I am Executive Recruitment Consultant

[Ownyourchoices]

I have been doing this for 20 years - well before LinkedIn. I have been in tough markets for employers, tough ones for employees, through the financial crisis and COVID. And I am still here - AMA

That's really good to know thank you for your answer :)

I would suggest you do change your Linkedin as well. It should be the same as your CV in that context. Mid-50s should not be an issue although it could be a bit industry dependent so it might not even be that - more a reflection of the market. Get your CV done by a proper CV writer, ask around or meet a recruiter and ask for honest feedback. Be active on LinkedIn - comment on posts, forward interesting things. At your level, AI tools re your application should not be an issue. Personally, I rarely check ages unless the person gives off a lack of energy - sometimes I am surprised how young they are.....

Does a big diversity of skills and experiences make someone more desireable or less? Eg I rock multitasking and steep learning curves- so tend to do something cool in multiple unrelated areas often simultaneously (think: written and published books in various genres, multiple degrees, produced a documentary film, founder board member of two charities, senior expert in specific field of consultancy, worked in three continents etc… …..) but never made my way up linearly in one field managing ever larger teams and budgets…….so I feel my value prop is - “give her a challenge to drive across any aspect of the business, she’ll understand and nail it’ versus ‘highly seasoned eg finance manager with x years in y industry’

How would you position that kind of profile/ what kind of roles would they be considered for? Should I drop half the random things on my cv, because while in theory impressive, they are just confusing?

As someone with ADHD and a poor track record of study and employment, but who has been successfully managing medication and self help methods for over a year and thriving now, how would I be best to present this when getting back into the work place?

Ok, its a bit hard to suggest given what you have suggested. Largely, you need to pick up a industry, find a way in and stick to it. If you keep moving around, its a bit hard to jump up quickly. Have you worked in a company as such? Because the things like writing books, degrees, films, and working in different countries, while all interesting, but don't suggest a track record as a manager/leader as such. Was your consultancy in a firm? If you are good, you will jump up quickly but you need to show your ability to commit

@Ownyourchoices Great AMA, thank you. I have a question about my circumstances. I work in one of the professions, spent 20 years in a massive global company. Progressed and moved through roles, lots of broad and deep experience, delivered change and execution excellence, but then got stuck at a bottleneck level. Basically if I had been in HQ I could have progressed, but there were so few roles in my country. Lots of reorgs and previously regional management roles were eliminated and it all went back to the HQ country. I left, took a lovely break and am now dipping my toes back into work with a short term contract with a smaller company (still listed, but smaller and different industry). This has made me realise that my titles and experience don't map to smaller companies. I didn't have a fancy title, but in my last role I managed an amount of money that is basically the entire revenue of this new company. I would map myself in this company to a senior director or VP, but took a role at the same title, which was Senior Manager. For my next role, how do I make my experience map to a smaller company when all they might see is that I don't have the requisite title?

Up front when you are asked about the employment record. Say you deliberately made the choice to get yourself back on track via the things you said. But it also depends on how noticeable it is?

Was this oil and gas? Its a familiar issue. When the title is an issue - make sure your CV has the reporting lines explained, and list the team size and metrics. DO you want to stay in this new industry? Then a cover letter explaining why you have moved, how much you like it.....

This is a really interesting thread so thanks for posting.What advice would you give to someone looking for COO/CEO roles in a niche industry?

Background:

I’ve been with my current employer 22 years and in the industry 25 years overall. My role is essentially COO but within a small firm (<5 employees) so very little people management, etc.

I recently applied for what was on paper a dream job - CEO of an industry charity. I knew the Chair and several board members of the charity who all agreed I should apply and my boss was incredibly supportive. I was shortlisted but ultimately did not make it to final interview.

They cited my lack of experience at CEO level, which I knew was my weakest point, but acknowledged that my industry experience and knowledge was excellent. I took this on board and felt happy that I’d at least given it a shot.

Fast forward a few months and they announce the new CEO - a lady who I know fairly well (and is a lovely person) who has never been in a CEO position (self employed) and whilst in the industry for a number of years not within the charity’s main sector. In fact several people have commented that they have never heard of her before and have questioned if she is right for the job - these are people who don’t know I applied, so they’re not saying it to make me feel better!

I guess my question is how do I move past the knock to my confidence and what can I do to better prepare next time an opportunity comes along?

I am pretty hot on LinkedIn and alongside my job sit on a voluntary committee (industry based) where I have just been quietly told the Chair is stepping down and that I should apply for her role, so feel I am doing as much as I can (alongside kids and helping elderly parents!) to boost my profile, etc.

Great advice, thank you!

What does the executive part of your job mean? I’m never really sure when I see this in job titles.

I’ve always assumed executive comes from the Latin to execute as in “do”, but I’m guessing that’s not quite right.

so what’s the difference between and executive recruitment consultant and a recruitment consultant? (And, for example, a PA vs an executive PA)

I'm in a senior oversight role with a regulated function. My place is going to the dogs (lack of operations and finance management, poor cashflow) and I'm desperate to get out - I've applied for 27 roles that fit my experience in the last 3 months. I got 2 interviews (didn't land either of the roles sadly) - I got 2 flat out rejections, 4 recruiters I spoke to about roles vanished off the face of the earth, and the rest were just radio silence.

