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This Huddler followed a LinkedIn application with research, direct outreach, rehearsal, and prepared references. The process ended in a VP of Marketing offer. After a 14-month search, their experience offers a practical reminder: give promising roles your full attention, and keep asking whether the fit is right for you.
Hitting “Apply” can feel like progress. Then comes the temptation to refresh your inbox and hope the hiring gods are in a generous mood. This Huddler gave themselves more to work with.
After applying on LinkedIn, they researched the hiring team and messaged the company’s outgoing marketing executive. That executive shared contact information for the hiring manager and recruiter. A connection through Phyl Terry’s Never Search Alone group added another link to the company.
The overall search lasted 14 months and ended with a VP of Marketing role at a midsize technology company. Along the way, the Huddler prepared for several interview formats, equipped three references, and returned to an early compensation conversation when an offer arrived. There’s plenty here for a senior marketer to put to work on the next promising opportunity.
A job description can tell you a lot about a role. It rarely tells you everything you’d like to know about the people filling it. By contacting the outgoing marketing executive, this Huddler found a route to the hiring manager and recruiter.
Triangulating your network is vitally important when a role catches your attention: research who’s involved and look for a relevant connection. A former colleague, a peer group, or someone already connected to the company may help you understand the opportunity. Keep the outreach focused, with a clear reason for reaching out and a question the person can reasonably answer.
The interview process covered considerable ground: a recruiter call, a hiring manager call, conversations with three team members for 30 minutes each, and a one-hour presentation to six people. After the offer and counteroffer discussions, two more executive conversations followed, each lasting 30 minutes. That’s a lot of people to help understand what you bring to the table.
Preparation has to travel across those formats. An example that works in a one-to-one conversation may need more context for a six-person audience; a presentation gives you room to develop an idea, but also more opportunities to lose the room. Experience gives you material. Rehearsal helps you make it useful to the people listening.
The Huddler’s recommendation was refreshingly practical: put your success stories in a spreadsheet and sort them by topic. Those “power” stories become easier to find and practice when you can see them together. Your memory already has enough responsibilities during an interview.
For your own preparation, pick a relevant story and say it aloud. Can someone follow the situation, your decision, and the result without a lengthy tour of your former org chart? Tighten the explanation until they can.
References deserve a place on the preparation calendar, too. This Huddler supplied a former supervisor and two peers, using another Huddler’s reference worksheet to help them prepare. The worksheet worked two ways. One, to detail each reference to the recruiter so they knew the context of the relationship. Two, to ensure each reference knows what they can expect to be asked about the role, and what strengths you’d like them to highlight.
The Huddler called all three references for 15-minute briefing calls, which made a big difference.If someone is going to speak about your work, give them context about the opportunity and let them know a call may be coming. Even your strongest advocate benefits from a heads-up, and their answers will have renewed focus.
Early recruiter conversations can become much more useful when there’s an offer on the table. Here, the Huddler drew on the initial budget discussion to negotiate for a higher base offer. Keep those notes somewhere you can find them; details have a way of getting fuzzy after several rounds of interviews.
The original account also included Jacob Warwick’s tip for the contract stage: raise the absence of severance with a straightforward observation, “Oh, I don’t see anything about severance in here.” It’s a concrete way to open a discussion about an omitted term. The account doesn’t report the outcome of that discussion or the final compensation terms.
And remember those two executive calls? They came after the offer and counteroffer conversations. Leave room for the process to keep unfolding, even once an offer arrives.
Amid all that preparation, it’s easy to spend every conversation trying to prove you belong. Give yourself room to evaluate the opportunity, too. The Huddler’s advice was to take time to work out what you want and follow through on roles that interest you.
In this case, their sense of fit grew stronger as the interviews progressed. That’s worth paying attention to in your own search: each conversation should give you a clearer picture of the work, the people, and what success would require. You’re making a career decision, and you deserve useful answers along the way.
Research the hiring team and look for relevant connections. This Huddler contacted the outgoing marketing executive, who shared the hiring manager’s and recruiter’s contact information. Focused outreach can help you learn more about a role, though this account doesn’t identify which action secured the first interview.
Organize success stories by topic, then practice telling them aloud for different audiences. A brief example in an individual conversation and a one-hour group presentation need different levels of detail. Rehearse both the story and the judgment you want the audience to understand.
Give your references time to understand the opportunity and anticipate contact. This Huddler used a peer’s worksheet to prepare a former supervisor and two colleagues, and all three received calls. A little context helps the people advocating for you arrive ready for the conversation.
Start with what you want from your next role, then use each conversation to test that picture. This Huddler felt increasingly well matched as the process continued. Pay attention to what you’re learning as well as how you’re performing.
A senior marketing search asks a lot of you. The CMO Huddles Transition Team offers a place to connect with peers navigating that work. Bring your questions, share what you’re learning, and give yourself the benefit of another perspective.