How to Use Credibility to Hasten Executive Job Search Success

How does a ‘Star’ employee become a disenchanted employee in matter of 3 years? What could make a passive hard to find talent coveted so passionately a few years earlier become stuck on a job she dislikes today? What could have made a rare talent consider resignation from a job she was practically wooed to accept a few years ago? Such was the lot of Jane, a Senior Project Engineer we helped recruit for one of our clients a few years back. You our client did everything humanly possible to ensure that Jane joined their company. Recently I got talking to Jane to find out how she was faring. Her response shocked me. She said she had wanted to leave the company a long time ago but has not been successful in her job search. That was when she told me that she had even considered resignation until sanity prevailed. Without having another job she could not resign from the present one. She then requested for my assistance in her job search. Jane’s predicament then got me thinking. Here was a very talented and credible person stuck on a job she does not like and finding it difficult to secure something better. Are you an executive desirous of changing your present job which you are tired of but do not know how? If you are, then are you aware of the vital role your credibility can play in enhancing your job hunt? Talent acquisition professionals have noted the critical role credibility plays in executive job search. We have noted that it inspires the ‘can-do belief’ in potential employers having been aware of the past achievements of a prospecting executive. It also inspires confidence in organizations interested in your service as an executive having been aware of your previous professional accomplishments. My objective here in this article is to discuss on how you can use your credibility to hasten your job search. What is credibility in Executive Job Search? Credibility in executive job hunting “Is the ability to inspire belief in you as an executive by the organization requesting for your service.” It separates the truly successful executives from those yet to reach their potentials. To then use credibility to make a difference in executive job search, you need to proffer answers to the following questions: i. Who am I? ii. Why should they engage me? iii. How do they know whether I can deliver? iv. Can I deliver the results I have promised? v. Am I the person they are looking for? Credibility therefore becomes very important and critical for the executive who is just moving up the corporate ladder. How Can the Executive Develop the Credibility Essential for Job Search? Ray Smilor in his enterprising book “Daring Visionaries” pointed out that there are some effective ways of building credibility as an entrepreneur. I think it is equally effective in building your credibility as an executive. 1. Building credibility through inference: This is a very effective way of building credibility in your executive job search. Without employers personally knowing an executive, they can infer his credibility if they are aware of his key accomplishments or his past. Crafting a professional resume will go a long way in inspiring belief in potential employers. Having a compelling LinkedIn profile is another way of building your credibility. You can therefore build your credibility through inference by pointing to facts, experiences and credentials that will allow potential employers to judge you as competent, informed and a knowledgeable professional and expert. The key elements that can be used to infer credibility will therefore include: a. Academic credentials and professional certifications: Academic and professional qualifications which display expertise in a discipline will convey your knowledge about the subject. b. Previous successful experience as an executive or a manager: The “been there” or “done that” experience is a critical way to convince potential employers that you can do it again. c. Records of having directed completed projects: Having been involved in the direction of a completed project before, shows that you have demonstrated that skill and it could be replicated and applied to other projects. 2. Building credibility through reference: This is a higher level of building credibility in executive job search. It is connected to the personal traits you leave behind as you pass through life. The people who will provide references on you could be others in your previous or present places of employment, opinion leaders in your profession or industry, media persons who might have written about you or your accomplishments and customers, suppliers or employees whom you might have affected in your professional interactions. The more objective the information received from your references the more believable will be the impact it will have on your credibility. This is why it is absolutely important that you endeavor to leave good track record in your journey through your professional calling. The more reason why prospective employers request for referees why considering people for employment. They want people to give credible information about you. From the foregoing, the critical role of credibility in executive job search can therefore not be over emphasized. It has been demonstrated over time that it is an effective convincing factor in decision making on employment. Further, when built and it becomes convincing enough, it shortens the period of executive job hunting. Finally, being a credible executive hastens your market-ability. I hope you have benefited from reading this post as much as I have in writing it.