One of my clients is a guy named Kyle. He's been a CEO many times over. Every time he meets a CMO candidate, Kyle tells the candidate the same thing: "If Erica brought you to me, that means you are qualified for the role. So my job is simply to sell you on it." Kyle...

Anticipating tradeoffs when hiring your marketing leader will save you time and energy You've probably heard this before. You've probably even said it yourself. Hiring a great marketing leader is like finding a unicorn. It's elusive and challenging to find 'the one.'...

Who's the best B2B brand & marketing communications leader you know? I've just been retained to recruit a VP of Brand, Content & Communications for a human capital SaaS company with a mission of helping SMBs create great places to work. Here's an infographic...

Picture it: A search for a VP of Marketing for a growing global company in a smoking hot category. We define the role, evaluate hundreds of candidates, and emerge with a star candidate. This candidate has relevant experience in the industry. She is excited about the...

I've noticed something. When people call to ask me about doing a search for them, they are often grasping for questions to ask. It's understandable. A search partner is an unusual mix: Part brand ambassador: Your search partner will have hundreds of conversations on...

It was fun to join the hosts of the MarTech Advisor "Talking Stack" podcast to discuss executive recruiting for marketing and martech roles. Some highlights: If you want to hire a great marketing leader, you have to think like one The 5 things to align to hire a...

I am excited to announce a new placement: Lisa Conquergood joins USAFacts in Seattle to lead marketing. USAFacts is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic initiative, started by Steve Ballmer, with the goal of making government data more accessible and understandable to all...

Recently I was invited to discuss "Challenges and Realities of Recruiting Modern Marketers" on the Good Morning Marketing Podcast. Thanks to the team at Zee Jay Digital for inviting me. Some topics we discussed Fads versus fundamentals (in marketing skillsets) Why...

I just bought a new car. Whoo hoo! When I was first picturing the new wheels, I didn't realize how uncomfortable the buying process would be. After all, I regularly lead searches and negotiate deals many times this size on behalf of companies. I thought, I got this!...

  "What are the latest trends with hiring marketing leaders?" I get this question a lot. And it's one of my favorite things to discuss. (Right up there with "What makes 'This Is Us' such a good show?" and "Would getting a dog be, on balance, more of a joy or a...

Curious about what to expect when you recruit at the marketing/tech intersection, and how martech professionals can keep up-skilling? Check out this interview I did with Stensul's Sarah Linney on The State of Executive Recruiting in MarTech.

You’ve worked hard to narrow down a pool of candidates. You make an offer to 'the one.' Then the unthinkable happens. Your dream candidate says "no." Fair? No. Shocking? Yep. As disappointing as being dumped in a romantic relationship? Maybe. Six Ways to Get Back on...

I am delighted to announce The Connective Good's latest placement: Sherrill Zack Kaplan joins Zipcar as VP, Marketing & Sales. Sherrill was previously VP, Digital Marketing & Innovation, for Dunkin' Brands. The backstory: Zipcar, the leading car-sharing...

MarketingProfs just published a piece I co-wrote with the illustrious Anand Thaker, called "Are You a Marketing Standout or Strikeout? Nine Tips to Help You Stand Out." Check it out for tips on how to ferret out the top candidates... or how to be that top candidate....

"I really want to switch to a smaller company." This is something I hear a lot from candidates for marketing leadership roles. Perhaps you have too. How do you know whether the person: Is really ready and could make a great hire for a smaller startup or scale-up? OR:...

I am elated to announce The Connective Good's latest placement: Diane Gordon joins BlueConic in Boston as the SVP of Customer Success. Diane was previously the Chief Customer Officer for Brainshark and the Chief Customer Officer for Bullhorn. The backstory: BlueConic,...

People often ask me what they should look for when they hire their first (or their most recent) B2B marketing leader. I recently discussed this topic with Ashley Minogue at OpenView. Check out her summary here.

Picture this: You interview a candidate named Lee for a VP of Marketing role. Lee is extroverted. Articulate. Engaging. Lee even grew up in the same town as you. You had a blast talking about which of the high school teachers are still there. You walk out, and say to...

