The Secrets of getting selected as CXO
Before I start writing about “how to get CXO and Leadership Job” it is very important to understand why it is difficult for peoples to get in a Leadership and Senior management job and if that job is in a bigger and reputed company it is near to impossible like situations for may capable professionals to even think of applying for the job. And somehow you convince yourself and apply for the that job; getting the interview call!!! You never get the call.
If I have to say why you do not get even called for interview in spite of having almost 90% or sometime event 100% matching profile as advertised in the Job description. My simple answer in one sentence is “As a job seeker you feel you are the most competent person for this Job as described in the JD, but a business owner and CEO hires only that person who is most suitable for him and his company” depending on the most important priorities S/he have for his business that might not been even published in that JD. Because the advertised JD is just a formality to get application it might be a copy/paste of some JD template or the person who prepared the JD is not fully aware of what really the business owner / CEO wants.
The 2nd most important reason why you are not getting even called for the interview depend on how was the process of finalising the CV for interview. “Whether you are part of Shortlisting process or Selection Process”. If you are part of the Shortlisting process where you keep applying for the Job as and when advertised, the chances of getting shortlisted is very rare due to two basic reason. First the high number or volume of CV received by the employer for the same job and shortlisting few profiles become very difficult and there is much possibility of getting your profile overlooked and some other possible human mistakes in the shortlisting process. Second the old pathetic shortlisting criteria followed in the process which is actually an “Elimination process” but we call it “Selection Process”.
So, you have to come out of that shortlisting process and become part of the real selection process where your profile is headhunted by the recruiter and employer for the appropriate leadership and management position. And when management looks into you profile out of some selected profile you get compared and elected to be called for the interview.
So first you need to be prepared to get called for the interview, many of know people who come to me are struggling for better career and even out of job for some time but are never ready to add value in themselves to prepare for the job and interview.
Being part of the board of some companies I know how critical is to receive some good selected two to three profiles. Some time event these 3 selected profiles are not relevant and you have to ask for some more better profile.
Your job profile should speak about your credibility to get selected, when a head-hunter call you for the Job profile you must study the company and its financials and customise your profile as per the requirement they are looking and then forward to the head-hunter to ensure get shortlisted and called for the interview.
Leadership skills and competencies are transforming very fast and you have to keep upgrading your skills and competencies. I rarely see people investing for their future. What you are today is mostly because of the investment done by your parents in your education and training to secure your 1st job. To grow further and get a better 2nd job its your responsibility to invest in yourself to add value and secure better career in future.
So, once you are shortlisted and called for interview, you have to be the best in Interview to get selected for the Job. And friends if you are looking for a management and leadership position this is not easy if you are not prepared.
Success is a learnable skill, you learn these skills and become successful.
In corporate interviews can be conducted in many phases but the type of interviewers is fixed. There are only three interviewers in all companies and these three are the individual people with their added individual priorities along with company priorities when they interview the job seeker for the position.
The three interviewers are:
a. The “HR” it can be the head of HR or HR team
b. “Your Boss” the department or function head or CEO if he is your would be boss.
c. “The Owner” the business owner or the CEO who has the ultimate P&L responsibility.
Here it is very important to understand that for all the above three you need to have a three different kind of preparation and strategy of getting in the interview. Some time these three can have a different round of interview individually and some time they may join in two or three together to have the interview. And you need to be presenting differently in all three as per their expectation and if they are in group you have to change the strategy to follow the winning strategy to get selected in the interview and JOB.
From my personal experience as leadership coach, I can guarantee if you have your preparation for 1st getting selected and called for interview and then adopting the winning strategy of influencing the above three interviewers, you will get selected and will never have any problem of job and career growth in life.
Do let me know how you all liked sharing this experience and depending on your feedback, I will write you all about the three different strategy you need to adopt to get selected in any interview of job or Life.
If you, your company or friend is facing challenges in growing leadership career or getting job in a senior management role in any function do write to me on www.dhirendragautam.com I am sure you will be always blessed.