John C.
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Due to a company merger, I was laid off from my position as Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing for a top manufacturer of high performance circuit laminates for RF/microwave high speed digital and chip packaging applications. I was given a generous severance package but had not found a suitable position in nearly a year. An executive recruiter arranged two phone interviews for me but nothing came as a result. I was told not to expect much since the information technology industry had collapsed. Lightship Research explained to me that recruiters get less than 15% of searches and that over 85% of hires at my level come from networking. Furthermore, since most hires at the executive level are 90% chemistry-based, the only way to generate interviews is to get in direct communication with my potential supervisor. My wife and I were both skeptical when Lightship Research told us that this approach did not involve targeting specific job openings, but we were anxious to resolve my employment situation. Lightship Research crafted a resume that clearly illustrated my role and accomplishments as a Senior Sales/Marketing executive and developed a list of 250 target companies in the electronics industry within my geographical and revenue parameters. I reviewed the list and accepted 150 of those companies. Lightship Research then proceeded to make several calls into each company to ascertain my direct potential supervisor and his or her corresponding contact information. I mailed my resumes to 100 direct contacts and made follow up calls to 75. The president of a Fortune 100 diversified technology company was in the process of writing a job description for a senior executive position in sales and marketing for his Austin, Texas division when he received my cover note and resume. The president was surprised at my serendipitous timing, since even human resources was unaware of the need to fill the position. He invited me for an interview, and nine interviews later, I was made the Vice President, Sales and Marketing for the Austin division.
-- John C.
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