Once you pass the $100,000 compensation level, there are few people willing to give you career advice. Many of those who could make the path easier to walk will not. A common fear is, "Nurturing the young tiger while it grows strong teeth, does not mean that it will not eat me someday." That attitude is unfortunate since we are entering a shortage of executive talent. Treasure those who give you good career advice and whose motivations you can trust. I deal with many executives who received no, or poor, career advice. Following are some excerpts from a book I wrote for Johnson Sinish Group clients, The Executive Position Plan (E2P). I hope they help you or someone you know. As time permits, I hope to expand upon them.

How Long Should You Stay In a Job?

The maximum amount of time to spend in a job depends on whether you are still trying to grab the brass ring. If the CEO spot at a larger company is not a personal goal, then stay in a position as long as you enjoy it, are challenged, can be creative, feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement, and receive adequate pay.

Most executives are still climbing the rock wall of commerce, and are concerned with how quickly they can move through positions without looking like a chronic job hopper. At a minimum, you owe yourself and the organization at least twice as long doing a job as you spend learning it. If totally learning a job takes one year, you should stay in that position an additional two years.

Only after you learn a job, can you make a contribution and expect recognition. You cannot fill a resume with hard hitting accomplishments if you do not give yourself enough time after the learning period to achieve results and exceed goals.

Knowing this will help you interview better. Ask many questions to discern the learning period, the clarity of the profit unit goals, and all the E2P (Executive Position Plan - an executive position definition tool use by Johnson Sinish Group) information that helps predict the probability of goal attainment. Do not join a team positioned to lose. Be realistic about the amount of time it will take to learn the job. Are you prepared to give the position your all for that amount of time and twice longer?

Knowing When to Pass Up an Offered Promotion

A dilemma occurs if offered a promotion or interesting lateral position before, or shortly after, you have completely learned your current position. If you have not yet made accomplishments in the job, be careful about leaving it. Will you be able to stay in the next position long enough to make significant accomplishments? Few careers can afford two positions in a row that fail to generate significant accomplishments without significant loss of momentum.

General Career Building Advice Based on Common Requirements for CEO Searches

Search firms receive or develop key criteria for positions they fill. Much of the criteria for CEOs, based on the industry and the company's profit and growth situation, are predictable. Search committees of the Board of Directors have obligations to the shareholders to safeguard the company assets, assure profits, assure good corporate citizenship, and avoid unnecessary risks. After you reach the level of P&L responsibility, the following are a few items that will play well on any resume.

Run A Profitable Operation

Society and industry can usually only vote with their dollars. Profits equate to approval in the simplest form. Except for public utilities, businesses should be able to generate a profit in a year. All the other things you can put on a resume at this level will not make up for a lack of this item.

Accomplish A Turn Around

Every business, or a subsidiary, may falter occasionally. A turn around does not necessarily imply that the operation is unprofitable. Any operation with a sustained downward trend or period of unprofitability is a candidate for a turnaround. While it is good to have one on your resume, it is risky. Having three on your resume may type cast you as a "turnaround specialist." The danger there is that the board of a profitable company may fear a turnaround specialist. They could see him too willing to risk breaking things since he won praise and bonuses by fixing them in the past.

Successfully Accomplish A Start Up

While not nearly as important as the first two, having a successful start up on your resume will open a few extra doors. Remember, Boards do not like to take risks. They would usually rather find someone already proven in an operation that involves start ups, rather than take a risk on someone's ability to learn. There is less danger of being type cast as a startup specialist.

Multiple Industries

If you love your industry and are certain that it will not become extinct or contract too far to support your career aspirations, then multiple industries are not necessary for your resume. Please note that many industry-specific executives in the vinyl record and carburetor industries chased new career paths for a long time. Many ended up taking giant career-steps backward because of their exclusive association with an extinct industry.

Acquisitions and Mergers

The integration of an acquisition or merger is a skill almost all organizations will need from time to time. Unlike leading cultural change, this integration requires not only selling a culture but dealing with acute anxieties, task and organizational analysis, and career trauma as well. If you have actively participated in this cultural and business integration during a merger or acquisition, it should receive prominent mention in your resume. To manage these, the E2P is a great tool to quickly reduce guesswork, anxiety, and optimize profit.

Board Experience

Do not waste your time joining the Board of Directors of your local neighborhood association thinking it will be a plus on your resume. However, experience on a Board of a for-profit company or a large non-profit organization definitely belongs on your resume. Instead of interrupting the date sequences of the Experience section of your resume, consider a new section at the end of the resume titled "Board of Directors Experience." For this section, use the same format suggested in the experience section of this book.

Before joining any board, assure they have adequate Directors and Officers insurance (D&O or errors and omissions.) Do not join a board without it.

Two Words

Two Words you cannot factually overuse in the experience section of an executive resume are "profit" and "growth." The phrase "profitable growth," when associated with quantifiable numbers, brings a smile to the lips of headhunters and search committees. However, be careful not to exaggerate. Assuring the validity of those two words is part of what most search consultants do well.

Excerpts from The Executive Position Plan Copyright© 2004 by Glenn W. Johnson, all rights reserved