The beginning of a new year might naturally prompt a period of self-reflection and a renewed desire to improve oneself.
The dreaded end-of-year review can often serve as a motivator for executives who believe they should be moving up in their careers or who believe they are not getting appropriately compensated for their efforts.
The fourth quarter of the year might provide the clarity and motivation needed to begin an executive job hunt for many professionals.
However, before you begin your search, make sure you have a strategic strategy in place to make the most of your time and effort, which are two of an executive’s most valuable assets.
To assist you in optimizing your executive job search strategy, we’ve compiled a list of our top 10 suggestions.
Table of contents
- How Do I Prepare for an Executive Job Search?
- How Long Does an Executive Job Search Take?
- What is the Best Executive Job Search Site?
- Top 10 Tips to Start Your 2023 Executive Job Search
- 1. Research the “Right Fit”
- 2. Define Your Personal Brand and Unique Value Proposition
- 3. Learn How to Articulate Your Key Success Stories
- 4. Carefully Curate Your Online Presence
- 5. Prepare to Ace Executive Job Interviews
- 6. Build and Maintain Your Professional Network
- 7. Market your Skills
- 8. Keep Up to Date with Industry and Functional Trends
- 9. Critically Assess Your Executive Job Search Efforts
- 10. Use Executive Recruiters Appropriately
How Do I Prepare for an Executive Job Search?
Leaving things to the last minute when it comes to managing your executive career rarely results in success.
The same can be stated about your hunt for an executive position. It’s critical to plan ahead of time before beginning your search.
This time will help you figure out exactly what you want in your next job and prepare the resources and materials you’ll need to express that to an executive search consultant or hiring manager.
First, you need to carry out a self-review. Conducting a self-evaluation at the start of your job hunt will help you establish these objectives and the type of career move that will help you achieve them.
Assessments are useful for this type of pre-job search research. Consider taking a personality test whether you’re looking for a new job or preparing for a career change.
These can assist you in gaining a better understanding of your personality and interests, as well as how they relate to your work style and career.
This information might be quite useful if you want to change job roles or sectors.
After you’ve completed your self-assessment, figure out what your distinguishing characteristics are and how they connect to your career aspirations.
To begin, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is there anything you’re known for that no one else can do?
- What distinguishes you from other CEOs in your sector and position?
- What accomplishments have you achieved in previous employment that set you apart?
Check Out: 15 Must-Read Before you Start Your First Job in 2023
How Long Does an Executive Job Search Take?
An executive job search can take a long time. As you advance in your career, there are fewer and fewer options that will be appealing as a next step.
In the meantime, the competition for each opportunity becomes increasingly fierce. It’s not unexpected that an executive job search can take a year from the executive’s perspective.
We asked retained executive search firms’ management and executive recruiters what advice they would give to executives going through the recruiting process.
Here’s what they had to say to us.
An executive search normally takes 90 days from the hiring organization’s perspective, though this can vary.
However, from the standpoint of an executive, the job search can take much longer.
Read Also: Ways To Find Speaking Opportunities In Your Career Field
What is the Best Executive Job Search Site?
When it comes to finding a new job, executive level candidates have a lot of possibilities.
Recruiters and headhunters frequently target them, and many executives have well-developed networks that can assist them in identifying profitable possibilities.
However, if those are your only job-search methods, you may miss out on a great opportunity if you don’t additionally use web tools.
We’ve put together a list of the best executive job search sites to assist you in finding your ideal executive position.
- CareerBuilder
- SimplyHired
- Hired.com
- Glassdoor
- Ladders
- Headhunter.com
- Indeed
- ExecuNet
- Lucas Group
Top 10 Tips to Start Your 2023 Executive Job Search
1. Research the “Right Fit”
Because executives have a variety of personalities and skills, it’s doubtful that you’ll be the “perfect fit” for every company you come across during your job search.
Through study, find companies you’d love working for and whose mission and company culture reflects your values and personal brand.
You may normally undertake this type of investigation by checking their website, Googling them, and speaking with former employees.
You should think about how this new role fits into your career ambitions as well as how you fit into the business culture.
While taking a recent work may be necessary sometimes, if you have the opportunity, look for roles that are strategic rather than convenient.
A career change can help you become more self-aware, allowing you to select a job that is an important element of a successful career.
2. Define Your Personal Brand and Unique Value Proposition
Your personal brand is a representation of the problems you tackle on a one-of-a-kind basis.
Your value proposition is based on the unique abilities and experiences you possess that enable you to tackle these issues more effectively than other CEOs.
You should share both of these things with executive search consultants, hiring managers, and others in your network.
This is communicated through your résumé and other career documents, LinkedIn and social media pages, interviews, and any other means of discussing your career.
You’ll be able to have a more productive job search and convey why a firm should hire you if you develop your personal brand and distinctive value proposition.
3. Learn How to Articulate Your Key Success Stories
After reviewing your bio or web profile, a search consultant or potential employer will request your resume, therefore it’s critical that you optimize these papers as soon as possible.
They are the foundation of any job search, so make sure they are up to date, consistent, and engaging.
Each one should follow executive career document conventions and be optimized to position you as the best candidate.
