Last updated: May 7th, 2024
Even if you’re undeniably good at what you do, you’ll need to dedicate time and effort to your executive job search if you want to compete for the most challenging and rewarding senior roles.
Waiting around to be tapped on the shoulder isn’t strategic or likely to be successful.
And blindly reaching out about executive roles without a plan of attack can make you appear out of your depth. Here are six essential tips for getting snapped up for executive positions.
(Related: Hire A Top-Rated Executive Resume Writer).
1. Research And Target Your Ideal C-Level Job.
Keeping your career on the right trajectory requires being proactive about attracting job opportunities that align with what you want.
To target your best-fit executive role:
- Get clarity about exactly what type of role you want next.
- Prioritise a list of companies that you’re interested in working with.
- Identify decision-makers you want to connect with and impress.
- Consider the qualities and values these companies emphasise in leaders.
- Understand the company’s challenges and how you can help solve them.
You’ll need to spend some time doing online research via Google, LinkedIn, industry news and company websites.
Then, hatch a plan for bypassing traditional channels to become a sought-after asset known within the inner circles of your employer.
Do you have a former colleague who could introduce you? Is there a networking activity or professional body worth joining? Is there a company-led initiative you can support?
(Related: How To Negotiate An Executive Compensation Package).
2. Fortify Your Leadership Capabilities.
Keep in mind, in the executive job search there must be a mutual attraction. You may need to reassess your ability to appeal to your targeted companies, such as whether you:
- Have the desirable skills for the role or industry?
- Can demonstrate sufficient achievements at the right level of seniority?
- Know enough about the industry and its customers and markets?
- Have the right values to enhance the company’s culture?
Years of experience and technical expertise won’t always be enough.
Before you can move into your ideal executive role, you might need to up-skill, familiarise yourself with a new industry, or hit a few more home runs in your current role.
Did You Know? An analysis of executive job search descriptions over a 17-year period found that headhunters are increasingly looking for executives with social and ‘soft’ skills such as active listening, empathy, persuasiveness and clear communication.
3. Cultivate And Revisit Relationships.
It’s a fact of life that we’re more likely to listen to those we know and trust. If you know someone who knows someone, you’ve got an advantage when executive job opportunities arise.
Don’t be shy about reaching out to current and former colleagues, friends, and family members with whom you have a good rapport and asking for help or a referral.
If you don’t have a strong social network already, it’s time to flex your networking muscle through in-person and online events.
It’s smart to approach networking purposefully, but you’ll have more success if you’re genuinely motivated to develop lasting, meaningful connections.
Avoid these mistakes when it comes to networking:
- Talking about yourself too much. Ask questions and listen attentively.
- Not building on a connection. Ask for an introduction to others or a follow-up meeting.
- Taking with no giving. What can you bring to the relationship or how can you reciprocate?
Additionally, it pays to reach out directly to executive recruiters in your space.
Executive roles may be advertised on job board websites like Indeed, Monster and LinkedIn. But the juiciest high-level positions may be filled through a more targeted executive search process.
Executive recruiters should be just one prong in your plan.
They’re focused on the employer’s needs and best interests — not yours.
Don’t take it personally if they don’t put you forward for a role. Just keep showing up and be respectful so you stay on their radar.
4. Create A Distinctive Personal Brand.
Often, a company will bring on new executives to instigate a change in direction or revitalise a team’s energy and innovation levels.
For the most influential and lucrative executive jobs, proving you’re an ideal employee becomes less about conforming to a narrow set of criteria, and more about demonstrating your courage and individualism.
Expert Tip. You need to get noticed; to convey what makes you exceptional and different, rather than simply suitable for the job.
That’s where your personal brand comes in. You’ll need to:
- Define your unique selling point. What do you bring to the table that other executives don’t? Not sure what makes you unique? Ask people you know and trust for an unvarnished description of your strengths as a leader and as a person.
- Make your brand memorable. Cohesive messaging and repetition are key. Executives who get hired fast have put the time and effort into repeatedly articulating their point of difference across every facet of their profile, interactions and job application.
5. Perfect Your Executive Resume And Cover Letter.
Your executive resume and cover letter need to reflect your personal brand and ‘sell’ you effectively.
And you need to keep these documents up-to-date at all times, so you can quickly share them with any decision-maker or executive recruiter that takes an interest in hiring you.
An irrelevant, verbose resume can destroy a promising job opportunity—because the recruiter can’t easily gauge the enormous value you’ll bring to an organisation.
