Resources

Career Change

For frustrated executives and experienced professionals, the opportunity may be on the other side of the hiring table.

By Jeff Herzog, President of FPC, and Steve Margalit, Director of Franchise Development

4-minute read

If you are an experienced professional looking for your next role, today’s job market can be maddening.

You hear that companies are struggling to find talent. You read about growth in technology, manufacturing, infrastructure, healthcare, data centers and other industries. Yet your own job search may tell a very different story.

Applications disappear into online systems. Hiring processes stretch for months. Positions are put on hold. Companies reorganize. And as you move higher in an organization, the number of comparable positions naturally becomes smaller.

For a CEO looking for another CEO position, the market is narrow.

But the same can be true for a Vice President looking for another VP position, a Director pursuing another Director role, or a senior manager trying to make the next move.

That frustration raises an interesting question:

What if the experience making you valuable as a job candidate could be even more valuable as a business owner?

Think About the Job Market as a Pyramid

At the top of the pyramid are C-suite and senior executive positions. Below them are Vice Presidents and senior leaders. Then Directors, managers and highly specialized professionals. Below those levels are the much larger populations of professional, technical and operational talent.

As you move down the pyramid, the number of potential positions generally expands.

And therein lies the opportunity.

A former C-suite executive may understand exactly what separates an exceptional VP of Operations from an average one.

A VP of Engineering probably knows outstanding engineering directors, plant leaders and technical specialists.

A Director of Supply Chain may know talented purchasing managers, logistics leaders, planners and supply-chain professionals.

A manufacturing leader may understand what makes a great plant manager, quality leader, continuous-improvement professional or engineer.

The opportunity isn’t limited to recruiting people with the same title you once held.

Your career has given you insight into the layers of talent around you and below you.

You know who the great people are.

You know which companies employ them.

You know which skills are difficult to find.

And you understand the business problems those people are being hired to solve.

That knowledge has value.

From Job Seeker to Talent Advisor

During a traditional job search, years of contacts and industry knowledge are primarily being deployed toward one objective:

Finding your next job.

Executive search turns those same assets into the foundation of a business.

Instead of calling a former colleague and asking, “Do you know anyone who might be hiring someone like me?” the conversation becomes:

Where are you growing?

What positions are hardest to fill?

Where is your organization lacking leadership?

Who are the best people in our industry?

Those are very different conversations — and experienced businesspeople are particularly well equipped to have them.

You understand the language. You understand the companies. You understand the personalities. And when a client describes the person they need, you can often visualize exactly what that person should look like because you’ve worked alongside them for years.

There Are Growing Markets to Serve

The broader employment picture is uneven, but beneath it are significant pockets of opportunity.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 1.1 million management openings per year from 2025 through 2035. Top-executive employment is projected to grow 5%, while computer and information systems managers are projected to grow 16% and medical and health services managers 24%.

Manufacturing presents another compelling example.

BLS projects employment of industrial engineers to grow 12% through 2035, citing demand for professionals who can improve production processes, manage supply chains and logistics, and provide expertise in automation. Logisticians are projected to grow 18%, while employers will still need approximately 17,100 industrial production managers annually despite slower overall growth in that specific occupation.

Then consider the extraordinary expansion occurring around data centers, AI infrastructure and electrification.

Data centers don’t create just technology jobs. They require construction leaders, electrical professionals, engineers, infrastructure specialists, project managers, operations talent and technology leadership. BLS now specifically notes that increasing AI usage and demand for data centers are expected to contribute to rising electricity demand and new infrastructure requirements. Electrician employment is projected to grow 9%; construction managers 9%; electrical and electronics engineers 8%; and computer network architects 8% through 2035.

Someone who has spent a career in manufacturing, engineering, technology, energy, supply chain or construction doesn’t need to understand every corner of the employment market.

They need to understand their corner of it extremely well.

Why FPC Can Make the Transition Different

Starting an executive search company completely from scratch would mean building a recruiting process, training system, technology platform, brand, marketing program and professional network.

The FPC model is designed to provide that infrastructure while allowing an owner to capitalize on what they already know.

In fact, when an FPC owner builds a recruiting practice, prior work history, industry experience and market demand are specifically considered in establishing the industry or discipline the office will pursue.

That’s an important distinction.

You aren’t throwing away 20 or 30 years of experience to start over.

You’re turning that experience into an asset.

FPC brings more than 65 years of executive-search experience and name recognition, along with a national network of more than 50 offices and 150 recruiters.
Owners receive training in recruiting, building an office and managing the business, followed by ongoing education and support. And through FPC’s exchange system, offices can work together on jobs and candidates — extending the reach of an individual owner beyond his or her own market and contacts.

Take Control of the Next Chapter

Searching for a senior-level position can make even accomplished professionals feel surprisingly powerless.

Someone else controls the opening.

Someone else controls the process.

Someone else ultimately decides whether you get the opportunity.

Business ownership changes the equation.

It certainly comes with risk and requires hard work. But instead of waiting for one company to recognize the value of your experience, you can build a business around that experience.

So perhaps the next question shouldn’t only be:

“Who is going to hire me?”

It might also be:

“Who could I help them hire?”

Because the industry knowledge, credibility and relationships you’ve accumulated throughout your career may not simply help you find your next opportunity.

They may be the opportunity.

Visit fpcfranchise.com to learn more.