Six-Figure Hotline: Network Your Way into the Dance

Posted By: Dave Opton
Filed Under: executive job search, networking, dave opton, six-figure hotline

Comments (1)

As part of ExecuNet membership, I conduct a weekly teleconference called Six-Figure Hotline where members call in to ask the questions keeping them up at night, and to gain market and trend insight from the career experts who join me in talking about issues that are important to executives today. Whether you are in a job search, thinking about changing positions, or want to learn how to strengthen your success in your current position, this weekly teleconference is designed to provide you the support you need to reach your goals.

Recently, in one such teleconference, a caller said: "I have been performing in the middle management ranks now for a number of years and feel I have demonstrated many executive qualities in my prior experiences. The problem is I keep hearing �they are looking for someone who was a vice president before.'"

He went on to ask for "any advice on how to get into the executive dance?"

Here we have another of what seems like an ongoing list of biases. Reminding me of the age-old dilemma of trying to get that first job when what you're hearing is "must have experience." But you need a job first in order to get experience! Somehow along the way we figure a way to get around that because at some point in our life we were able to convince somebody to take the risk, and our careers went on from there.

This situation is somewhat similar, but I think your best bet is to focus on the results you have been able to achieve and not worrying about what the title was when you were able to achieve them.

Titles are funny things; in some companies they mean a lot and in others not so much. Some of them also have to do with size of the organization. For example, most of my career was spent with Xerox Corporation, and they had fairly strict policies with regard to titles; for example, the director title was only used for individuals on corporate staff. Given the size of the company at the time I was there, we had literally thousands of managers who at a smaller company would easily have had titles of vice president or higher.

In any event, the smaller the company the less likely they are to get hung up on title.

As far as getting invited to dance is concerned, this is just one of the reasons why expanding your personal and professional network is so critical to this process. If you have networked your way into an organization, you are far less likely to be screened out because of job titles or anything else. The name of the game when it comes to networking your way into an organization comes from good old-fashioned research, and the good news there is that through the wonders of modern technology that research is not so tough.

In fact, one of the good things about being in a job search is that you have the opportunity to step back and do some self-assessment and start to put real labels on those things that are of genuine interest to you and about which you can get excited and passionate — then identify those organizations meeting the characteristics and criteria you have set for yourself. What that usually means is that once you get across the desk from someone they are going to be far more interested in hearing what you have to say about issues that they are trying to solve than worrying about what your title was elsewhere.

| More

Dave Opton's avatar Dave Opton
Dave Opton founded ExecuNet in 1988 to provide a trusted environment where senior-level executives could build career opportunities by facilitating connections to other executives, experts and key market insights. Dave has drawn upon his 35 years of experience in human resources to develop and grow what has become the leading business and career membership network for executives and senior managers. A widely recognized executive career management expert, Dave is regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Fortune, Fast Company, and other leading business publications. Mr. Opton received his BA from Indiana University. Dave blogs at Six Figure Learnings