Posts Tagged ‘director jobs’

When Headhunters were Cannibals…

Monday, June 7th, 2010

It’s incredible how many highly talented executives I speak to each week that have little to no experience of searching for a job themselves.

Of course, historically jobs have landed on their laps having received calls daily from headhunters looking to lure them into their next role. All they needed to do was show up to the interviews.

These days, of course, the market paints a different picture and now executives looking for their next role typically don’t know where to start.

There are a multitude of ways to kick off the process however I’ve amalgamated some pointers that have proved extremely useful for our premium clients:

  • Strategy & Goals – identify your essential career goals and set out some structure to maintain your focus in what can be a long winded process.
  • Research – identify the key protagonists in your market, pick up the phone and find out about your market, there may be skillsets you have that are particularly in demand.
  • Differentiators – identify key unique selling points that set you aside from your competition
  • CV – it’s good practice to put your CV together yourself. By all means use CV consultancy services to fine tune it and get an informed opinion, but it is an essential exercise to help define your personal marketing strategy.
  • Cover letter – not many recruiters read the cover letter so make sure your overview is also covered at the beginning of your CV and tailored to the job.
  • Network – make sure you build your network with key, relevant and reputable contacts (good contacts will lead to good jobs)
  • Direct employers – make yourself even more attractive by approaching companies directly, limiting the cost of your hire whilst exhibiting a proactive approach.
  • Do not bulk email your CV, it’s tacky, desperate and untargeted.
  • Endorsements – only seek references/ endorsements from reputable contacts (if you can get clients even better)
  • Review and Innovate – make sure you review your approach to keep it fresh and reset your goals at regular intervals.
  • Open relationship – Make sure you show you’re in demand from other suitors and keep your options open, it’s more effective than playing hard to get.
  • Keep Active – And most importantly if you are unemployed whilst looking, make sure you get on some courses and mix up your week with additional activities and keep active. This will help you maintain your focus and sanity!

Have a productive week…

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Private sector must insulate against Civil Service freeze

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Last year, recruitment and expenditure in the public sector (albeit unaffordable) went a little way to limiting the effects of a harsh recession.

Now it’s essential that the private sector takes the reins to help the economy along and negate the effects of the cuts announced by George Osborne today, but there must also be moves from the government to help businesses create jobs and boost economic growth.

I’m not certain that Brendan Barber’s fears, warning against cuts, will transpire as positive signs are appearing (as covered in previous blogs) and one report from the CBI seems to confirm this (despite what the REC says). According to the report “A year ago nearly two-thirds of companies had a recruitment freeze in place. This fell to 37% six months ago and now stands at just 5%.”

For those looking for work in the public sector, what does the freeze mean for you?

Of course this is not good news for jobseekers working or looking to work in Central Government, however on closer inspection the government have allowed some room for manoeuvre:

There will be a civil service recruitment freeze across Government departments and agencies, with only limited exceptions for frontline and business critical staff, requiring the personal sign off of the relevant Secretary of State or Chief Executive.

In other words business critical appointments will be made and I’d imagine this would cover senior level appointments, there would have to be a good business case for an appointment or a replacement for an essential position, in which case it sounds like any recruitment could be a protracted process.

It may be an idea to look at your core transferrable skills and market them accordingly if these changes directly affect you. Of course not all areas of the public sector will be affected but it highlights the necessity to ensure you continually look at ways to stand out from other jobseekers and maintain your edge.

Have a productive week…

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Shifting goal posts require goal rethink

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

It’s amazing how many senior executives I speak to who haven’t set clear goals, not only for short term job searching purposes but also for their overall long term career strategy.

Now you may feel that your short term goal is an obvious one, to land a top executive job, but you need to set goals along the way otherwise this process can be unrelenting and aimless. It is particularly important to set goals regularly to quantify and evaluate success, especially in your job search.

This allows you to identify how you are going to achieve those goals,  it gives you direction and enables you to identify the need to adapt your strategy. Your goal doesn’t necessarily have to be accepting an offer, it can be key milestones along the way (such as your opportunity pipeline or network) or it can be the number offers from certain companies.

The key to maintaining a thriving executive jobsearch is to continue setting goals once others have been met and it is essential to rethink your goals when they aren’t met, to discover ways to improve the process.

The job market fluctuates rapidly, your competitors adapt and you need to shift your goal posts accordingly, particularly in the current market.

This holiday period is a great opportunity to give your job search a good Spring clean and set your strategy.

Have a great Easter!

