Don’t Dummy Down – Tips for Senior Executive Job Seekers

iStock_000012776659XSmall There’s a lot of talk these days amongst recruiters and career coaches about Senior Level candidates that lie on their resumes to get interviews.  For proof check the feed on last week’s Twitter Chats #OmcChat and #AnimalChat

The message came across loud and clear: DON’T DUMMY DOWN YOUR RESUME OR WORK EXPERIENCE

Note:I refer to several of these HUGELY helpful twitter chats in my Blog Post about Social Media tips for Job Seekers: http://bit.ly/12x7x98

If you’re a senior person, don’t try and trick your audience into interviewing you. The truth is that hiring managers will not hire over qualified people for full-time jobs, it’s a flight risk. The tables do turn occasionally when it comes to contract work. In contract executive/leadership roles, very often you’re report to some one who has less experience than you, you’re the subject matter expert.

As a senior level person, you have to stop fighting your audience and instead get to know them, and your market too. Don’t sell your self where you aren’t in demand.

Many of my full-time searches attract senior level candidates who are over qualified. In my phone interviews they swear up an down that money doesn’t matter, title isn’t an issue and they just want to work. I get it! 100%. Issue is, no one is buying.

When I probe on background in interviews I often discover that a VP or Director Title was replaced by something more junior. And worse, the last 10 years of their resume is missing and so are graduation dates. I’m not the only recruiter who sees through this and I hope outplacement coaches explain this.

Here’s the challenge, the market doesn’t want to hire senior level people who will take title and pay cuts. Not full-time any way.

The market does appreciate experienced, tenured leaders and executives. They have a place. Part of your work as a job seeker is to find that place. Find out where supply can meet demand.

Here’s 4 tips to help you identify your market

1) What sectors, geographic regions or companies are in re-invention or build mode? How can these markets benefit from your past experience and how can you bring thought leadership and innovation to them?

2) What work have you done in the field of innovation, transformation and growth? Where have you made significant impact and where are the transferable benefits for your target market?
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3) Who in your network can help you get an objective lens on what cultures and roles suit you best. Develop a benchmark through multiple conversations and build your brand accordingly? Keep it real not ideal.

4) Develop a resume that tells the TRUTH the WHOLE story. Consumers love stories, hiring managers are your consumer. Distill your decades of experience into a concise chronological message of where you’ve made impact. Talk to your target audience and they’ll start paying attention.

In closing, a few points come to mind. In presenting your self, your ideas and experience – talk more to the NOW. Talk about what you do and focus on the past 5-7 years. Find a way to showcase how you’ve been  leveraging your experience and applying it. Let go of terms like “back in the day” and  ” we used to”. Be current – get a Gmail account, a smart phone and a tablet. Learn about the ways that service providers, consultants and prospective employees are dialoguing with their prospects. Keep up to date with Social Media and make sure your LinkedIn profile is compelling.

The secret to continued success at work is forward motion. Your audience has changed and evolved so should you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written by

I am the founder of i-identify inc., a Toronto-based recruiting company, founded in 2013. My research uncovers full-time, interim and contract professionals who are leaders in their respective fields. My early work was focused on the emerging tech - sector, and later expanded into retail and consumer packaged goods technologies. In the past five to six years I have broadened my expertise to include Canada's public and not-for-profit sectors, working on assignments as far north as Iqaluit, uncovering talent as senior as Deputy Ministers, Commissioners and executives at the C level. I've become a search generalist who specializes in identifying great talent.

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