Executive Interviewing 101: You only have one chance to make a first impression.

Over the course of a 20-year career, I have guided many through the unknowns of organizational change or advancements at the senior levels, and it is my goal to offer some guidance on what might be the scariest word used in professional vernacular: INTERVIEW!

Why? Because most people don’t do it a lot. So how can those who might not be exposed to being interviewed regularly ensure they are prepared if/when the time arrives? The necessity doesn’t even have to stem from outside of your current company… for example, you end up on an elevator ride with a senior leader who has decided to spend the 5-minutes “getting to know your aspirations” how can you show up ready to that conversation with clarity and poise? Certainly not without preparing.

To create ease in a stressful situation, I recommend that everyone, at all levels, have a practiced “Functional Tagline” or (FTL), focused on presenting their hard skills. ?The goal is to create an FTL that is authentic and specific to you but also provides the qualifying details necessary to engage the appropriate audiences. For practice, this should be rattled off in the mirror, as an introduction for work calls, the response to awkward pleasantries and even to a kindergarten age child, neighbor, nephew/niece who may wonder the same.

?Why? Because it is important that you can articulate your functional value proposition across all levels of an organization and if you can’t say it then you may not fully understand it. Also, as you move through the interview process, you will meet people at varying levels of knowledge in your specific domain. Having this in your back pocket WILL change the level of CONFIDENCE you feel when presenting this information and certainly help drive a successful outcome with a superior or within an interview setting.

?A truly impactful Functional Tagline includes the following information: Title, Company Name, Size, Revenue, Business Focus, location’s serviced and employees. Reporting structure (above and below), service offerings, your specific offering focus, industries, and your specific industry focus. A sentence that describes the immediate value you would bring an organization.

Here are a few examples that might be helpful to create your own Functional Tagline!

?Example FTL Senior Executive:

I am an Executive for FILL IN BLANK which is a $6 BL in revenue Technology Services provider that operates in 66 countries and has 25000 employees. I report into the Chief Growth Officer and my responsibility is for our North American Sales Team. With a team of 10 direct reports over 150 total professionals selling 6 separate technology offerings (Business Applications (development), Managed Services, Modern Workplace, Data Science etc.) to clients in 6 separate industries, Financial Services, Health & Life Sciences, Retail, Manufacturing and High Tech. I am a “hands on” technology sales leader who is directly involved in our enterprise sales, specifically those in Financial Services, and have led the double-digit growth of both new and existing organizations through new business development and repeat customers due to delivery with excellence.

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Example FTL Senior Director/Director

I am a Senior Director for FILL IN BLANK which is a $6 BL in revenue Technology Services provider that delivers cutting edge technology solutions in 66 countries and has 25000 employees. I report to the Vice President of Applications and Development for Health & Life Sciences, who reports to the North America Delivery Leader. ?As a company, we provide 6 separate technology offerings (Business Applications (development), Managed Services, Modern Workplace, Data Science etc.) to clients in 4 separate industries, Financial Services, Health & Life Sciences, Retail, Manufacturing and High Tech. I am responsible for acting as the lead client facing technical solution architect for all aspects of Applications and Development within Financial Services. I do not have “hands on a keyboard” but I have and use that knowledge daily as I lead and drive programs that touch up to 55000 end users, providing game changing development capabilities that have led to +25ML revenue contracts. I do not have a team of direct reports as my focus is to provide the strategic solutions to pressing business problems and then work through my business partner to perform delivery with excellence.