Why You Need to Take Control of Your Own Executive Job Search

The Executive Job Market: A Flawed Process

Most executives wade into their job search by following the same old path: scanning job boards, sending out applications and contacting headhunters in the hope that they will have something that fits.

This passive approach is tempting. It's easy to fire off applications en-masse to LinkedIn postings. Having a headhunter do the legwork feels productive. But it is a flawed strategy.

These methods put you in a passive position – you’re reacting to opportunities that someone else defines, competing on terms someone else sets, for roles someone else decides you might deserve. You have no control.

The reality is that the best executive opportunities are quietly filled off-market, often before a formal job description is ever written. The real winners are those who get in early, helping define the need and positioning themselves as the solution before anyone else knows the role exists.

Relying on job listings or headhunters means you’re playing someone else’s game.

The executive job market rewards those who take ownership of their search, creating their opportunities rather than chasing them. Handing over control might feel easier in the moment, but it means leaving the future of your career to chance — and too often it’s a chance that doesn’t pay off.

Headhunters: A Limited Resource

Headhunters, or executive search firms, are the most traditional route for hiring at the executive level. Good ones are great at what they do, and they can be an invaluable resource in your career. However, their value is limited by the nature of their business.

Headhunters work for their clients — the hiring companies — not for you. Their job is to present a curated shortlist of candidates that satisfies their client’s needs. Even if you’re on that list, you’re competing against a slate of equally or more qualified people.

This makes you a commodity in their process, no matter how impressive your credentials.

Additionally, headhunters only have access to a fraction of the market. They’re engaged for specific roles, and these roles often come with rigid requirements that may not align perfectly with your skills or career goals.

Online Job Listings: A Pointless Exercise

Public job postings are by far the most disingenuous way of securing an executive role.

By the time a position is advertised, the company has likely exhausted internal referrals and informal networks. What follows is a deluge of applications — hundreds, often thousands — most of which are complete junk.

For an executive, applying through a public lob listing is a losing proposition. Your application is reduced to bullet points and keywords, and you’re competing against a sea of candidates, many of whom are not remotely qualified for the role.

Even if your credentials are impeccable, the sheer volume of garbage can prevent your resume from ever reaching the decision-makers.

Internal Talent Teams: Inefficient Gatekeepers

The inefficiency of job listings is compounded by how your application is managed: the internal talent acquisition function.

These teams are often overwhelmed by the volume of applications and bogged down by inefficient processes and clunky technology. Worse, applications are frequently screened by junior professionals who often lack the experience to truly assess the unique value of a senior executive.

As a result, your application may be overlooked entirely, dismissed because it doesn’t fit a rigid set of criteria or fails to tick certain boxes. More often than not, the inefficiency and inexperience of internal talent teams make them unreliable gatekeepers for getting executive talent in front of the people who make the decisions.

The Case for Off-Market Opportunities

The most rewarding executive roles are not found through traditional channels, they are created. These off-market opportunities arise long before a company engages a headhunter or posts a job publicly.

Companies often prefer to avoid the time, cost and complexity of a formal search process. Instead, they rely on their networks or act on direct introductions. By proactively generating these opportunities, you position yourself as the ideal candidate before the company even considers searching for one.

Off-market opportunities allow you to avoid the noise and competition of traditional channels. You’re not one of many applicants, you’re the executive who saw the need, reached out and offered a solution.

Taking Control

Taking control of your executive job search doesn’t mean abandoning headhunters or ignoring traditional channels altogether. It means recognizing their limitations and supplementing them with a proactive strategy to create off-market opportunities.

1. Understand the Market: Identify industries and companies where your skills and experience can have the most impact. Research their challenges, strategic priorities and leadership gaps.
2. Build Relationships: Focus on cultivating relationships with decision-makers — CEOs, board members and senior executives. These are the people who will remember you when the need arises, often before a role is formally created.
3. Position Yourself as a Solution: Approach companies not as a job seeker but as a problem solver. Think like a consultant. Tailor your pitch to their specific challenges and demonstrate how your leadership can drive results.
4. Stay Persistent: Generating off-market opportunities takes time and effort. It requires persistence and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, but the rewards are significant for those who are willing to do the work.

The Off-Market Advantage

The best executive roles go to the ones who show up first and with a solution. Off-market opportunities are about being in the right place at the right time, with a clear value proposition.

By running your job search as a consultative sales process and proactively generating these opportunities, you avoid the inefficiencies of traditional channels and position yourself as the top choice. You’re not competing against a crowd. You're competing on your terms and not placing your future in the hands of an intermediary.

The Bottom Line

Public job listings are a dead end for executives. Headhunters, while valuable, serve a limited role. Internal talent teams are often too inefficient to see your value.

If you want the best opportunities, you must create them. Off-market opportunities are the key to unlocking roles that align with your skills, goals, and aspirations.

The executives who succeed are those who take control of their careers — not by waiting for opportunities to come to them, but by creating opportunities before anyone else knows they exist.