Paul L. – CIO – Interview Preparation & Practice Pays Off – $160,000 +20% Bonus

A note from Barbara Limmer, Paul’s Campaign Director. “I’m pleased to announce that Paul has accepted the position of Managing Director of Infrastructure & Operations for XXXX.

Paul came to us, having left his previous employer of 11 years. He had had 5 bosses in the last 2 ½ years, and they kept bringing in new executives so his growth was extremely limited. He left because he had been working 12 hours a day, which greatly hindered his ability to look for another job. He was open to industry and willing to relocate, but his preference was to stay where he already lived.

His challenges were that he had been with the same company for so long that it had been a long time since he had looked for a job. Also, his background was in the banking industry and he was looking at different industries now.  He also found that with technology changing constantly, some people had preconceived biases against certain technologies he had used.

We worked on defining his core competencies, achievements and successes in a way that would resonate with C-level execs and non-technical professionals (ie not “IT Speak”), put together his packaging and branding, worked on improving his answers to common, difficult, situational and negative interview questions, how to use his SHARE stories in response to these questions and how to close the interview. We especially worked on how to keep his stories tight, and within the attention span of his interviewers. Simultaneously, we worked on teaching him the best job search strategies and tactics, networking do’s and don’ts, and he was diligent in completing our recommended activities and our monthly reporting.

He went on several interviews with a few different companies—some positions were put on hold, and one ended up not being a fit because they needed someone with more production support experience. Then, he received a call from his old boss who was now the CIO of XXXX who told him that one of his key direct reports had just resigned. They brought Paul in for several interviews on a few different visits, and each time he felt that he was truly able to sell himself. Even though he probably still would have receive this call had he not been working with us, he says he would not have been as prepared and polished as he was in the interview, so he may not have made it to the offer stage. When he did receive the offer, he negotiated for a higher salary and for covered parking (which is very expensive in the location of the company), and was given exactly what he asked for.

He is very excited, not only about this position and the fact that he won’t have to move, but also because of the growth potential—the COO is up for retirement in two years, and his boss the CIO is a candidate to take over as COO, leaving a perfect opportunity for Paul to become CIO.

When asked to what he most attributes this success, he said he felt very well prepared for his interviews and behavioral interview questions, in particular. Through our interview practice sessions, he also grew to be very comfortable using our SHARE^© framework for his stories. He had always had a problem structuring his thoughts, he would give more of a “stream of consciousness” answer and this framework helped him throughout all of his interviews. His wife actually used the SHARE framework for a presentation for her Board of Directors, and she said this helped her a great deal also!

Paul told me that he has already recommended us to people who work at his old company. To summarize how Paul feels about SC&C, he put this in an email to me: “I will miss our conversations and greatly appreciate your coaching me in my interview skills. I truly believe what I have learned from you and your firm will assist me in being a better manager in the future.”

Thank you to Oliver Cornell for bringing him aboard, as he was an ideal client, absorbing everything we said and had to offer in his program. Thank you also to Mike Fox and Leslie Noyes for your outstanding writing efforts, and to Shanti Brown who, secured an interview for Paul with one of them. I know you all will join me in congratulating Paul!”