Six years ago I was unemployed.
I had applied to nearly one hundred jobs and sat through tens of interviews on my quest to land a head of talent acquisition role.
But it wasn’t going very well.
Sure, I had 15+ years of recruiting leadership experience but I’d never been the “head” of a whole recruiting function.
I had roles overseeing all hiring within entire countries, but I always reported up to a Global Head of Talent Acquisition.
This made my job search an uphill climb from the start because I was competing with sitting Heads of Recruiting on every job I applied to.
On top of that, I was being picky. This wasn’t my first rodeo!
I had been through a couple layoffs...
I had bosses I didn’t like...
I worked in cultures that nearly killed me...
I knew what kind of work I liked and didn’t like...
So, during my search, I was being highly selective.
I vowed to find a job at a growing company, reporting to a great boss, in a culture that cared for its people, doing the type of work that I loved – building TA functions!
But it was a struggle. A couple months into it, I had lost my way and found myself applying to anything posted on Indeed.
But then I changed my approach and it all came together in a really good way.
THE 50/50 APPROACH
The main thing that changed was more of an epiphany than anything. One day it just dawned on me that I was a friggin’ recruiter.
I had some serious sourcing and outreach skills built over the last decade. So, I devoted 50% of my time to approaching my search as if I was sourcing for a unicorn that a hiring manager asked me to find. I dubbed this my 50% “Aggressive” approach.
The other 50% - the “Passive” approach - is what I was currently doing. The passive approach is what most people do – they hit refresh every morning on Indeed and other job boards and apply to whatever is open. Don’t abandon this approach! It’s important but it should only represent half of your effort.
If you want to find the job YOU love (like I did), then you need to take control of your search and try the aggressive approach too.
Here’s a 5 step process you can use immediately to land your dream job!
STEP ONE - GET YOUR POV STRAIGHT
It does you no good to go on interviews if you’re not clear on what you believe.
Pull together all the decks, documents, awards, and other assets you worked on that were strategically important. Be ready to share them.
Get your strategic “Point of View” POV down cold. VPs and C-level interviewers spend all day thinking about strategy, governance, frameworks, and anything else that helps them manage large parts of organizations. You need a POV on all the core things a recruiting leader needs to know – team structure, budget, TA technology, employment branding, sourcing, interviewing, operations, etc. Just write a sentence or two in a notebook on each one and link your experience to it. It will help you interview better.
To hone your POV, start writing on TA leadership topics on Linkedin. That’s what I did. In fact, I had so much to say, I ended up writing an entire book about frameworks!
This step alone helped me articulate my knowledge and value so clearly that I had 3 competing offers by the time I made my choice to join Sheetz. But I didn’t find Sheetz until I did Steps 2-5.
STEP TWO - FIND YOUR TARGET COMPANIES
Approach your search like a sourcing project. Create company/industry lists and go after them!
Find companies that are growing. You can use tools like Wellfound, Linkedin, or Apollo to filter by companies in growth mode. This is critical for TA leadership roles – no growth…no hiring…no need for a TA leadership structure.
Together or separate, use the “Best Places to Work” lists to identify some companies with great culture.
This is how I found Sheetz! I never would have considered a “gas station” until I saw them on Fortune’s Best Places to Work list.
STEP THREE - FIND YOUR TARGET PEOPLE
There are so many tools now that help you find people and their contact info. Use them!
Use a tool like Apollo to search for target companies. It gives you titles, email addresses, Linkedin URLs, and a ton of other information in a clean, downloadable format.
Use Linkedin to find past connections of people you worked with. Or people who might have seen your work in the past.
This is how I identified someone at Sheetz to reach out to. I had presented to the CHRO years earlier in a knowledge share and she remembered me!
STEP FOUR - CONDUCT OUTREACH
I got my current job on a direct, cold email to the head of HR at Sheetz. It works!
Send direct (but simple) messages via email and Linkedin to VPs of Talent/HR and CHROs. Keep your outreach to one to two sentences. Let them know you applied to a current opening or inquire if they’ll be looking to add anyone to their leadership team soon.
If you don’t hear back…try again in a couple of weeks. These people are BUSY, and their situation can change month to month.
STEP FIVE - MANAGE YOUR SEARCH
Manage your search like you manage a requisition in an ATS. Track everything!
I used a simple Google Sheet to manage applies, responses, my status, interviews, interviewers, timelines, and more. Today, there’s software that does all this for you. Look at tools like Huntr, Teal, and Jobscan.