Expert Tip. Crafting a tailored, compelling resume takes in-depth knowledge of how hiring decision-makers think. Consider working with experts like Arielle Executive, who have extensive experience in helping executives express their unique selling point via resumes and cover letters.
Don’t overlook your cover letter or email introduction. It’s essential that your introductory statement:
- Is persuasive. Have you made a strong case for the recruiter to learn more?
- Reinforces your personal brand. Have you conveyed your passion or personality?
Did You Know? Research shows that while we make decisions based on a variety of information over time, we tend to give greater weight to our first impression. That means a great cover letter and resume can help bolster the strength of the rest of your application if you progress.
6. Become Easier To Find Online.
Searching Google and social media sites to find and screen candidates is one of the first steps many recruiters take.
LinkedIn reigns supreme as a tool for recruiters to identify candidates and dig deeper into your career impact.
To improve your LinkedIn profile:
- Add depth to your content. Polish your ‘about’ section in line with your personal brand and to highlight your current career objective. Include details under each work experience that prove the impact you’ve had—use storytelling and hard data.
- Include a headshot that is clear, well-lit, focused on your face, and makes you appear both professional and friendly. Ensure your appearance is tidy and your background isn’t distracting.
- Include keywords in your name and headline, ‘about’ section, and job titles. Use terms you’d expect to see in job descriptions and industry-specific language where relevant.
- Actively post and comment. Your recent activity is visible via your LinkedIn profile and hiring managers will be more impressed if it’s clear that you’re engaged, informed and interested in furthering discussions relevant to your role or industry.
Important! Inconsistencies cause confusion. Don’t create any room for doubt by ensuring the details of your job titles, dates and achievements match up across your resume, cover letter and online presence.
Senior executives are increasingly expected to be public figures—so recruiters may also evaluate your online presence for your suitability as a spokesperson.
You might want to set your non-professional profiles to private and make an effort to remove any online content that could negatively impact your reputation.
Job Search Myth #1: “There Are No Good Opportunities At My Company.”
Most people assume that the best opportunities exist beyond the walls of our current employer. This is almost never the case.
If your company is growing, its leadership will be looking for ways to fix operational issues that are inevitable during an upturn.
If your company is on a negative downcycle, the same leadership will be looking for ways to strip out costs.
And if it’s stuck in “business as usual”, the leadership will be looking for ways to stimulate growth and ward off competitors.
Look out for these opportunities. Network within. Identify issues and position yourself as the person who is willing to fix them. Make it clear that you’d like to take on cross-functional assignments. Speak to your boss about leading bigger projects.
The more you step outside the boundaries of your current role, the more opportunities will present themselves.
Job Search Myth #2: “All I Need Is A Great Resume.”
A top-notch resume can give you a tremendous advantage. Most resumes are terribly written, so submitting one that ticks all the right boxes will help recruiters see you in a different light.
That being said, it’s important to know that a resume is not a magic pill that will solve all of your job search issues.
Many candidates fail to recognise this; as a result, they send their resumes to 5-10 employers and wait for the phone to ring. When this effort fails to produce meaningful results, they conclude that “the job market isn’t good right now” and abandon their efforts.
To give yourself the best possible chance, think of your job search as a long game that involves warming up the right opportunities and “sealing the deal” when the time is right. Your resume is responsible for about 30-40% of this effort.
The rest depends on you being able to meet the right people and ignite their curiosity with the right story about yourself. It depends on you knowing your strengths, weaknesses and – importantly – reasons for your previous career choices.
You must be able to paint a congruent career narrative about who you are, where you’ve been (career-wise) and where you’re looking to head.
Job Search Myth #3: “I Don’t Need The Stress Right Now.”
Let’s face it – no one does. And it will never be the right time to “add the stress of job search” to your life.
Just like any worthwhile initiative – e.g., an exercise routine or a savings strategy, job search requires a short-term – often uncomfortable – investment in order to yield a long-term result.
You already have a busy life, so it’s perfectly normal to feel a sense of stress when you think about adding job search to your already full plate. Instead of waiting for that perfect opportune moment (that will never come,) I suggest you block off at least 5 hours per week in your diary, and allocate it to your job search.
I don’t have the time, I hear you say.
If you get really honest with yourself, you’ll realise that you’re spending a lot more than 5 hours per week on habits that are not serving you – flicking through Netflix, scrolling through social media, etc. The time is there. You just have to make a choice to use it well.
Final Thoughts On Your Executive Job Search.
The rules for an executive job search are different to those of other professional roles. Strong performance in previous roles can only get you so far.
To nail your executive job search, you must show initiative and position yourself as a rare talent that shouldn’t be ignored.
Irene
