This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

Senior roles are rarely filled by someone who applied. They are filled by someone a search consultant already had on a list, months before the role existed.

Why applying stops working above a certain level

I have been on both sides of this. I have run searches where the shortlist was built from a target list of forty names and not one of them came from an application, and I have watched capable directors send fifty applications into a void and conclude that the market was bad. The market was fine. They were invisible to the process that actually fills those roles, and nobody had ever explained that process to them.

What this course actually covers

Six blocks. First, how executive search works from the inside: the brief, the market scan, the target list, the long list, the cut to a shortlist, the approach, the offer and the counter-offer you will receive from your current employer. Second, positioning: how you are currently described, what you want to be described as, and the messages that close the gap. Third, the competencies expected one level above you, so you know what you are being measured against. Fourth, the assessor's view of an interview — the scorecard, the competency matrix, how bias is controlled and how the final comparison is made. Fifth, the mechanics: CV, recruiter screen, salary conversation, LinkedIn. Sixth, ten lessons of personal work — talents, impostor syndrome, a competency audit, burnout, financial runway, and what keeps someone in the top league.

A note on two of the blocks

The executive search block and the interviewing block were filmed for people who hire, not for people being hired. That is deliberate. If you want a senior role, the most useful thing you can see is the document you will be scored on and the list you need to appear on. The personal-development block was filmed as a coaching method for working with clients; here you are the client. I would rather tell you that than dress it up.

Who is teaching this

I am Mike Pritula. I built the people system at Preply as it became a unicorn, and I have worked at Wargaming, iDeals and Alfa-Bank. More than 1.6 million students have enrolled in my courses across 185 countries, and over 150,000 specialists have gone through my programmes. I hold PHRi and SHRM-CP certifications and represent HRCI in more than ten countries. I have run senior searches and I have sat on the other side of them.

What is included

• Lifetime access to all 42 lessons

• Active instructor support in the Q&A section

• A Udemy Certificate of Completion

• Working templates: job order, scorecard, target list, long list, short list, offer

• Practical tools for your CV, LinkedIn profile, competency audit and development plan

Where to start

Open LinkedIn and read your own headline as a search consultant would, with a specific role in mind. If it does not tell them what you are for, that is the first thing this course fixes. Enrol now and start the first lesson today.