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Filed Under: Job Search

Published on: Friday, May 11, 2012

While You Were Out…

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Every executive needs to have demonstrable leadership ability to be marketable today. Whether you're currently navigating a company through this recent wake of economic catastrophe or you have high aspirations for your leadership career, you have to be able to "lead with purpose."

 

Published on: Thursday, April 05, 2012

While You Were Out…

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Your subject matter expertise is your differentiator; it exemplifies your individual intellectual capital and highlights your core competencies. But it has to be effectively promoted outside your immediate circle to a bigger network of influence if you want to get "known for what you know."

In a recent ExecuNet webinar, Peter Winick, who has worked with many thought leaders as he built and managed several consulting and professional development organizations, explained how executives can effectively promote their skills to a larger network.

 

Published on: Thursday, March 08, 2012

While You Were Out…

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Can a "Quiet Leader" also be a "Bold Leader?" a VP of operations asked of other ExecuNet members in the General Management Roundtable. "Sometimes the best leaders are the 'Quiet Leaders,'" he noticed.

"When I think of quiet leadership, I think of men and women who lead by example rather than words, be they spoken loudly or softly," ExecuNet founder and CEO Dave Opton replied, noting Colin Powell as someone who came to mind.

 

Published on: Friday, February 10, 2012

While You Were Out…

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When we published Ben Zander Shares His 6 Secrets to Success in our ExecuNet member newsletter, the positive reaction was overwhelming, which signaled to me that the conductor's inspirational words were the right message at the right time for many.

But, what Zander put so eloquently was not much different than the experiential wisdom that ExecuNet members share amongst each other. I captured the insight on a variety of topics that members give to each other so freely in the community to share with you: [Some were edited without changing context.]

 

Published on: Friday, December 30, 2011

Top 11 for 2011

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Thank you to everyone who read, commented, visited and shared content from Executive Insider this last year. Much of what we publish here comes from information gleaned inside our membership, with experts who interact in our executive communities, on-site at exclusive events, and the ongoing conversations we have with professionals like you.

 

Published on: Monday, December 12, 2011

While You Were Out…

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"Why is help so frequently not sought?" That's the question an ExecuNet member, a C-level executive in the manufacturing industry, posed to his peers in one of the business Roundtables. He noted that, in his leadership career, he would have failed countless times had he not asked for help.

"Perhaps part of the culture in this country is that failure is just not an acceptable outcome," wondered the manufacturing executive. "Certainly nobody seeks it, but the irony is that the only way to become experienced and enjoy wisdom in business is to have a healthy mix of successes and failures. We just have to minimize the impact of failure as much as possible and learn to pick it all up and proceed forward again after it does occur."

 

 
Before buying your new Android, BlackBerry or latest iPhone, you probably will do some research. You'll check what's available through your carrier, read the expert reviews and user experiences; even visit the hardcore gadget blogs and communities. Maybe you even hashtag the model on Twitter or watch an unboxing and first-time usage on YouTube.

For some, a rave recommendation from a friend is enough to sway a purchase. After all, your smartphone is important to you. You heavily rely on it for email, texts, mobile web, and, even voice calls too. You probably almost feel incomplete (but secretly liberated) when you leave the house without it.

With all the information readily available, copious amounts of research is expected before purchasing a phone that will lock you into a two-year commitment – before buying any product or service, in fact. Yet, candidates still go into job interviews – and even accept offers – without subjecting the prospective employer, management team and culture to the same rigorous due diligence.

 

Published on: Friday, November 04, 2011

While You Were Out…

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"You will eliminate innovation if you require proof of an idea in advance of trying it." – Roger Martin

I've had this Roger Martin quote on my white board since I heard him speak on The Design of Business at World Innovation Forum earlier this year, as a reminder to myself and everyone who enters my office to, as I like to say, "always be in beta."


 

Published on: Thursday, October 27, 2011

Bury Bones in Your Own Backyard

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Relocation is a less viable option for executives and companies, as home values have decreased and job security remains shaky. Candidates would rather stay put than dislodge families, so many limit their job searches to an easily commutable geographic radius.

There are strategies to mine for local leads:
  • Searching job boards and online databases by geo/zip codes
  • Networking with friends, neighbors and attending organized, facilitated groups
  • Reading regional business journals, community newspapers
  • Joining the Chamber of Commerce

 

Published on: Friday, October 07, 2011

While You Were Out…

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A friend of mine who worked in corporate roles followed his passion a few years ago and went to cooking school. Shortly after graduating, he left the cubicles for the kitchen but couldn't really connect with the right opportunity.

About six months ago, he was hired for a position that perfectly combined his showmanship and love of food teaching cooking classes and doing new product demonstrations. He'd be perfectly happy if he wasn't so stressed about the salary reduction he incurred when he dropped out of the corporate world.

