How to Get Hired in the C-Suite: CEO, CFO, COO, CIO.

I just finished a session with a client who is looking for a CEO or COO job. I told him these ways of landing one:

• Using the Red Book or your connections, identify the key 20 retained headhunters who specialize in C-Suite biotech companies and get your high-level connections to tout you to them.
• Email, phone, and/or meet with all your colleagues who are or are connected to C-Suite or corporate board members. Tell them the sort of position you're best at. (In his case it's mid-stage startup neurobiology-centric companies.)
  
• Do high-level volunteerism, for example, join a board.
  
• Write an article for a leading industry publication, especially an article that includes interviews with industry leaders.
  
• Give a presentation at an industry conference, perhaps co-presenting with an industry leader.
• Throw a party in which your connections plus others are invited.