I was talking with a chief marketer last week. He wants help recruiting a digital marketing leader. He said, "I'd like someone from outside my industry. When you do a search, how do you tell if someone can switch sectors successfully?" What I thought to myself: Sounds...

There's one thing I love to ask people. I ask it at cocktail parties. In business meetings. At the dentist's office. "What's your favorite interview question? And how can you tell if someone will be a good fit for your team?" I jot down the juiciest questions and add...

I learned an important lesson about recruiting from an Indian driver-for-hire named Ramesh. The year was 2005, and I was criss-crossing India with colleagues on a business trip, studying India's rural postal system. We set off to meet various officials, often driving...

Six months. That's how long my husband and I spent hunting this year for a condo in our fair city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. After so much waiting and hoping, we were getting downright antsy. Finally we saw a contender! It ticked all of our boxes -- a study for me...

Interview with Paul Roetzer, Founder and CEO of PR 20/20 Today we do a Q&A on applying inbound marketing approaches to recruiting. Here's an interview I did with Paul Roetzer, Founder & CEO of PR 20/20, a firm in Cleveland that specializes in inbound marketing...

"Once you've been an entrepreneur, you're pretty much unemployable." --Dharmesh Shah, Co-Founder and CTO, HubSpot, speaking at the recent MarTech conference "If you've been on your own for too long, people think you've gone feral!" --A friend of mine who is looking to...

Recently I emailed my friend Andres, who works at Meetup. A moment later, I received this out-of-office message from him: I thought, "What a great idea!" Andres is using his out of office response as a marketing tool, to: Showcase the sabbatical perk at Meetup Point...

Landing talent. Building momentum. Scaling. If you are building an analytical marketing capability, these three challenges can keep you up at night. Today I introduce you to someone who has written the book on these topics: Cesar Brea. I've interviewed Cesar about his...

Optimization is great for some things, but can cost us when selecting new talent. Please meet my purple couch. A custom-made, velvety soft, 1920s style, pucker-backed, purple couch. I went on a frustratingly long journey to find this couch. It started with me wanting...

Is your recruiting leaky? You can patch those leaks -- with either a quick fix or a full renovation -- to stand out from your competition and attract more top candidates. With a recruiting project, you start with a landscape of possible talent, and narrow it down to...

At age 18, I spent the summer scooping ice cream at a Cape Cod institution called Nick and Dick’s. Little did I know at the time that this job would be great training for my later career. My manager at Nick and Dick’s was a guy named Rick. Rick at Nick and Dick’s. Go...

Greetings from Cape Cod, where I arrived last night for Christmas. Within minutes I hopped on the couch and snuggled in next to my mom. It was time for our ritual marathon of watching HGTV – the purveyor of gems like “House Hunters” and “Love It Or List It.” Not...

My new husband, age 41, is learning how to drive. We have been practicing together every morning. Which means that I clutch the armrest in utter terror in Boston rush-hour traffic, while gritting my teeth and forcing my voice to be calm, saying, “Next time, let’s...

Over cocktails with my friend J. last week, she mentioned her challenges finding Java programmers for her team. She had tried to partner with several recruiters. But the candidate pipeline she was seeing was as thin as a rail. She needed one recruiter whom she could...

Do you remember the best conference you ever attended? My most memorable conference was a Sonoma boondoggle, er, rather, leadership retreat hosted by Monitor’s Global Business Network. (May Monitor rest in peace.)   At the conference, the organizers watched small...

Recently I awoke at 2 am to a very odd ‘whoosh’ sound in my bedroom. Whoosh, silence. Whoosh, silence. I tried to ignore it but the whoosh continued. Struggling awake, I realized that there was a bat in the bedroom!   I did the natural thing for 2013: Grabbed an...

A Tale Of Two Parties My idea of a party used to be grabbing some chips and salsa and decompressing with friends. I’d spend a maximum of 30 minutes preparing. Then I met my lovely fiancé, Matthias. He has evolved our parties to an art form. He simply will not stand...

How you can attract more top talent and compete with the big name players -- in half a day I was on the phone with a designer who I'd hired to come up with a logo and brand identity for my recruiting practice. “It has to be VERY professional,” I warned over and over,...