 

Published on: Monday, September 12, 2011

While You Were Out…

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Pity the Poor Interviewer is the conversation executive coach Judy Rosemarin recently sparked among members in ExecuNet's Job Search Roundtable, reminding candidates to see the interview from another perspective.

 

Published on: Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Recruiter Connections

Posted By: Lauryn Franzoni
Filed Under: executive recruiters, job search, lauryn franzoni, networkin
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The most commonly asked question of our member services team has got to be, "How do I connect with a recruiter?"

Sometimes I wonder why? Third-party search consultants (Here's a tip: Most don't like to be called headhunters.) are part of a profession that generates some $10 billion worldwide, but that's only for about 20 percent to 25 percent of the executive hires made in any given year. Many work quite closely with their client companies. For a set fee, they help the organization plan for its leadership needs, assess the market to help establish qualifications and comp packages and map the talent in a given industry or geographic area to those needs. Others work on assignment: They usually get assignments to fill jobs where there may be an incumbent, or they get the call once a company exhausts its own database and employee referrals — this is called the "hard to fill" work.

 

Published on: Wednesday, August 03, 2011

While You Were Out…

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What have you done for yourself lately?

Take a look at your to-do list. Is there an equitable distribution between what you do for others and what you do for you?

If you're like most busy working adults, probably not. Your time is mostly allocated to your job, family, and obligated to "life maintenance" tasks like dry cleaning and the dentist, which are things we have to do and are not necessarily fun.

Take a few moments today to schedule something for yourself; it doesn't have to be especially time-consuming or extravagant. Before you read on to a collection of the best information to help you advance in your current role, find a new one, gain expert insight and learn what's happening in the marketplace, please tell us:

What will you add to your to-do list for yourself today?

 

Published on: Friday, July 29, 2011

Networking May be Old School but it’s Still Ivy League

Posted By: Dave Opton
Filed Under: networking, dave opton, job search, executive employment
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We at ExecuNet keep our eyes glued to emails and our ears attached to the phones, as we communicate with members constantly on a daily basis. Behind all the graphics are the individual stories of not just what happened, but more importantly, how it happened.

I like to keep my eye on the "how," because with all the hype around the Internet one would think that's the only way people make job changes. These days, if you say the word networking it sounds so yesterday. This type of thinking just makes me shake my head, because ever since ExecuNet was started over 23 years ago we have never stopped pounding the networking drum as the route by which most of our members make a change.

 

Published on: Friday, July 22, 2011

Are You Networking or Needworking?

Posted By: Lauryn Franzoni
Filed Under: networking, job search, lauryn franzoni, communication, opportunity, executive career
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Congratulations! You're taking charge of your career, and you've been reconnecting with everyone from college friends to people you met two jobs ago. Your network of contacts has quadrupled in size. You've connected — now what?

If your next step is to systematically contact these people to see if they've heard of any openings for a person with your strengths and qualifications, you're not networking, you're doing what career coaches call "needworking."

The people you are contacting know it. And they don't like how it makes them feel.

 

Published on: Friday, July 15, 2011

While You Were Out…

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To be successful in job search today is to set a focused goal and mount a strategic campaign armed with a well-researched list of target companies, strong relationships that can lead you through a chain of referrals, a polished personal marketing program, an online reputation communications plan, and, of course, a sharp skill set and depth of experience.

Yet, some land in new roles through less calculated methods: being in the right place at the right time; tolerating higher levels of risk than others; conditions that stimulate promotion; family ties; etc.

Hopefully, no matter the method you took to get there, you retain the position through your merits and build your own success.

Before you read on to a collection of the best information to help you advance in your current role, find a new one, gain expert insight and learn what's happening in the marketplace, please tell us:

Did you land in your last job by choice or by chance?

 

Published on: Friday, July 08, 2011

Do You Know What Got You Here?

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Do you remember how you landed your last job? Can you tell me specifically what you did to land it? Probably not. It's just not something we spend much time thinking about — until we have to.

Now, if I asked you what you did to deliver last quarter's revenues or to ensure a new product reached the marketplace in time, I'm betting you can explain very specifically how you and your team accomplished that objective. And you'll tell me with enthusiasm, vigor and pride.

 

Published on: Friday, June 10, 2011

While You Were Out…

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"Networking," in various forms, is the top response when we ask corporate leaders about how they connect to career options in our annual executive market intelligence survey, and we've posed similar questions to our LinkedIn and Facebook groups.

Before you read on to a collection of the best information to help you advance in your current role, find a new one, gain expert insight and learn what's happening in the marketplace, please tell us:

How did you find your last job?