However, your success stories should not only be beautifully communicated throughout your professional records but they should also be prepared for you to share during interviews and networking opportunities.
Metrics and data, as well as accolades, can help verify your tales and provide scale to your professional successes, so taking the effort to learn how to present them effectively is recommended.
4. Carefully Curate Your Online Presence
Recruiters and companies are using the internet to find and vet possible executive candidates in today’s digital age, whether on Facebook, LinkedIn, or elsewhere online.
Is your online identity polished and in line with your personal brand image?
Consider what your internet profiles say about you and how you may improve them.
Authoring thought leadership pieces or sharing your professional insights with individuals in your sector and beyond are other ways to boost your exposure in the search community using online platforms.
A poorly crafted internet profile can be just as destructive as a plain, blank, or boring one.
Truly, the great majority of executive recruiters and employers rely on online information to locate and evaluate candidates.
As a result, persons with a little or non-existent internet presence are frequently disregarded in favor of those with a large, diverse online presence.
Hence, having a clean online persona is no longer a choice, but rather an expected one.
5. Prepare to Ace Executive Job Interviews
Executive interviews, as one might assume, are full of difficult questions that put potential candidates to the test, putting their ability to operate under pressure to the test.
Executives are frequently confronted with hard questions, especially those relating to professional failure.
Be open and honest, but make sure you can show you can learn from your mistakes and improve your decision-making abilities.
They may also question you about the reasons for quitting your previous job. Again, it’s critical to be honest while remaining professional.
To increase your chances of success, research and prepare a list of likely executive interview questions and practice your responses.
6. Build and Maintain Your Professional Network
Executives who wait until a time of unrest to network are more likely to fail.
You should develop professional networks throughout your career to guarantee that you can rely on them in uncertain times.
It’s a valuable safety net that’s well worth your attention.
Make sure your interactions are mutually beneficial and that you give to the “favor bank” regularly to build the most powerful network.
Executive recruiters should be a part of your professional network as well. Even if you are not interested in the position, you can build a long-term professional connection with recruiters by making helpful candidate suggestions or explaining why the opportunity might not be suited for you when they contact you.
You can also stay active with networking by volunteering. This is a fantastic opportunity to network, meet new people, and improve your résumé.
It also gives you an answer to the question, “What have you been up to since leaving XYZ Company?” It keeps you fascinated and relevant.
7. Market your Skills
It’s good to have a lead in a position that hasn’t yet matured. By marketing your skills, you can stand out effectively.
Frequently, hiring managers and firms require help in defining a function. You know what questions to ask a hiring manager because of your knowledge in your sector, and you may assist with this process by making suggestions.
Tell them what you’ve discovered that works, what doesn’t work, and why at your meeting with the decision-maker.
You’ll be helping the company, ingratiating yourself with your contact, and possibly being able to tailor the role to your abilities if you do it this way.
This could be a way to land a job without having to go through an interview!
8. Keep Up to Date with Industry and Functional Trends
The executive job market is a fast-paced environment, therefore staying current on important trends in your industry or role is essential.
You can join BlueSteps for a unique webinar where renowned search consultants share their insights and answer your questions via a live Q&A to help you keep ahead of trends and use them in your executive job hunt.
9. Critically Assess Your Executive Job Search Efforts
Give yourself time-bound goals throughout your job hunt to ensure you don’t succumb to job-seeker drift.
Examine your resume, interview strategy, and potential problems. Also, examine the results of each of your strategies to make sure you’re spending your time properly and focusing your efforts appropriately.
Setting realistic goals will help you stay on track and motivated during your transition phase.
Ask yourself the following questions at frequent intervals to diagnose probable problems or roadblocks that are keeping you from securing offers.
- How’s it going with my job search?
- What isn’t working and has to be changed?
- Is it true that I’m getting responses to my resume?
- Is it possible that I’ve made it to the last round but have received no offers?
If you have a trusted colleague or mentor, you should also seek their advice on these issues.
10. Use Executive Recruiters Appropriately
Whether you are employed or between jobs, you will quickly discover that retained executive recruiters are less likely than contingency recruiters to meet with you.
This is due to the fact that their business models are distinct.
For their customers, retained executive recruiters are focused on locating persons with extremely precise qualifications.
The executive recruiter has no need to meet with you right now if your qualifications aren’t a match for a current position.
What options do you have?
Send your résumé and a brief note describing your job quest to the retained executive search recruiter, and ask to be added to their general database.
If there is an active search for which you would be a good fit, they will contact you. Email the executive recruiter once a month or every six weeks to keep them up to date on your search, any contract engagements you take, and any other candidates you meet.
You will also be remembered if you refer other prospects to executive recruiters.
Final Thought
You’re a business executive who’s in the middle of a project.
So, where do you look for your next job when organizations rarely list or advertise new C-suite and vice president positions? Here are ten executive job search tips to help you get through the process.
References
- bluesteps.com – Top 7 Tips to Start Your 2018 Executive Job Search
- bakertilly.com – 10 job search tips for executives in transition
- bluesteps.com – Executive Job Search Preparation and Strategy
- talentis.global – Executive recruiters offer executive job search advice for the C-Suite!
- zipjob.com – 10 Best Executive Job Search Sites (2023)
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