Your Executive Experience May Be Stronger Than Your Resume Suggests

I recently worked with an experienced operations executive who wanted an objective assessment of her career and the leadership opportunities she should pursue. She had a strong operations background, had progressed into increasingly responsible roles, and was already attracting recruiter interest. On paper, there was plenty to suggest she was a credible candidate for senior executive roles.

But as I reviewed her resume and LinkedIn profile before our conversation, I had questions about the extent of her financial responsibilities, the decisions she was empowered to make, and the business results she had personally influenced. Her experience was impressive, but some of the most important information was missing.

During our session, I learned considerably more about what she had accomplished. She had been directly involved in evaluating financial performance, identifying operating problems, building processes that were adopted across the business, and helping expand operations into new markets. These were substantial accomplishments, yet much of that experience was either understated or buried beneath descriptions of her day-to-day responsibilities.

It changed my assessment of the opportunities she should be considering. It also reminded me of something I've encountered throughout my career: executives don't always recognize which parts of their experience carry the greatest weight with someone making a hiring decision.

What Employers Need to Understand About Your Experience

When I'm evaluating someone for a senior leadership position, I want to understand the size and complexity of the business they've managed, but I also want to know what changed because of their leadership. Managing twenty locations, for example, tells me something about the scope of a person's responsibilities. It doesn't tell me whether those locations became more profitable, whether employee turnover improved, or whether the executive developed a management structure that allowed the business to expand.

Those are the details that help distinguish someone who has held a senior position from someone who has demonstrated the ability to perform at a higher level. Financial responsibility is another area where the details matter. I've seen executives describe themselves as having P&L experience when their involvement consisted primarily of receiving financial reports and discussing results with their supervisors. Others have worked directly with business owners or financial leadership, identified the reasons behind poor performance, and implemented changes that materially improved the operation.

Both may list P&L experience on their resumes, but their qualifications are quite different.

This is why I spend time asking questions that go beyond the written job description. I want to know what decisions someone made, why they made them, and what happened afterward. If they developed a new operating process, I want to understand whether it was used in one department or adopted across the organization. If they opened a new market, I want to know what they were responsible for and how the business performed.

I also pay attention to what executives leave out of their career histories. People who have spent years performing at a high level sometimes assume that certain accomplishments are simply part of their jobs. They may not recognize that those same accomplishments are exactly what another employer is looking for.

Are You Pursuing the Right Executive Positions?

One of the more important decisions in an executive job search is determining which positions are genuinely appropriate for your background. That sounds straightforward until you consider how differently companies use executive titles. A Vice President of Operations at one organization may have broader financial and management responsibilities than a Chief Operating Officer at another. A Regional Vice President may oversee a substantial business, while someone with a more senior title elsewhere has relatively limited decision-making authority.

For example, I wouldn't advise someone to pursue every COO opening simply because they've reached the SVP/EVP level. I'd first examine the kind of business they've managed, the financial results they've been accountable for, their experience developing other leaders, and whether they've had responsibility across multiple functions.

The company's size and ownership structure matter as well. Someone with a strong record of improving performance and expanding a multi-location business might be particularly attractive to a growing, privately owned organization. That same executive could face a very different set of expectations at a large corporation with established functional leadership, complex governance, and considerably greater financial scale.

Neither opportunity is automatically better. The question is where the person's experience gives them a credible chance to be hired and succeed. During a strategy session, I may recommend pursuing several related executive positions rather than concentrating on a single title. I may also recommend being more selective about positions that appear to represent a promotion. Those decisions should come from examining the person's actual experience and the requirements of the market.

The objective is to identify opportunities worth pursuing, including some the executive may have overlooked.

Your Experience May Be Valuable Outside Your Industry

Another issue that comes up frequently is whether an executive can move into a different industry after spending much of their career in one field.

Employers often prefer candidates who already understand their industry. That preference can be particularly strong in regulated businesses or organizations with specialized operating requirements. It's something I take seriously when assessing an executive's prospects.

However, industry experience isn't the only consideration. Financial management, multi-location operations, developing managers, improving underperforming businesses, and building systems that support growth can be valuable across several industries. The challenge is helping a prospective employer understand how those accomplishments apply to its business.

An executive who has spent years in one healthcare specialty, for instance, may have experience that translates into other multi-site healthcare services. The operating environments won't be identical, and there may be knowledge gaps to address. But experience improving location-level economics, building management teams, and opening new facilities doesn't become irrelevant simply because the employer provides a different service.

I would approach that kind of transition selectively. I'd identify industries with similar operating challenges, research the companies, and determine where the executive's experience offers a genuine advantage. Simply changing the industry names on a resume won't accomplish much. The executive needs to explain why the work they've already done prepares them to solve the problems another employer is facing.

Don't Confuse Early Interest With a Successful Search

There's another lesson from these conversations that I think is important, particularly for executives who are just beginning to explore the market. A few conversations with recruiters can be encouraging, especially when they lead to interviews for attractive positions. But I wouldn't conclude from those initial results that an executive's job-search strategy is fully developed or that the market will respond consistently.

I would look more closely at who's expressing interest, what positions they're discussing, and whether those opportunities align with the executive's qualifications and career objectives. For example, if recruiters are repeatedly approaching someone about positions below their actual level of responsibility, that may indicate a problem with how their experience is being presented. If they're getting interviews for appropriate positions but aren't progressing, I'd want to understand what employers are learning during those conversations.

If there's very little activity, I would examine the target positions, the strength of the executive's professional network, and how they're reaching decision-makers before recommending a wholesale change in direction. The point is to gather enough information to make an informed decision. An executive who's only been searching for a few weeks may not have sufficient evidence to determine what's working.

I also wouldn't encourage someone who's currently employed to leave a good position simply because a recruiter presents an opportunity with a more impressive title. The financial condition of the company, the authority associated with the position, the expectations of its leadership, and the executive's longer-term career interests deserve careful consideration.

Before You Decide What Comes Next

If you're an experienced executive considering a career move, I'd suggest spending some time examining your background as a prospective employer would. Look beyond your titles and the number of years you've worked. Identify the business problems you've solved, the financial and operational decisions you've made, the people and functions you've led, and the results you can substantiate.

Then consider which employers would find that experience valuable. You may discover that you're qualified for opportunities you've been overlooking. You may also find that certain positions require broader experience than your current career history demonstrates. Both conclusions are useful.

After 30 years in recruiting and hiring, I've learned that some of the most revealing information about an executive doesn't appear on their resume until someone asks the right questions. And sometimes those answers change the direction of the entire job search.