Executive

A No Win Scenario

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In yesterday’s coaching session, my client (we’ll call him Jim) told me that, before engaging my services, he received a phone call from a contingency recruiter in California. Jim didn’t know the recruiter, but was told by the recruiter that he had about five or so contacts where he could present Jim. Ahhh, the lure of an opportunity. 

Jim sent off his resume and heard … nothing. He still has heard nothing. My advice, write to the recruiter and inquire to whom he presented his resume, when, and put him on notice that he was not authorized to present his resume to anyone else without Jim’s knowledge and consent. 

Why? Because in this situation, every one stands to lose. 

The recruiter randomly blasts out Jim’s resume to companies in his database so “if” there is an opening at any of those companies, the recruiter can say “he” presented the candidate and claim a fee. If the company doesn’t want to pay the fee, he simply doesn’t hire that … perhaps very qualified … candidate. If the company does hire the candidate, he just might face a lawsuit from the recruiter. Everyone loses.

Sound crazy? Read the story directly from this recruiter on ERE.net. 

Did you notice this sentence? 

“Our candidate put his resume on career builder.”

If you are currently working with recruiters or intend to work with recruiters in the future, the rest of the story is one good reason, and there are many, why CFOs and other senior-level executives should NOT post resumes on public job boards, in my humble opinion. 

The best way to work with recruiters is to build relationships with them before you need them. Most recruiters are professional and credible. It is the recruiters like the one who called Jim that can cause problems for everyone. The only way you, as a candidate, can discern which recruiter(s) is the best fit for you is to have a solid relationship in place long before you find yourself in the job search market. 

Online Reputation Management

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One hundred percent (100%) of Chief Financial Officers 

and Senior Finance Executives have an online reputation to manage 

Not everyone loves statistics, but I do. There is something about having a factual basis for acting that resonates with my brain and propels me forward. So of course, as my Online ID re-certification course began, the stats had me saying WOW! My clients definitely need to know – from a facts and figures perspective – how critically important it is to manage your online reputation. Because whether or not you are proactively managing it, you do have one … even if that reputation is MIA.

Here are some of the stats that jumped out at me …

— … an executive can increase the amount of his or her compensation by increasing one statistic; the number of CEOs and decision-makers in a sector that are aware of the executive’s accomplishments. Howard Nestler, CEO of Executive Options

— 79% of US hiring managers and recruiters reviewed online information about job applicants. 70% rejected candidates based on what they found, with poor communication skills, lying, and sharing confidential company information among the reasons cited for rejection.

— Conversely, 18% of companies found social networking profiles as a positive influence because they offered a good feel for culture fit and added credibility to the candidates’ resumes / interview. I believe this number is only going to continue to grow.

— 76% of executives expect to be Googled yet 22% have never Googled their own name to see what companies and recruiters will find. 

— While there are no measurements on the influence of a CFO’s reputation, 87% of respondents to a Hill & Knowlton survey believe the CEO’s reputation is key to the company. I would venture to say the CFO’s reputation is equal or greater to that of the CEO, particularly during tough times.

— According to a Career Builder study last year, the top industries most likely to screen job candidates using social networking sites and search engines include those who handle sensitive information. 

Bottom Line: If you want to be among the hunted, you have to be able to be found.

(Sources: Reach Online ID Certification 2010, Microsoft 2009, Career Builder 2009, Execunet 2007)

Stay the Course … or Pivot?

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You thought I was going to talk politics, right? Another day, perhaps. But I am going to borrow from a current political message.

Disregard people’s responses at your own peril. And while that certainly does apply to companies, government, and CXO’s who set strategy, what about on a much more personal level … your job search.

What responses are you getting to …

Your resume? Interest? Inquiries? Interviews? Or, Silence? Unless your answer is one or all of the first three, what can you do differently to move from silence to activity?

Networking? Is your network providing you with introductions to your target market? Or, are people hiding behind closed doors because you asked them for a job and they can’t deliver? Is it time to hone your message?

Search strategy? Sitting in front of a computer and responding to posted positions is easy and it sure can make a person feel productive. But what is the return on your investment of time and energy? If decision-makers are not responding, the search strategy might need an overhaul.

Online Presence? Do you have one? Is it credible? Is it attracting the kind of opportunities you want? If your message is not resonating with your target market, then perhaps the messaging needs to be refined. 

I know you know this. If you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll continue to get what you’ve been getting. If you’re getting what you want and need, great! If you aren’t, then it’s time to pivot. Unless you embrace change, it’s unlikely anything will change.

Executive finance positions, and particularly CFO roles, are limited. There are only so many available slots at the top. Move away from the masses (competition) and the same ineffective strategies they all use and craft (no pun intended) a strategy that gets you out in the open where you can be seen and found by those who need to know about you, need what you have, and are willing to pay to get it.

Resume vs. Candidate … Is There Cohesion?

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One of the issues facing candidates is ensuring cohesion between his resume and the person he really is. While the search process is comprised of two parts … marketing documents and the search strategy … they go hand-in-hand. If you look great on paper but bomb in the interview … because who you looked like on paper isn’t really who you are … the process will fail. Conversely, if you wow someone at a networking event but follow up with a less-than-compelling resume, again, the process will fail. The disconnect could be career suicide.

Recruiter Rayanne Thorn talks about this very situation in her blog post, “Looking Good on Paper.” While hers is an extreme example, it is more often the little things that can trip up candidates. Sue Danbom talked about this same issue in her ERE blog post, “Does Your Costume Reveal the Real You?”

My belief is that regardless of the situation, authenticity is key. I am not at all suggesting that any of my readers lie. I am saying that a disconnect, even unintentionally, between who you appear to be on paper and who you are in person, could be derailing your ability to land that next opportunity.

Does your resume speak from your voice? Does it reflect and confirm your in-person executive stature? And conversely, are you the accomplished contributor your resume says you are?

Failing to Plan … Planning to Fail?

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A finance executive called me last week because he knew that his resume was not selling value, he struggled when answering questions about his atypical career track, and he had an important interview coming up in the next couple of weeks. He understood that without a compelling value proposition that mitigated his unusual career progression and which leveraged his market differentiation, he would always be on the defensive while being interviewed.  Smart guy. 

Except, that when his pending interview was postponed indefinitely and the immediacy of the situation gone, he put his strategic planning on hold. Without the urgency driving his steps, he would have had the luxury of time to get his positioning right … while gaining confidence and re-energizing his search. 

The reality in proactively managing one’s career is like anything else … failing to plan could very well be planning to fail. The choice to not be proactive is a decision, by default, to be reactive. 

CFOs Paring Payrolls

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Cold Cuts posted at CFO.com addresses the need for CFOs to cut payrolls … in every manner possible. At least the beginning of 2009 is going to be bumpy for a lot of people.

What was interesting to me was this statement at the end of the article …

Is there any bright spot to be found amid all this gloom? Yes, and it appears to be shining directly on CFOs: most respondents said they expect executive management to feel little or no impact from the coming cuts.

The very people surveyed feel their positions are not in jeopardy. Might I suggest they hold that belief at their own peril? Every executive is safe only as long as he is meeting projections. The moment he doesn’t, he is as vulnerable as everyone else.

At the risk of sounding redundant, you are the most valuable as a prospective candidate while employed. It behooves you, while you are feeling secure, to position yourself from one of power and proactivity rather then being forced to react to a situation over which you no longer have any control.

Once you lose your position, even with a big fat severance package in hand, your marketability will take a hit, it will take longer then you can imagine to get that next position, and your ego and confidence will be greatly tested along the way.

Leverage the power of being an employed, accomplished, and contributing executive now, while you still can.