Direction, positioning and targeted search support
Executive Career Strategy
Your next move should be more than another job. Executive career strategy examines what your experience makes possible, how it is perceived and which opportunities best align with the value you can create. The work then turns that direction into a focused search rather than a higher volume of applications.
Your career strategy
Positioning, target-role definition and a research-led search approach for experienced professionals and executives.
The problem it addresses
Experienced professionals often have a strong record and a weak proposition. Their materials describe responsibility rather than value, their target is broad, and their search relies on volume rather than focus.
When it is useful
Considering a step up, a sector change or a return to the market
A long career that is difficult to summarize for a specific target
Applications or conversations that are not converting to serious discussions
Preparing for a move after a restructuring, relocation or career break
Scope of work
Career direction and target-role definition
Executive market positioning and leadership narrative
Executive resume and LinkedIn strategy
Opportunity and organization research
Targeted outreach planning
From the brief to the decision
01Diagnose your experience, goals and market position
02Define realistic target roles and organizations
03Position the value you bring and align your narrative and materials
04Research relevant organizations and role requirements
05Design targeted outreach and evaluate opportunity fit
Principal deliverables
A diagnostic conversation and a written summary of your market position
A defined target: role types, organizations and markets, with reasons
An executive narrative that connects your evidence to the target
Resume and LinkedIn strategy aligned to that narrative
A targeted organization list and outreach plan, where included in the agreed scope
A more coherent career direction, stronger executive materials and a focused search approach. Strategy does not guarantee interviews, offers, sponsorship, compensation or placement.
What it does not include
Access to employer mandates or introductions to employers
Guaranteed interviews, offers, compensation or sponsorship
Document formatting as a standalone service
Writing that misstates your experience, titles or results
Scope and limitations
We work with experienced professionals, senior managers and executives. Document formatting alone is not the service, and no outcome with an employer is guaranteed.
How fees and terms are agreed
Career strategy is a paid advisory service for the individual, agreed in writing. It is separate from employer search, and buying it does not place you in front of an employer mandate.
What to share to begin
Your current resume, the kinds of roles you are considering, any constraints on location or timing, and what you want to be different about your next move.
Career strategy engagements are led by the founder and supported by an experienced career consultant. You know who is reviewing your materials before any work begins.
Toyeeb Issa-Qazim
Founder & Executive Search Partner
Leads every employer search and reviews each search enquiry personally. His work combines recruiting-informed research with career positioning: understanding how hiring teams screen experience, and how a leader’s record should be presented to the market.
Executive search and search briefs
Executive career positioning
Executive resume and LinkedIn strategy
Market research and targeted outreach
Jedidiah Solomon
Executive Career Consultant & Coach
Works with experienced professionals and executives planning their next move. His practice covers career coaching, leadership career strategy, interview preparation and LinkedIn positioning, alongside recruitment and talent acquisition work.
Career coaching and leadership career strategy
Interview preparation
LinkedIn profile positioning
Recruitment and talent acquisition
“Toyeeb is one of the best resume writers on here. I got laid off from a gig at a church, and was scrambling to find work. My resume can be confusing to deal with, because it mixes a lot of 1099 and W-2 jobs, and I haven’t worked in one single industry or anything. He pulled it all together and made sure it was optimized for both SEO and AI screener/recruiter tools. I ended up finding a job in under three weeks, and getting seven interviews along the way, in large part thanks to Toyeeb.”
Ted BauerEditorial and strategic communications professional, United StatesClient review on Upwork, from Toyeeb Issa-Qazim’s independent resume practice before The Forge Careers. Individual results vary and are not a guarantee.
Let’s discuss the mandate.
Tell us what the role needs to accomplish, where it sits in the business and what makes the search difficult. That is where the work starts.