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Ch..Ch..Ch..Change your executive career strategy

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

The National Strategic Skills Audit report was published last week and I was particularly interested in their findings on the “high priority skills needs for immediate action”

A paragraph of particular interest is:

“Corporate managers as a group, and a range of specific management skills have been identified in a number of key sectors. The sectors are likely to include retail, business services/ computing/ digital media organisations, financial and professional services, health and social care, education, public administration and hospitality. Management and leadership covers a multitude of different core activities and behavioural competences, and includes leadership, change management, people management, financial management, risk management, negotiation and procurement skills requirements which must be delivered exceptionally well to fully respond to and exploit future challenges and ensure High Performance Working. This therefore explains the red rating.”

The findings unsurprisingly but worryingly highlight a number of key shortages in leadership, management and technical skills. A number of conclusions can be made from a career strategy perspective, and most importantly this highlights opportunities I’ve covered in previous blogs.

This report covers not only current but also future anticipated skills shortages, the corporate landscape is ever changing from a behavioural and technological perspective and this throws up continual corporate challenges. If you are looking for direction, you need to be asking yourself the question “can I offer the solution?”

a) If the answer is YES, you need to make sure you are marketing these skillsets effectively, highlighting tangible achievements

b) If the answer is NO, you need to adapt/ change your career strategy and decide how to upskill to meet these demands

I don’t think there is as big a skills shortage as made out in the current market, it is mainly a future concern and the report highlights this as a high priority due to the amount of time needed to address it. I speak to executives every week who have not fully realised they have the skillsets and experience necessary to provide companies with solutions in this area, they are focused on what they did rather than how they did it.

This oversight could go some way to addressing this shortage – you don’t necessarily need a qualification or specific training in these areas to have you these skillsets (although this undoubtably helps) – experience is often the most important aspect but there clearly needs to be a mindset ‘change’ both from ar a corporate and executive level to go some way to solving the future need.

However I must stress I am always looking at reports such as this to highlight the trends, opportunities and threats from a jobseeker/ career strategy perspective – this particular report mirrors concerns for the overall economy, these shortages need to be addressed, as well as the shortages in education, technology and research which a service based economy such as ours depends on.

I hope you have a productive week…

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Cover me, I’m going in! Executive job search application…

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Having worked in recruitment since the ‘paper age’, I have always been one for formalities. My consultant and company details would be listed in the Grapevine rather than on the 100s of internet networking channels available today; jobs would be advertised in traditional media solely; research conducted through nurturing of contacts and applications would be received through the post.

Quaint eh? Those were the days… well not really, the internet has made marketing much easier, job advertising more targeted, professionals more transparent and communication (applications) instant. However all of these benefits have led to bad habits creeping in and traditions lost and you need to adapt to these changing working practices.

Senior executives brought up with these traditions can be forgiven for assuming that it is just the medium that has changed. For example it would be nice to think that taking the time to tailor a well drafted opening email (letter) would highlight your key experience for the job and give you the edge… alas I believe that the detail in covering letters will be missed 95% of the time, with the more traditional recruiters making up the 5% of those who will read it (with some demanding it).

The emphasis on your CV is now more important than ever. I hesitate to say that recruiters have become CV administrators, however CVs are the commodity and they drop into recruiters inboxes all too easily. Unless the recruiter is retained for a particular mandate, the huge amount of competition can drive a quantity rather than quality approach, pushing CVs around the ether at a rate of knots. There is no time to read an opening letter or email, they will go straight for the money shot.

It is now more important than ever that your CV communicates key tangibles more effectively. Your message still needs to be communicated the shift in emphasis now means it’s just a matter of where rather than whether you should include it.

The first page is the most important part of your CV, it’s your shop window display, and an opening profile with key skills and quantifiable achievements is often the best place to showcase the skills relevant to the mandate. The aim of the game is the same, it’s just the tactical positioning that has changed.

You need to cover your bases so make sure you use this tailored summary in your opening email and will also increase the chances of the message being communicated.

I hope you have a productive week…

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Round pegs, Round roles… not ideal for that executive job?

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Good morning

Over the past few weeks I have been stressing the need to be positive and to tailor your key tangible experience to fit the remit of the job  you are applying to.

This has provoked some reaction from executives who had been wary of the current climate and, in particular, I performed a consult last week for an executive who had purely focused on jobs that were in his sector.

Current market conditions dictate the need to ensure you fit as many criteria in a job as possible however this does not mean that you have to have the exact experience. In fact some differences can add strategic benefits. Transferrable skills are one thing, however experience from other markets can bring much needed change and benefits to a firm that needs to adapt quickly  with the times.

