As an executive, initial few years of life follow a similar pattern – campus recruitment, followed by years spent understanding the corporate world, promotion to newer roles, and changing jobs to find the best fit and grow professionally. With the time you spend at work, you develop certain skills, form a better understanding of the type of work you like, and what you would want to do in the next phase of your professional journey as a senior executive. In your elevated role, if you are already doing what you planned to do, that’s great. However, what if you feel stuck in your job, then what next?
Changing jobs as a senior executive is not as easy as it was when you were younger in your professional journey. It might have been a while since you last built and shared your resume, and now the rules for job hunting may have changed.
To help you move to a firm where you feel fulfilled as a professional, some strategies developed by Monster can come handy:
• Networking
The most effective way of changing your job as a senior executive is by networking. It can be with your partners, colleagues, bosses or even business customers from previous companies. Networking is essential as the job market is mostly relationship-based and the companies today are increasingly focusing on employee recommendation. Therefore, it is important to constantly network with people from your relevant field.
• New role creation
This strategy involves creating the need for a new post in the target company. This cannot be achieved by simply visiting the company website and applying for vacancies, as such a role may not even exist. This has to be done by understanding the target company’s pain points, recommending possible corrective actions as well as a role that can help achieve those actions. Once the need for such a role is established, your case as a suitable candidate becomes stronger. Despite the success rate of this strategy being slightly less than networking and it taking more time to yield results, it is still quite effective as it helps you identify a latent market need.
• Thought leadership
Another out of the box job hunting approach for senior executives is establishing their credentials by showcasing thought leadership. This approach involves sharing ideas, insights, and opinions on the target industry. It helps you improve your employability while you are working. Thought leadership is steadily gaining importance as a differentiating tool among senior executives.
• Executive recruiters
Reaching out to recruiters hired by target companies for the hiring process is an effective method to land jobs. You can connect with such recruiters directly and as you would have done with a company representative, you should put forth a case for your suitability for the role. This approach is known to yield positive outcomes in one-fourth of the cases and is definitely worth a try.
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