Does your job title undersell your experience? 55 interviews later

Does your designation match your job responsibilities?

A VP title on CTO-level work

One of our clients was already doing CTO-level work when we spoke to him.

He was a VP of Engineering at a global investment management firm, running technology end-to-end for its wealth management business. Engineering, support, testing, rollouts, and the rest of the technology organization sat under him.

He had 25 years of experience and knew what he wanted next: a CTO or Head of Engineering role at a mid-sized financial services or FinTech company, or an SVP/EVP role at a larger organization.

There was one problem: He had only just started looking, and he was worried that hiring managers would see “VP of Engineering” on his profile and make assumptions about the level he had actually operated at.

As he put it on our first call, “I happen to run end to end technology as a VP in my firm, whereas other VPs are not able to do that. But I just want to get to next level.”

He also didn't want to spend the next several months figuring out job boards, applications and outreach on his own. What he wanted was someone who could take ownership of the search while he focused on the conversations and interviews. His challenge was making sure the market understood the experience he already had.

Why he was skeptical of reverse recruiting

He was initially skeptical of reverse recruiting. He had spoken to other companies that basically told him what to do and left him to execute everything himself.

His thinking changed when he understood that our team would actually run the search: finding opportunities, applying, following up, preparing him for interviews, giving feedback and helping shape his message.

At one point, he told us, “It has given me more time to focus on the things that matter.”

55 interviews at director, SVP and C-suite level

The search started moving quickly: Over the course of the engagement, he landed 55 interviews with companies including BlackRock, State Street, JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, Raymond James, Broadridge, Scotiabank and many others. The conversations were for director, SVP and C-suite-level positions.

Eventually, he accepted a Head of Client Platform Architecture role with a $325K base and approximately $500K in total compensation.

The role also gave him something strategically important for his longer-term career: broader, organization-wide architecture experience that could eventually strengthen his path toward a CTO or CIO position.

When everything was done, he told us:

“I highly recommend them if you’re looking for senior executive roles. They really know what they're doing.”

The scope behind the title

Sometimes the biggest obstacle in a senior executive's job search is that the market only sees the title on the business card.

The right positioning can help hiring managers understand the scope behind it.

That’s exactly what we do at Wolf Mentoring. If you need help marketing yourself for the right positions, book a call with my team.