We’ve seen it in the public sector where classic private sector/ commercial experience has been used to good effect. As long as you are realistic that there will be a longer period of transition, a good manager will always surround themselves with good people to plug any gaps in a specialist environment.

Ailing industries may present opportunity – identify where your transferrable skills can help a company/ sector rebuild or change direction. If you research this thoroughly, you can sell this effectively at interview. There has to be an element of calculated risk when looking for a job and some industries are changing so fast that an ideal candidate is redundant before they’ve got the job.

This does not mean applying for everything, this  can appear desperate and can waste your time. However, this does accentuate the need to research any new markets thoroughly, identify synergies, opportunities and threats – be realistic with what bridges you’d need to overcome to adapt to a new industry, and provide solutions.

Perhaps this will inject new inspiration into a stuttering executive job search and present new opportunities to kick start your career.

I hope you have a productive week…

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Whatta mistaka to maka!

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

When first deliberating the make up of this blog I was determined to avoid providing the same old “Top 5″ or “Top 10″ lists however I’m finding it difficult to avoid running down some “Mistakes to avoid” following a consult I conducted last week.

In fact I come across examples most weeks – the executive job search can be a laborious process and bad habits can creep in; the longer the search goes on the more important it it to freshen up the process, avoid basic errors that can prejudice your search and, as we touched on last week, work with your contacts to positively impact on your search.

Omitting key information

Whilst the inclusion of too much information can dilute the message, if you choose to omit information – including important details that you feel may rule you out – be aware that this can be to the detriment of trust, can scar your relationship with your consultant and can waste everyone’s time including your own.

Spam applications

It’s important to keep a fairly regular dialogue with your contacts but there is a fine line between keeping them warm and receiving a restraining order! Companies track applications and applicants, recruiters will keep your details on file and the market can be incestuous. They will most likely have searched their database for applicable suitors before they advertise and will not need reminding every day – it looks desperate and you won’t be remembered in a favourable light.

Quality control

Make sure you apply to jobs in relevant disciplines and markets or that use transferable skills, especially in this market. It will not only focus your mind and ensure you put the necessary energy into each application but it will save everybodys time and energy and avoids the perception of ‘hit and hope’, keeping your integrity intact.

Mass mailouts/ speculative applications

Opening up your network is an absolute necessity to build up leads, however this must be done in a measured fashion. Sending mass emails to every recruiter under the sun can impact greatly on your marketability – why would a recruiter put time into your career if you’re known to every competitor under the sun. You must maintain the perception of exclusivity and professionalism – tailoring your approaches will not only make the recruiter feel valued but it will ensure you get the maximum feedback – why not pick up the phone.

Don’t burn your bridges

This can be an extremely frustrating process for the jobseeker but also for the recruiter. Assignments can be shelved for no good reason, recruiters can’t always get back to you straight away and, rightly or wrongly, they are focused on the requirements laid out by their client. There will always be another opportunity so always maintain good relations with consultants, communicate your skills positively and recruiters may be open to thinking outside the box.

I hope you have a productive week….

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Happy New Year!

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Last week saw an indifferent start to the year. For some companies, the cold weather has put recruitment on ice – mandates being delayed until conditions reach relative normality and the travel chaos recedes.

However, in the main, I found a lot of recruiters were working from home and getting the ball rolling on various requirements from their PC.

The internet has changed the way we network and jobseekers have to adapt and use it to their advantage. Interviews can now be conducted on video conference calls via VOIP providers such as Skype, which is becoming increasingly reliable and easy to use, and Vonage which seems to have extremely competitive call rates.

I must stress that it’s always best to meet contacts in person if you can, however if all else fails this can serve to open up your and, if your contact has a busy diary, their availability and exhibits some initiative ahead of the rest.

This leads me onto a question raised last week during one of my consults: “Do you think I should include a photo in my CV?”

I used to be against including a photo however the increased popularity of online networking has altered my view, slightly, my view is now fairly indifferent.

Of course, it could prejudice your application and by that I mean that people can react to photos in different ways, however they are much more commonplace these days and are becoming the norm on networking profiles.

If you are unsure whether to include your photo then excluding it won’t do anything to hinder your suitability to a job however if you do decide to include it then I think a small, subtly placed professional photo can only serve to add some personality to what can be a dry document.

Just try to avoid passport photo or police station guidelines!

I hope you have a productive week…

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