When was the last time you faced a job search, dusted off your executive resume, and worked on landing a new executive job?
Are you like many of the top-level executives I speak with?
The last time you changed jobs, either recruiters came to you with opportunities when you weren’t job-hunting or you initiated contact with your core group of recruiters when you were ready to find a new job. And they slid you into one.
These days you can’t expect recruiters to easily slide you into a new gig. You’ll still need to work with recruiters, but building recruiter relationships is just one of the strategies that should be in your executive job search toolkit.
If it’s been a few years or so since you changed jobs, you’re now facing new challenges that may not have existed before.
You need to learn about and embrace the new, proven strategies . . . and gear up to master a much more complicated process:
Personal branding is no longer optional.
Are you in the dark about how personal branding will help you land a job? Without branding, you’ll have a tough time differentiating your unique value from all your competitors. Branding helps you generate chemistry in all your job search materials (resume, LinkedIn profile, biography, etc.) by showcasing your personality, along with your hard skills.
Executive resumes and biographies don’t look and read the same as before.
Executive resume branding is essential, to position you as the best hiring choice. Personal marketing documents need to incorporate targeting, ROI differentiation, strategic positioning, metrics-driven achievements with relevant keywords, and storytelling. All of this needs to be designed in an eye-catching format that’s easy to read on both big and small screens.
Just as in the past, networking is the best job search method.
You need to hang out where your target audience does, to position yourself in front of them and connect. But your old networking ways are not enough.
You must be visible online.
Do you realize that most recruiters and hiring decision makers search online to source and assess top talent like you? Without a branded LinkedIn profile and a strong, online presence that supports your executive brand, you may be invisible to them.
Today, recruiters and hiring decision makers at your target companies are hanging out on LinkedIn (especially), Twitter, and Facebook . . . among many other social networking sites. A successful search campaign needs to include real-life networking (as always) and online networking at these new meeting grounds.
Flexibility is key.
You may not find a full-time, permanent position with one company. Consulting gigs, temp-to-perm, and portfolio careers (multiple part-time jobs including part-time employment, temporary jobs, freelancing, and self-employment) have become smart, viable strategies. Creating income security, instead of job security, is the new wave.
Are you ready to embrace personal branding and the latest, best job search strategies?
My various offerings include:
Elite Writing Services
- Executive Resume
- LinkedIn Profile
- Career Brand Biography
- Leadership Initiatives Profile
- Cover Letters
- Other Supporting Documents
Read more about my writing services.
Executive Job Search Ebooks and Products
CareerBrandVideos™ to harness the power of video for personal branding and online visibility. Very few job seekers use video at all. Of those who do, very few do it well. Be an early adopter of our new kind of video specifically designed for job search and career.
Essential LinkedIn Guide to help you best use this most important and powerful social networking tool.
Proprietary Worksheets for Personal Branding and Job Search to help you write your own executive resume, LinkedIn profile, biography, etc.
23 Ways You Sabotage Your Executive Job Search and How Your Brand Will Help You Land (ebook)
20 Little-Known, Insider Tips to Accelerate Your Executive Job Search . . . and Land a 6 Figure Job Faster!