Recognising possibilities and realizing potentials in recruitment for companies and in job search for job-seeking leaders

Yesterday, I spoke with a senior leader who shared her job search experiences from the past year — and unfortunately, nothing she said was unique.

She is not being invited to interviews for senior leadership roles she feels she is a strong match for, despite her extensive leadership background, consulting experience, and strong commitment to continuous development. She would also be open to expert or senior expert positions — she has already proven herself in consulting — yet the recruitment process often stops for one or more of these three reasons:

▪️She has the same level or even more experience than the future manager.
▪️She applies for non-leadership roles, but recruiters assume a senior expert position "won't be enough" for her, even though she has already proven in consulting that she thrives in such roles.
▪️Sector- and industry-specific experience is overvalued.  Even if her background differs slightly, she is screened out early — despite having clearly shown, in both corporate and consulting work, that she quickly understands and learns new business environments and industry specifics.

🎁 Solution-focused question and exercise for organisations / hiring managers

❓What would be different in our recruitment process if we deliberately paid attention to the value a candidate can bring — even if the candidate has more experience than the future manager or comes from another industry?

💡Exercise:

1️⃣Choose one role or recruitment process where industry or hierarchy filters play a strong role.

2️⃣List three competencies or strengths that someone from a different background could bring.

3️⃣Identify one small experimental step to try in the next recruitment round (e.g. a different CV-screening focus, a new interview question, or a strengths-based evaluation point).

🎁Solution-focused question and exercise for job-seeking leaders

❓ Which of your achievements or strengths shows how you create value as a leader, how you perform well as a senior expert even with a leadership background, and how you could quickly create value in a new industry — and how can you make this visible in your next selection process?

💡Exercise: 

1️⃣select three concrete achievements from the past 12 months:
▪️one where you created value as a leader,
▪️ one where you performed strongly as a senior expert with a leadership background,
▪️one where you adapted quickly in a new or unfamiliar environment.

2️⃣Turn each achievement into a 2–3 sentence using the STAR model:
S – Explain the situation / context
T – Describe your role or task in the situation
A – Tell about the actions you took
R – List the result or measurable impact