I'm not even looking for more money, I'm happy to just match it. My CV is good, I interview ok and I haven't got two heads. I've set myself on LinkedIn as visible to recruiters, I pay for premium, I comment on posts, I've changed my headline and About section to capture as many keywords as possible.

Nothing! What else can I do? None of my network seem to know of anything.

Thanks! Yes I have 14 years consistent career in a top global consultancy, and 6 years in a smaller consultancy before that. I’m a senior expert so diving in and out of multiple complex transformation situations, in global client companies, across industries and continents , working directly with senior execs, …. Most of the other things have been done in parallel to this ‘day job’ so no awkward gaps in cv or constant changing of company. So basically I found one constant job that constantly changes!

I guess my question is, even ignoring all the extra random stuff….. is coming from consultancy seen as “oh good- she moves damn fast, has extensive experience across multiple fields etc” or “she’ll be rubbish managing a department day to day” (or maybe it’s a bit of both!)

I feel like working in a huge multinational leading a special projects/ transformation/ trouble shoot team would be cool! …. Or being a serial high powered interim/ temp hire to drive a transformation etc….

really appreciate your thoughts!

I am in executive search which means I am retained by the organisation looking to fill a leadership role - CEO or roles reporting to a CEO. Sometimes I find NEDs or Chairs. If the role doesn't report to the CEO it generally would be in a very big company - think Rio Tinto - and maybe one layer down. But I run the process. Executive simple refers to the level - search refers to the method. Retained means I am solely responsible

What a great AMA! How would you advise someone who’s been self-employed for many years to re-enter the corporate world?

When younger I worked up to a mid-senior level and then had a short break for children. Instead of returning to a business, I started and ran a business with family. It was very successful, I used my professional qualifications, skills and experience and gained loads more etc but I struggle to capture it on a CV ( following a divorce I needed to leave and work elsewhere).

I’ve taken a role in a firm that is below what I’m capable of and now I feel I’ve been typecast internally as ‘only an xyz’ and completely messed up any chance of progression. There are people being recruited who don’t have my level of skills, knowledge and experience (not being big headed)

Any advice please? I realise as I’m typing that I should probably see someone like yourself and pay for the advice, sorry!

My son has been looking for a job for nearly two years! He has over ten years great experience and has worked with and for well respected companies. He applies for roles that he appears to be the perfect fit for and doesn’t even get an interview! It’s so disheartening and like others is even beginning to feel he’s been blacklisted for some reason! The jobs he’s had interviews for have asked for work on a project that they they go on to use in their business - the interview process for one global company was nine interviews and then the role went to an internal candidate. It’s so hard! Do you have any insider tips for getting that first interview?
Thank you!

So you work in the US? That must be a very different context to here in the UK

Thank you. It's not oil and gas, it was one of the massive tech companies. The stuff I worked on was really complex. I think people think we had great processes and systems, but everything straightforward was automated or outsourced, so employees only worked on the exceptional, complex stuff and my direct reports were low but senior, though indirectly large (if we include the outsourced teams). The new industry is pharma, so much more regulated, which is interesting, but the work is far, far simpler.
I can see now, having moved, how having a standard industry process on my CV could now appear quite a straightforward task, versus the highly complex, judgement heavy task it was in my old role.
In fact I had an interview for a public service role where the interviewer insisted that having worked for 'big name' company, I couldn't possibly be good at learning new things, as surely every process was already properly documented and running smoothly so it was easy to pick up when I moved. When in fact I was navigating chaos!
So I think it's communicating the incredible complexity and ambiguity of my most recent roles and what I delivered is the real challenge.

What's an executive recruitment consultant?

Anyone above a certain level in my organisation can have it if they want to. I regularly hire into my large team, so having it lets me cherry-pick and target the people I want for the market.

I don’t think I’m “a bit strange” 😅I know friends in similar roles in other companies do the same. It’s only about £1k IIRC, compared to £20k+ if I get an external recruiter to source them.

Always amusing when I see colleagues flag themselves a “available” though. Maybe I am not busy enough 😂

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Truthfully, the odd choice does occur. But she could have done a great interview - projecting into the role which hit a chord.

Basic truism is that you can do nothing about other people and who applies and how they perform. Luck can be a big part. CEO interviews do tend to run to a bit of a formula, say maybe do a few practice sessions.

No. I was trying to post a UK version but MN didn't seem to like it. I am in Australia but our office has a branch in London

I have answered this in an earlier post. But largely means I recruit executives for organisations/companies/Government that have retained me to manage the recruitment process for senior leaders.

9 interviews is madness and an utter waste of time. I would question whether I would want to work with an organisation that was indecisive and wasteful of resources. If he isn't getting interviews than I would suggest paying for a good CV redo. Not by using AI, by a person. See if he can get in front of a recruiter for honest feedback. See if a friend/former colleague/ someone he trusts to try and make that happen. I know its hard. But if he ahs experience, something isn't gelling in the application process.

You are doing all of the right things. Recruiters should not vanish like that. Are the recruiters you have spoken to experts in your industry? Could you transfer across? Again, have you got your CV redone by a expert? I never look for key words, I look at for actual experience. If your network are not helpful, I'd look further - do you go to industry events? Make new networks?