area advertising industry association.
• thinkLAminorOthersLos Angeles area advertising and media industry association.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with a dedicated marketing, sales, communications and media officers practice. Competes for senior-level agency and brand marketing leadership searches that Sklar also handles, at significantly larger scale.
• Korn Ferry: Global executive search and organizational consulting firm whose marketing officers and media practice overlap with Sklar at the senior end of the same candidate pool. Serves a similar client base at the C-suite and senior leadership level.
• Robert Half International: Large publicly-traded staffing firm with a dedicated marketing and creative practice. Competes with Sklar for the same agency and corporate marketing hiring budgets, but as one of many specialties in a much broader portfolio.

Emerging players

• The Sage Group: Specialist recruiter in media sales, ad tech and marketing technology roles. Highly relevant to Sklar's media professional focus, particularly for the programmatic/digital sub-vertical, but narrower in scope.

Direct peers

• GraceBlue Recruitment: UK-founded recruiter specializing in media, marketing and communications talent across agencies and brands. Closest direct peer to Sklar in vertical focus and boutique scale, with comparable UK/international reach that contrasts Sklar's US-only footprint.
• Artisan Talent: Staffing firm focused on creative, marketing, digital and communications talent, with offices in major US media markets. Comparable to Sklar in vertical specialization and permanent placement model, with a similar boutique character.
• 24 Seven Talent: Specialist staffing firm for creative, digital, marketing and media professionals, with both permanent and contract placement. Overlaps Sklar on the ad/media candidate pool and on agency/corporate client base, though it is larger and offers temp/freelance as well.
• MarketSearch: Executive search firm dedicated to media, advertising, marketing services and technology leadership. Closest peer to Sklar in pure vertical alignment (media/ad agency senior talent) and candidate seniority, serving the same enterprise client base.
• Creative Circle: Creative, marketing and digital talent agency placing contract, freelance and full-time professionals at agencies, brands and tech companies. Direct competitor for the same media/digital marketing candidates Sklar recruits, with broader service lines.

Others

• LinkedIn (Recruiter / Talent Solutions): Dominant professional network whose Recruiter product and Talent Insights increasingly let agencies source media candidates in-house. Not a direct recruiter but a structural competitor that commoditizes parts of Sklar's value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/patriciasklar

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sklar & Associates