Don’t focus only on Director, Talent Acquisition or VP, Talent Acquisition jobs. Some head of TA roles are actually Manager or Senior Manager levels!
I came to Sheetz as a Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition. Had I only been passively searching for Director roles, I never would have known this one was available. Bonus…as the company grew, so did my title.
FINALLY, DON’T GIVE UP!
If you’re feeling desperate in your search and need some inspiration, I hope you took one or two things away from this post.
Just remember, focus on a 50% passive and 50% active approach to leave no stone unturned.
The last thing I would recommend is not to sleep on the power of connections and community. Consider joining your favorite talent acquisition community where leaders share opportunities and post exclusive jobs. I do this in the Recruiting Leader’s Edge Community weekly.
If you’d like to join, follow the link in my bio.
Thanks and best wishes in your job search!
If you have any tips or suggestions that worked for you when landing your dream job please share in the comments!
// Supporting Resources
Use the following resources to go deeper on the topic of smart tech adoption in an age of rapid innovation.
Books to Read..
“Highly Effective Networking: Meet the Right People and Get a Great Job” - This book focuses on using your existing network effectively to reach decision-makers (VPs/CHROs in Step 4). It cuts through generic advice to provide a systematic, project-plan approach to networking that mirrors the article's call to manage your search like a requisition, reinforcing the "Aggressive" 50% method. Link Here
“The Talent Sourcing and Recruitment Handbook” - This resource dives deep into advanced sourcing strategies and proactive outreach methods. It's highly relevant to the "50/50 Method" as it helps you think of your job search as a sourcing project (Steps 2 and 3). It sharpens the skills needed to identify "Target Companies" and "Target People" and engage passive candidates—or, in your case, passive opportunities. Link Here
“The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter” - While not strictly a job search book, this is a must-read for any executive-level transition. It provides a roadmap for making a successful entry into a senior role, helping you prepare for the strategic thinking required in the final interview rounds and showing interviewers you have a plan for success from day one. Link Here
Podcasts to Listen to…
“Mission One: The Executive Edge” - Offers an insider's look at executive hiring and advancement for senior roles. The hosts, with deep expertise as executive recruiters, delve into the nuances of landing and succeeding in C-suite and senior leadership positions, which aligns with the "Aggressive" 50% executive search strategy. Listen Here
“The Job Search Podcast, with Amy L. Adler” - Provides expert resume writing, job search strategy, and career advice specifically for executive job seekers. Covers techniques for resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interviewing, and networking, which are crucial for the aggressive, targeted approach outlined in the article. Listen Here
“Big Fish in the Talent Pool” - Exclusively interviews current Fortune 500 Global Heads of TA about the joys and challenges of TA Leadership. Topics directly align with the strategic areas mentioned in the article, such as employment branding, TA technology, global team management, and culture. Listen Here
Articles to Skim..
“How to Create a Future-Ready, Strategic TA Function” - Focuses on elevating the Talent Acquisition role from tactical recruiter to strategic business partner. Discusses the shift to quality-over-speed metrics, creating a flexible TA structure, and the need for TA leaders to be "full-stack" and embedded within the business (highly relevant to Step 1: Get Your POV Straight). Read Here
“Leading With Intention in Talent Acquisition” - An insightful, personal perspective on TA leadership strategy. The author shares their approach to building high-performing teams, using KPIs as guidelines (not a stick), and leading with context and empowerment—all crucial for articulating a strong strategic POV in an interview. Read Here
“Mastering Your Talent Acquisition Strategy for Success” - A comprehensive guide on developing a TA strategy that aligns with long-term business goals. Discusses the essential elements of an effective strategy, including employer identity, DE&I policies, and building a talent pipeline, which are key areas for any Head of TA's Point of View. Read Here
Videos to Watch..
“Your Next Job Is One Conversation Away by Dawn Graham (TEDx)” - Directly supports the "Aggressive" 50% networking and outreach strategy (Steps 3 & 4). Graham, a career director for the Wharton MBA Program for Executives, emphasizes that traditional applications are failing and that relationship-building is the key to landing senior roles. She provides a simple, actionable 3-step strategy for building job security by initiating career conversations with people you already know. Watch Here
“The career advice you probably didn't get by Susan Colantuono” - Highly relevant to Step 1: Get Your POV Straight. Colantuono argues that the missing ingredient for women and others "mired in the middle" of their careers isn't hard work or soft skills, but business, strategic, and financial acumen—the very elements needed to articulate a strong, executive-level POV on TA function, budget, and business impact. Watch Here