Did you ever think to yourself… “Been in my industry what seems a life time, too many years in my current position, I’ve been there, I’ve done that?”

Or have you suddenly and unexpectedly found yourself between jobs? Perhaps fired, cut from the payroll but still a family to take care of? Or at best, you called it quits yourself?

You have probably heard most executive jobs are either found through networking or by being "headhunted" by executive-level recruitment firms, also called search firms. Both leveraging your network and building relationships with a few executive recruiters in your industry are methods that can be highly effective for winning new opportunities. Both are without a doubt critical for executive-level professionals to include in their overall career management strategy. Both, however, do take considerable time — the results don’t happen overnight.

Career “Switchers” – professionals who are looking to make an industry or functional change (or both) – are on the rise. But making a significant change mid-career is tough. When faced with hiring bias, unanswered applications and frustrating rejections, many Switchers give up too soon, even when they KNOW they have what it takes to be successful in their new target role. Don't let this be you - persevere and get the job you want!

To get you started off right, here are the most common Job Switch Killers and how to avoid them:

Let me present yourself one of the deadliest and yet often most easily neglected mistake you can do as executive in career transition: Having a big EGO. Let me show you three examples and the negative consequences of a big ego for job search success.

Mistake Number 1: “I can do it.”

Your resume tells who you are. Simply put, you are what you write, and not what you think you are. An executive maybe a worldwide SVP of Sales, but the resume presents you as a middle manager. You may be an industry-agnostic General Manager, but your resume makes you an automotive industry expert. You may rank high in an investment bank, but you fail to communicate your responsibility and 100 staff under you.

If you’re ready to make the transition to a new job or a new industry, a resume or CV revamp is imperative, and a vital document in your career marketing toolkit to pursue your new role.

However, beware, the most difficult resumes to write are those of career changers. Transitioning to a new career requires personal assessment and reinvention to create a clear, compelling marketing proposition for your target audience.

As we enter the holiday season, it is time for the annual ritual of New Year’s Resolutions, more intense for some & less intense for some others. Apart from weight loss, the quest for a new role typically ends up landing in the list of priorities! In this context, while speaking to many people on their goals for a new role in the coming year, I prepared the following outline, based on the advice many sought from me:

As a new executive, how do you ensure your success and your organization’s success? Don’t rely on the company to do it for you.

A company’s onboarding process often does not receive the same level of effort and attention as the hiring process. So be proactive and set yourself up for success by filling in the pieces your company may miss to ensure you understand the company culture, hierarchy, your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and the company’s organizational goals and potential challenges. 

Whenever you anticipate launching a high-level job or career transition, you undoubtedly hope it will go smoothly. However, only a “Pollyanna-type” personality would blithely assume that such a result will occur every time. You don’t need to be a hard-core pessimist, of course, but being prepared can save you a lot of grief in the long run.