 

Published on: Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Your Career isn’t a Generic One Size Fits All

Posted By: Lauryn Franzoni
Filed Under: networking, job search, lauryn franzoni, career management
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Just because you've decided you want to do something more or different with your work, doesn't mean you have to be treated like everyone else. Aren't you tired of "one size fits all" prescriptions that, in fact, don't fit you and were never expected to fit someone who has accomplished what you have to become a senior executive in your organization?

 

Published on: Wednesday, May 04, 2011

While You Were Out…

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I read this quote recently and wanted to pass it along to you:

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." — Vincent Van Gogh

"Paint" can be a metaphor for anything we have thought about doing but have not yet taken the action. It can be a creative endeavor, a personal goal or something that feels bigger, or more risky, like job change.

Whatever it is, don't let the inner critic or external cynic stand in your way. Make a plan, take a chance, try, and see what happens. Even if you learn you learn you're a terrible artist, you might have fun playing with the colors or discover something new about yourself along the way.

With that in mind, here are the recent blog posts you may have missed that can further inspire you in your everyday decision-making. We welcome your comments!

 

 
Recently, a former colleague emailed me his résumé and asked me for my thoughts. When you work in an organization like ExecuNet, this is a familiar request. I started to open the attachment but stopped. After all, what I was about to do was give some sort of subjective feedback to someone who now works in a field I'm barely familiar with. I'm pretty sure he didn't really want to know what I especially liked or didn't like about his résumé.

What he really wanted to know was if this résumé was going to open doors and get meetings for him to move on to a new C-suite leadership role in a new organization.

 

Published on: Friday, April 08, 2011

While You Were Out…

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It's already the end of Q1 '11! Are you where you wanted or expected to be? What will it take to get there?

For me, and many others, it's time. A few more hours in a day, weeks in a quarter, to do a couple other things, catch up, get some more done.

It's impossible for me to give you more time, but I can save you some time. Here are all the blog posts you may have recently missed gathered together in one place so you don't have to do all that time-consuming searching, scrolling and clicking.

 

Published on: Monday, March 07, 2011

While You Were Out…

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February was a short month, but we managed to bring you a tremendous amount of information to help you reach your career and business goals in 2011. Guest bloggers shared their own special insight, along with ExecuNet experts who capture the trends and deliver the news that informs your every day professional decisions. We’ve gathered all these articles together so you can catch up on your reading.

 

Published on: Monday, February 07, 2011

While You Were Out…

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Did the year get off to a good start for you? Are there specific professional goals you'd like to achieve? We've pulled together the best information from January to help you advance in your current role, find a new one, gain expert insight and learn what's happening in the marketplace.

 

Published on: Tuesday, January 18, 2011

It’s About Giving, Not About Getting

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Unless you have been in a time capsule, when it comes to managing a successful job search, everyone knows that the most effective strategy is networking. Saying the word reminds me of the conversations I used to have in a former life around the subject of performance appraisals. We all agreed that it was needed, but nobody liked them. On the other hand, nobody has come up with something better either.

For over the 23 years ExecuNet has been around, 70 percent of the members we have talked to who have made a change say it was networking that was the key for them. People sometimes think that since we are always trying to drive home this message that somehow we have a plug and play answer on making it work for them, and preferably making it work like yesterday! Would that we could!

What we do try to do, however, is not just talk about it, but put all sorts of resources together to not only show them how, but also try to provide them (both online and off) with the ways and means to implement a plan effectively.

 

Published on: Thursday, December 30, 2010

Top 10 for 2010

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Can we legitimately report the most popular for the year if our blog is only six months old? Having been a business network since 1988, ExecuNet has always been ahead of our time. Here are the articles that captured the most reader comments and attention in the short time we've been publishing:

 

Published on: Tuesday, December 07, 2010

While You Were Out…

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The unpredictable year of 2010 is racing quickly toward a close, dragging with it a bag of mixed emotions. Some saw marked improvement over a devastating 2009, while others spent the last 12 months still trying to recover.

We're hopeful about 2011 and have had some good news signals lately. Here are all the trends, market intelligence and expert insight from November in one easy-to-read place.

 

Published on: Monday, November 01, 2010

While You Were Out…

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It seems like yesterday I was having summer barbecues, and now I'm eating leftover Halloween candy. This year seems to be moving quickly, with many who experienced the rocky economy firsthand probably glad to see 2010 go.

Before Thanksgiving creeps up on you, take some time to read the blog posts from October we've collected for you. We had some exclusive reporting from the World Business Forum, where ExecuNet hosted the Bloggers Hub, along with our proprietary market trend data, economic analysis and expert insight.

 

Published on: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Will You Be the Next Cliff Lee?

