“Aren’t they going to take internal candidates first?”

Last week an executive in her 40’s with a history of leading global teams rolled her eyes at me in our session. “Come ON” she pushed back on me “Aren’t they going take internal candidates first?” I could tell she was losing the battle against her inner dialogue and needed a course correction.

“You know as well as I do” I reminded her, “companies want top talent, not just who’s on hand.”

Job searching has always been a game. Now more than ever, it’s crucial that you play to win. Frankly this is why people use career coaches, and we’ve never been more ready to be in your corner.

At CloseCohen we have helped hundreds of mid, senior, and executive level candidates play to win, and we are often the answer when one leader asks another “which career coach do you use?”

It’s assumed at certain levels of success, that people are using a career coach because gaining every “unfair advantage” in the game is the smartest approach to secure your next role or promotion.

Having a games mentality can help prevent situations like the one our client was in, focusing too heavily on the obstacles like all the internal candidates a company might consider ahead of her.

Instead, people use career coaches to identify the paths of least resistance, document the obstacle course that needs to be run, and the tactics you’ll need to win.

Maybe there are internal candidates eligible for the role you’re interested in, but then again maybe there aren’t—or maybe the internal candidates eligible aren’t as hungry as you are for the win. Using a career coach will help you find the winning moves.

In the case of our 40-something executive client, the winning move we matched her with was a risk. We matched with an unusual tactic used more frequently by junior level employees that she had never considered—creating a piece of value for the prospective employer before she even got to the interview stage.

People use career coaches to shake up their perspective, keep them on their toes, and maximize their outcomes. Judging a career coach by their reviews, their clientele and level of support you encounter in your first call can be the difference between matching with a winning coach and simply spending more time with a listening partner.

Book your call to learn more about our work and your potential fit.