The Unique Challenges of C-Level Hiring and How Executive Recruiters Can Help

For a relevant window into the unique challenges and importance of executive and C-level hiring, consider ecommerce recruitment. A robust online presence, particularly for any consumer products company, is now not only necessary for maintaining and expanding market share, but is also increasingly necessary for keeping the doors open. That makes attracting STAR talent for your next VP of Digital Marketing crucial

 

The fact is, the stakes are so much higher for executive and C-level hiring. New executives, for better or worse, are likely to set the course for the whole department and can have a huge impact on ROI. Hiring a new executive comes with some challenges, but fortunately isn’t something you have to go at alone.

 

Challenge: Identifying the Relevant Accomplishments and Skill Sets for the C-Level Candidate

One of the biggest hiring mistakes any business can make when hiring for C-level positions is relying on the “post a position and sort through resumes” staffing strategy. The best executive candidate in the resume pile is almost certainly not the STAR talent the position requires. In-house hiring is prone to miss out on the importance of in-depth performance analysis, relevance of past accomplishments, and functional industry experience.

 

Past performance can look great on paper, but is it truly relevant, or did a candidate just put the right keywords on their resume? What’s the trend of their performance over their career history? Can any business justify risking their financial future on not using an experienced executive recruitment firm that knows how to get the answers to those questions? A boutique recruiting firm with industry specialization will create individualized recruiting strategies to ensure your next executive hire doesn’t only have the ability to manage and problem solve, but also will have the drive, personality, and cultural fit needed to thrive within your organization.

 

Challenge: Top-Tier Talent Is Probably Already Employed Elsewhere

Consider the internal hiring process of a CPG business engaged in C-level data science and analytic recruiting for a VP of Analytics position. They put up postings and received applications. The thing is, true STAR talent generally doesn’t stay on the job market long, and the best executive candidates probably aren’t actively looking for work. The chance that the perfect hire is going to be waiting in a stack of resumes is slim. You don’t want the best candidate that directly applied, you want the STAR C-level talent who is ready to advance their career and help your business thrive. So, if the best candidate for the role is already working somewhere else, how do you find them? Partner with an executive recruiting firm with the sourcing skills and deep industry networks and relationships necessary to vet and uncover your next STAR executive hire.

 

The Benefits of Professional Recruiting Firms

It’s shocking that a company would rely on internal hiring strategies for their executive and C-level positions. Especially when you need an active recruiting strategy to find the top talent needed for a leadership role, rather than the passive approach of waiting for the best talent to come to you. The best boutique executive recruiting firms are industry experts and have established deep relationship networks with STAR talent in your field over their decades of experience. They know, or can leverage their deep industry networks to find out, which top talent in your industry would be open to making a career change.

 

Using their proprietary processes, the best recruiting firms will evaluate who has the most relevant experience, the right set of necessary skills, applicable performance metrics, and who would be a perfect culture fit. Those networks and that insight will have been developed over decades of applying proprietary processes for sourcing and vetting the best of the best. Ask yourself: Can any business afford not to partner with industry recruiting experts? An experienced recruiter will see your C-level and executive hiring process through from start to finish.

 

About BrainWorks

BrainWorks has earned a reputation over the past 28 years as a leader in the executive recruiting industry. Their recruitment strategy combines their suite of proprietary recruitment solutions with a wealth of business intelligence. The BrainWorks recruiting process combines tools such as the Seven Traits to Assess Results (STAR) system, Talent Evaluation Process (TEP), and Talent Acquisition Profile (TAP). They have a professional team of recruitment experts. When looking for consumer product professionals, don’t just look for any recruiter—look for a long-term partner with experienced data science recruiters and C-level executive recruiters across industries. BrainWorks’ Practice Areas include Consumer Products, CRM, Data Science, Analytics, Finance, IT, Private Equity, Digital Marketing, and ecommerce.