06-16-21

The Hiring Line:

1. Jayson’s client C. has landed as Chief Product Officer for a software solutions company and will be relocating. He will report directly to the CEO. Jayson pulled Dan in for the heaving lifting in the negotiations, and our team was able to get some pencils sharpened: C.’s previous total comp was $300,000; now that new column on the spreadsheet shows a pretty $553,750! Nice haul, Dan!

2. Lori’s client L. applied to a job posting and 10 minutes after applying received an invite for an interview! They loved her, the Founder came in to meet with her, and immediately after the interview, she was verbally offered the position! It is an HR Director role at a nonprofit organization management company! After working in the education field K-12, she is now going to be working with the elderly! From one end of the spectrum to the other!

   She is very excited! Yay, Lori!

3. Paula’s so happy: A. landed an Operations Leadership (Area Manager) role at a large online retailer! Dan jumped in on an hour’s notice on Waffles’ day off to coach her on the Compensation Foundation Spreadsheet approach to the negotiations, and it paid off big again! Total comp jumped from $98,120 to – wait for it! $187,443! So happy, indeed, Paula!

4. S. was in Clarity with Lisa (“Lisa is a true professional and her coaching is fabulous!”) when his colleague from 15 years ago called him up: “I think there might be a role on my team you might be interested in.” Waffles hopped on a Zoom to give him the interview coaching. Now, S. had been working from home as a consultant until COVID-19 blew the wind out of his sales – no clients! On top of that, the running cost put S. back a whopping $700,000!

   He interviews with five people and reports back to Waffles, then the written offer comes in from a data management services company. He settles on $225K base, $17K bonus, great benefits, and 12,000 RSU’s on a company expected to go public later this year. Hmmm, so what would that do for S.? Waffles ran the available numbers and went conservative, and he and S. cracked up on Zoom. If he waits it out for the four years to get full vesting, S. can walk to the bank with – this is crazy, folks! – $700,000!

   Waffles recommended he accept the offer and sent him his Personal Survey. Congratulations, S.!!

Interviews Advance:

1. Dan coached C. on his second interview with the creator of virtual restaurant concepts as Account Manager; the Research Team loaded C. up with info goodies. They’re thinking this role might be too junior for our client, so they’re moving him to the role of Enterprise Onboarding Project Manager. You go, C.!

   Isabelita unloads the truck:

2. R. followed our instructions on reaching out weekly to social capital diligently and landed an interview with a Private Equity firm for a General Counsel role!

3. P. has scored an interview with an outdoor company, after dutifully following Isabelita’s and Waffles’ instructions on networking on LinkedIn! Now, that’s how to turn the page!

4. C. had an interview for a PMO role in Europe for a Wholesale Food Distributor from a published market posting. She followed the techniques to approach hiring managers directly on LinkedIn. Her second interview is later this week. Now, that’s how to paper the wall!

5. A. says: “I’ve been very busy this week with interviews and networking.” Here are some highlights:

   “Networking with IT Director at [an accelerator] and she will forward my CV to the hiring manager for the CRO role.”

   Another Fintech in Europe: “Spoke with the CMO and CTO. I’m very positive on how the discussions went. Will follow up with the current GM about next steps.” Great activity, A.!

   Anne throws snake eyes:

6. B. had a successful 3rd interview with the Board of Directors and HR of a cosmetic manufacturing company. They discussed onboarding, learning curve, and three months in the HQ as part of the training. She felt confident in the possibility of moving forward to an offer.

7. B. also has an interview with a celebrity-endorsed, non-alcoholic beverage startup, for Head of Supply Chain. She is interviewing with VP Marketing/CEO. 

8. S. is being flown by corporate jet to a building component manufacturer’s headquarters for his second interview and a tour of the facility. He will be Production Manager. Waffles was happy to step in to help with the preparation and research.

9. C. is traveling to the West Coast for all day interviews with an electric car company for an exec role in RE and ops – he had already had five interviews and is scheduled for five more while he is there! Paula’s doubling down on this one, folks!

10. M. reached out to Dan to help with his package as he advances to the second interview with a home improvement company for an Assistant Manager position.

11. Jerry tells us that M. has a second interview with the hiring manager for the VP of Communications at a property management company. The first interview was this week. He did well enough in the first interview, so the hiring manager was anxious to meet with him.

Interviews:

1. Back to Paula: K. interviewed with HR for an opportunity at a startup healthcare company. Next step would be an interview with Head of Operations.

2. George eyes the prize: K. met a lady through networking calls and she felt he might be a good fit for their Director opening at a member organization. She’s arranged for him to interview with Human Resources and he expects to have a phone call with the VP of HR this week.

3. Lori’s C. has a first interview with an executive search firm for the CFO posting at a home improvement company in Europe!

   Jerry’s still at the window:

4. A. had the following interviews last week for Director of Operations at each company:

   – A consumer finance company
   – A provider of security services

   Both said he made it to the next round and he is waiting for the interview schedule.

5. D. has the following upcoming interviews and one offer pending:

   1. Healthcare company – Role of VP Sales & Marketing

   2. Pharmaceutical company – Role of Regional Business Director

   3. Another pharmaceutical company – Role of Area Sales Director- offer pending

6. D. applied to a position at a provider of reinsurance solutions for a VP of Investments and the HR manager responded today asking for his availability for a call to discuss the role. He just got his Personal Survey yesterday!

7. Paula had a great meeting this week with M.: he is interviewing with a chemicals and performance materials company for a Director of Human Services & Operations. Also, a financial organization, his alma mater, is in initial discussions about a Commercial Priority Services Group Manager role.

   But he is really jazzed about a new opportunity he was referred to by a colleague: a boutique consulting firm for HR folks is going national! He has had two discussions with Principals already, and they said: “This is one of the best resumes we’re seen in a while!” When he put in a PMAR request: “I got some great info from your people and was able to connect directly with two well-placed executives!” Hey, that’s what we do, that’s who we are, M.!

Appreciation:

1. K. had a good chat with Julie Norwell: “When you have so many interviews that don’t work out, it gets to be a dark time. Julie Holifield was so positive and reinforcing. I can’t tell you how much that helped. It was all a matter of perspective, perception, keeping your head on straight and your chin up, but it really helped.” Clarity also helped K. think hard about whether to stay in health care or do something else. She concluded that she was on the right path.

   K. said that her transition to Greg Emslie (career consultant) was good, however, it coincided with her hearing back from a company that she’d applied to months earlier. So, they skipped reworking her resume and building social capital and went straight to interview preparation. Greg provided her with lots of material, and she leaned heavily on the scripts and the list of possible questions she might face. She spent hours perfecting her answers because her situation had become dire. Time and money were running out.

   Waffles was enlisted to help K. even before Greg was assigned to her so she wouldn’t lose valuable time. K. enjoyed working with Waffles and was glad she did because the interview process was harder than she expected. Although she felt that she already interviewed well before they began meeting, she also recognized that she hadn’t successfully closed the deal on any interview in the past year. She credits Waffles with really helping to re-orient herself, maintain her composure, and remember that she is interviewing the company as much as the other way around.

   K. finally got her job offer a week before she was supposed to move out of her apartment. “It was a real nail biter!” Greg helped her negotiate an attractive compensation package.

   Now, there’s a Happy Story!

2. “OK, it’s George again. Here are a few things I think become apparent from Travis’ incredibly thorough answer (to one of our clients’ questions).

   Bottom line: Travis, your answer makes all of us proud of the TBG Brand. Many thanks for taking the time and having the expertise to put that answer together. Most importantly, you are going to impress a very important client.”

Read next: Frontline Report for 06-09-21