By Ash Athawale, Senior Vice President and Senior Group Managing Director, Robert Half
Anyone who has recently landed a new position will tell you it took some work to get it. Think about all the time and effort involved when it comes to searching for positions, customizing resumes, interviewing with hiring managers and reviewing offers. Finding a job, as the saying goes, is a job in and of itself.
But for senior leadership positions — think C-Suite, general manager, vice president and similarly titled roles — the search is more complex and time intensive. Executives and boards have a fiduciary and professional responsibility to the company to conduct a thorough process. They need to vet your background, leadership qualities and ability to grow the organization. Mistakes at the executive level are extraordinarily costly on multiple levels; multiple steps help minimize risk and ensure the right choice is made.
If you’ve been in your senior-level position for a while and are considering a change, know that your search will likely be different than your previous experiences. Here are six things you should know:
The company will, with the help of the search firm, schedule a series of interviews with a variety of stakeholders and teams. This can be a mix of in-person and videoconference meetings. These days, it’s common to set up a recurring schedule to streamline the process for both the potential hire and the company. (For instance, eight interviews over eight weeks, each scheduled for Tuesday at noon.)
Organizations often will adjust to accommodate hectic schedules. I recently worked with a candidate who asked about moving a video interview to Saturday morning given her work travel during the week. The client was happy to agree to this request.
In nearly all our searches, senior-level candidates are required to present to the board or hiring committee. This is a formal, in-person meeting at the company’s headquarters. The topic may focus on how you would approach the first 90 days on the job or address a critical business issue. Note that this presentation requires careful thought and consideration. Cobbling a few slides together the night before and hoping it hits the mark will not work. It’s very apparent to the hiring committee when a candidate has cut corners in preparing for this meeting, and the impression left as a result is far from positive.
Block out sufficient time to draft, edit and rehearse the presentation, and prepare for questions and discussion that may follow. Customize it to the company and the role; don’t just repurpose a generic one. When our candidates reach this stage of the selection process, we are happy to review their drafts and offer input.
Roles at this level can have a fair degree of flexibility, mixing in-office and remote days. However, there’s no such thing as an executive role that’s fully remote. Senior leadership must be visible and cannot operate in absentia. If you’re not open to relocating, do not offer your name for consideration for positions based outside your current area. Talk to the search consultant about the percentage of travel required for the position and consider that carefully as well.
Members of the hiring committee will contact the references you provide, and dig deeply into your social media profiles and online presence. Expect them to complete credit and criminal background checks as well.
The process doesn’t end there, however. The committee will expand their discussions to include industry contacts, company and university alumni, friends of friends, and others who may have crossed paths with you over the years to solicit their opinions on your candidacy.
What happens if there’s a sticking point in your history? Perhaps you had a brief tenure in a role and are worried how it might be viewed. In a long career, it’s common to have a misstep here or there. The important thing is that you own up to it and then articulate what happened.
One of my candidates accepted a position to work for a CEO he knew in a previous company. Over time, the CEO wasn’t seeing eye-to-eye with the board, and left a few months later. Reorganizations followed, and this candidate departed as well. When we met, he was open about this experience, explained the circumstances and answered my questions. I felt comfortable representing him because he was transparent about his moves.
Companies often fold staff members into later interview rounds. It’s vital for leaders to meet their potential direct reports (and their directs) to better understand team dynamics and the organizational structure. If staff meetings are not scheduled, ask for them. Also be proactive in requests to meet with other teams or individuals. The interview process is a two-way street, and you want to feel comfortable you have the time with various groups to form an accurate snapshot of your role.
Just when you think the finish line is in sight, there’s usually one more step: A professional assessment. Many clients include testing (e.g., Hogan Assessment, MBTI or others) as a final step in the selection process. This testing is reserved for the final one or two candidates and some companies require them for all executives that they hire. The assessment can vary by type and size of the company.
At this stage of the process, some candidates will say, “Ash, I’ve met with everyone and feel confident about my fit with the organization. What can this testing accomplish, and is it truly necessary?”
I understand the question, but it can be an essential final step for the hiring committees. The purpose of assessments is not to disqualify a candidate, but rather to understand what makes this person “tick.” There are no right or wrong answers in the assessment; the results help guide the executive team and others in understanding your motivations, leadership style and other intangibles. By gaining this extra insight, they can help establish the right environment for you to succeed over the short- and long-term.
As you can see, the executive search process is not for the faint of heart. To see if you’re ready, ask yourself:
Do I have the patience and endurance for an extensive process
Am I able to give potential employers 100% of my effort at all stages?
Can I see this as a business opportunity and not take it personally if the search is extended or another person is selected?
Am I prepared to make a change, leaving behind the familiarity and success of my current position to take on a new role, perhaps in a new city?
The best time to consider a search is when you’ve been in your current role for a few years. If you’re prepared to embark on this journey, return the recruiter’s call to learn more about the role, the company and its hiring process. Be ready to discuss your candidacy.
Before you do that, take time to do the following:
Think about the type of role you want and why you’re making a change. Your motivation is important here: Hiring committees don’t want candidates who are “running away” from a current role, or who want to leave because others tell them they should. They want candidates who are excited about leadership roles in their organization for the right reasons.
Polish your LinkedIn profile. Update your LinkedIn profile and be sure to include a summary at the top. Go beyond listing your job titles and detail your accomplishments in each role, particularly for your most recent positions. If you’ve posted content that is not work-related or could be misinterpreted, delete it. Your LinkedIn profile is the first place people will go to learn more about you, so make sure it leaves a solid impression.
List your education appropriately. My colleagues and I have seen a recent trend of people posting certificates or short trainings from top-tier universities as their primary education. Search executives and employers always want to see the details of your bachelor’s and advanced degrees first. So if you earned your degree from Penn State, for instance, and have a certificate in executive education from Stanford, Penn State should be listed in your LinkedIn header (next to your name, photo and current employer). You can include the certificate in your profile, but the issuing university should not be featured as your alma mater.
To be successful in an executive search, having the right mindset is critical. Prepare for a longer and more complex selection process than you may have had for previous roles. Keep in mind this is a marathon, not a sprint. Hiring organizations will take every opportunity to make sure their decision-making process is rock solid. You should do the same.
Ash Athawale is senior vice president and senior group managing director at Robert Half in the executive search practice. Follow Ash on X, formerly known as Twitter, and LinkedIn.
