While you may have worked with coaches or trainers in the past, working with a true executive-level career coach can be a bit different. Executive career coaches cover the same scope that regular career coaches do: career discovery, new role exploration, resumes, LinkedIn, interview preparation, networking coaching, and salary negotiation.

But in addition, executive career coaches need to know how to help you communicate your value over and above your functional expertise, network with extremely busy and high-profile people, manage Board dynamics in an interview process, develop an incredible final-round presentation, clarify your value to the organization, have a game plan for technology (including AI) and transformation, and negotiate compensation packages that often involve complex equity arrangements in addition to base and bonus compensation. Additionally, many executive-level job seekers explore more entrepreneurial ideas such as advisory or fractional work, and executive career coaches need to be able to help them set up those kinds of businesses.

Executive career coaching ranges widely depending on the exact need of the client; it could be a short-term engagement like preparing for an upcoming interview or polishing up a resume, or a longer-term career pivot after selling a company and/or deciding to switch industries.

Generally speaking, the costs for experienced executive career coaching services have an hourly rate of $300/hr+, with packages ranging from $3500 to $10,000+, depending on the circumstances. Within that range, the costs vary based on factors such as the level of role that you’re looking for (for example, startup VP vs. Fortune 500 CMO), the pivot you might be trying to make, and the complexity of your search.

Often, executive career coaching can be paid for by the executive’s company if the need for it comes from a layoff or company exit.

Feel free to book a no-cost exploratory call below and we’ll be glad to give you an exact quote based on your situation.

It depends. Pure executive career coaching is not, at the moment. However, if a business is laying off an executive and pays for executive outplacement, it’s deductible to the employer. Also, if an executive decides to set up a fractional or advisory business and the coaching helps do that, the start-up coaching costs may be tax-deductible for the business. (Please consult an accountant for specifics.)

There are two questions in this one. Coaching itself can last between a month and a year, but typically lasts between 6 and 12 weeks to get an executive completely ready to stand out as a high-value candidate.

This process starts with identifying values, skills, interests and rolling that up into a vision for what needs to be true for you for a job to be a good fit.

We then look at what needs to be true for an employer for you to be a good fit for them - which includes a gap analysis, value storytelling (including on your resume), and strong candidate positioning (including in interviews).

Finally, we help you make the best of your network so that you can tap into the “hidden job market.”

While all of those topics do take some time if you want to do them well, we can typically complete a resume within a week of starting work together, since that is often one of the things executives want up front in their job search.

Timelines for an executive-level job search can vary widely and depend on each individual’s circumstances. Factors that affect the length of an executive job search include things like the time since a prior job search, any complexities including complicated layoffs or non-competes, the size and responsiveness of an executive’s network, the scope of any kind of pivot an executive wants to make, the availability of the types of roles the executive wants, and the effort and time the executive puts into the process.

The historic rule of thumb has always been that a job search takes one month for each $10,000 of salary required (without career coaching).

We’re finding that, given the historically-low numbers of executive voluntary role departures this year, that a thorough executive job search these days even with coaching can often take between four months and a year, depending on how specific the client’s needs are.

One factor that has lengthened this recently is the amount of time that companies are taking to stretch out interview cycles, so even one active opportunity can take 90 days from start to completion.

We are confident that working with one of our coaches will significantly accelerate the job search process, because we know how to help showcase an executive’s value in a crowded job market. We have many examples of very competitive final round interviews where the job was awarded to our clients, based on our work preparing them.

We typically advise any clients who are not currently working to explore advisory and/or fractional work as a way to make some income, establish expertise in potentially new areas, make new connections that may lead to quicker employment, and give their network more options to refer them. Not only does this advisory work offset the cost of coaching, but it often leads more quickly to full-time work!

Absolutely! We have been writing executive-level resumes for 20 years, and LinkedIn profiles for as long as LinkedIn has existed.

One of our clients recently told us, “A few months ago, I had sent my prior resume to a colleague, who forwarded it on to a company I’m interested in. I didn’t get any response at all. I just sent this new resume earlier today and I already have a meeting booked with them for next week.”

What changed? A resume should not be a recitation of your projects; it needs to be a high-level value positioning document that helps a company see how you will deliver value in the future.