How to Work with an Executive Search Team

The day you started looking for your next job should have been the day you started the job you're in now, according to one Australian CIO. In a profession where high turnover is the norm, and where advertised CIO positions come up relatively infrequently, it makes no sense to wait for the guillotine to come down before you check out the market.

1. Build a relationship. The rub is that in a crowded market, most CIOs would agree that there are only four or five executive search firms of calibre in Australia worth dealing with. Finding and building a strong relationship with at least one of them can be worth gold to your long-term career prospects.

CIOs should be registered with either boutique search firms, the international search firms or both. They need to ask a lot of questions in order to feel comfortable that their details will be kept confidential, Day says. "At their level, roles do not come up as often so they need to keep in touch with a recruiter they can trust," Day says. "I have some relationships with people spanning over a 10-year period. I know what they are looking for even if they are not active, but they would still like to hear about opportunities. Often at their level they will be head-hunted."

"A CIO-level appointment is a senior strategic appointment, often instigated by the board or the chief executive. In many instances these opportunities are unadvertised, so having a relationship with a number of high-quality search consultants who specialize in these types of positions is important," Hammond says.

Even in firms that don't specialize, individual recruiters may have a specific background or focus, notes Milce, who used to work in IT at Westpac, and it can certainly help to work with those with specialized IT experience. Above all, he says CIOs should focus on building strong relationships with their search agencies.

"In this business, and having seen both sides of the equation if you like, if you're a senior manager in IT you should maintain a relationship with senior people in a couple of agencies so that when they're looking for senior managers they will pick up the phone and ring you." Maintaining that relationship may involve no more than a phone call or e-mail once a quarter, and lunch once a year, Milce says. He says most recruiters, provided the CIO isn't just trying to "big note" himself or score a free meal every three months, will be happy to maintain a relationship with you.

"I recommend that you schedule bi-annual catch-up meetings or discussions with the search consultants that you develop a relationship with. The key here is to be respectful of each other's time and make the most of these meetings," Hammond says.

2. Master of your fate. "The relationship that a CIO needs to forge with an executive recruiter depends on the role that they want to play in a company," notes World Wildlife Fund vice president and CIO Gregory Smith. "It's true that many CIOs want to play a strategic and business role in a company, only to find out that the tasks that actually get assigned to them once they've been hired are more operational or tactical in nature.

"Thus - regardless of the recruiters - I think more organizations tend to fall back on their CIOs for technical work and infrastructure types of projects instead of using IT to drive growth, products, and revenue. Unfortunately, the recruiter is caught in the middle as they're expected to serve as the glue between the candidate and the company.

"My advice to CIO candidates is to focus on the recruiter for the right types of opportunities and simply use them as a conduit to the role that they want or feel comfortable in. If a CIO is looking for a company where he or she can play a strategic role, that's great, but they need to assume some responsibility for their fate. During the interview process the CIO should focus on the key executives and see if they mean business or are just talking industry buzzwords. Ask tough questions such as: What types of strategic work did your prior CIO do in the interview process?"