11th May 2010
The average successful executive only gets two or three opportunities to maximize their career between the key ages of 38 to 50. How do they ensure they get the right breaks? By Niki Chesworth
THE most significant movement in a career happens between the key ages of 38 and 50,” says Kit Scott-Brown of InterExec, the company which finds executive roles for top candidates. Landing a punch: Ian Dyson, 46, the finance and operations director of M&S has just quit after failing to secure the top job at the retailer. However, Dyson has still made the leap to chief executive by joining Punch Taverns, Britain’s largest pub group. At 46, Dyson is in the key age group for those making successful steps to the top “To be realistic, during these years a successful executive is only going to get two or perhaps three opportunities to move to the jobs which will enable them to maximise their career.”
Missing just one of these “make or break” opportunities could mean losing a chance to rise up the career ladder. “The key thing to focus on is how to find these opportunities and to not miss out on them when you find them,” adds Scott-Brown, whose job is tracking down suitable positions for high-flying candidates.
InterExec is unusual in that it is an executive agent which acts for the individual rather than the headhunter or company looking to recruit. It deals only with senior executives earning around £125,000 plus who are often too busy jetting around the world to search for their next role or require absolute confidentiality.
Rather than relying on the services of a few headhunters, InertExec offers executives access to around 4,000 contacts. But this comes at a price, with fees starting from around £15,000. “The more senior people get, the more time and thought they give to managing their careers — and maybe that is why they have achieved what they have,” adds Scott-Brown, whose company has seen a sharp increase in senior unadvertised vacancies this year, with IT roles alone trebling in the first quarter.
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