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So far, October baseball has been filled with excitement and controversy, from Roy Halladay's no-hitter to several blown calls by the umpires. This time of year always seems to bring out the best in ball players. The defense is crisper, the fundamentals are executed more consistently, and the intensity is far greater than the regular season.

Regardless of who ultimately wins the 2010 World Series, many of the players participating in this year's playoffs have another goal in mind — free agency, which begins almost immediately after the last ball has been caught. This post-season's prime free agent to be is Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers, who has a great opportunity to impress his potential employers on the strength of his performance over the coming days and weeks.

 

Published on: Friday, October 01, 2010

While You Were Out…

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September is when those lazy days of summer come to an end; white shoes and swimsuits get packed away; and your kids are being chauffeured to activities and helped with homework — who has time to read? No worries! We've collected all the blog postings you need to read in one place. How's that for full service?

But make sure you stop back frequently next week for live reporting from the World Business Forum, where ExecuNet is hosting the Bloggers Hub.

 

Published on: Thursday, September 09, 2010

While You Were Out…

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August may have been busy for you; maybe you were vacationing or covering for colleagues who were on holiday. Nevertheless, we gathered all the blog posts for the month we thought you should take some time to catch up on over your morning coffee, commute or business travel. Enjoy!

 

Published on: Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Personal Reinvention

Posted By: David Topus
Filed Under: job search, david topus, reinvention, career change, reinventing
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People think about the matter of "reinventing" themselves as some kind of epic event – that it takes great planning, preparation and courage to become something new. But, no matter where you are, and no matter what you're doing now, if you look back over your life you will see that you have reinvented yourself multiple times along the way in order to get where you are right now. In fact, you reinvent yourself every day, every time you do something new. And most of the time you probably don't even realize consciously that you're doing it.

How many times have you been given an assignment from your boss to take on a project you've never done before? Probably often, and yet each time you will have to figure it out for the first time. That means reinventing yourself into that capability.

 

Published on: Wednesday, July 21, 2010

To Do List: Change Your World

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Small goals first; then move on to the entire planet.

No generation, political party or movement has the exclusive on change; it can start in our very own small spaces, and you'd be surprised how far the ripples reach. Everybody at every level, in every career stage, has the ability to change their world.

 

 
A couple of weeks ago I posted a few thoughts on some of the "learnings" senior executives in transition or those just looking to make a change could take from coach John Wooden, which for lack of something more creative I called: Job Search Success Wooden Style. Based on some of the sports news that has happened since then, I hope someone sends a copy of Wooden on Leadership to the latest addition to the roster of the Miami Heat, but that's another story.

The real reason I bring up the post again is due to a comment that came in from Martin Yate, the well-known and respected author of the Knock 'Em Dead series that has covered the subject of effective job search from start to finish for many years.

 

Published on: Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Do Not Want What You Already Have

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, leadership, job search, success, executives, gps, challenge
Comments (2)
 
Like many drivers, I have a GPS in my car and, probably like some, I don't always listen to where it tells me to go. When I veer from its directions, it gives me a moment on my own and then tells me it's "recalculating" before adjusting to a new course.

While deep into our latest survey research, I thought how a perspective might be recalculated to improve how successful professionals approach job search, and even connect them to conditions that feel more familiar.

Many executives already have the skills they need to find their next opportunity, but the skills need to be pointed in a new direction.

 

Published on: Friday, July 02, 2010

Chris Rock’s Guide to Job Search

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In a recent interview, Chris Rock made reference to actors finding good roles when he said something like, "We don't find our jobs in The New York Times." It took me a few moments to understand what he meant; at first, I asked myself: Journalists talking about his job? Breaking news about his job? My epiphany arrived moments later when I finally realized he meant print classified ads, a prehistoric method for finding a new position. But if you look at how Rock reached his level of success, it's apparent he hasn't used a newspaper for a long time. His methodology can also work for you, albeit on a smaller scale.

 

Published on: Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The G-20s Can’t Go it Alone and Neither Can You

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In Toronto, the G-20 summit just ended with the developing countries challenged to stimulate their economies while controlling government expenditures, focus on creating jobs and preserving a sustainable future.

With many cross currents, an executive job search, or managing one's career, parallels those challenges the G-20 faces in terms of complexity and uncertainty.

Business is changing rapidly, and monitoring market trends and managing a career or a job change in this uncertain environment requires a plan, constant feedback and interim course corrections to continue to move forward toward achieving your goals. You can't be an ostrich today and hope all the bad news will pass you by while you remain unscathed. Nor, can you sit and wait for the perfect job to appear on some job board.

 

 
We talk with executive and corporate recruiters every day, and they tell us the market is improving. We see it in our increased privately posted job listings and also in the increased number of searches that are done through our network using the profiles our members create for themselves. These searches are often for positions that will never be posted.

 

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