Software Company - USA - Antal Switzerland

Job Briefing: Vice President of Field Marketing for an American software company, position advertised in USA or Europe.

The company was looking for highly experienced candidates with:

• A significant number of years in marketing, but also with in-depth skills in complex software.

• The profile had to be a global leader with knowledge and experience of pipeline growth in a highly competitive market.

• Ability to grow business from existing accounts whilst being able to attract new customers.

• Excellent command of English.

• Proven experience in selling complex software and cloud solutions.

• Ability to manage multiple accounts and channel partner relationships.

• Ideally have a degree in business, marketing and/or technology/engineering and an MBA.

Strategy for attracting the right candidates:

Before starting the search process, Peter Wharton always makes sure to gather as much information as possible from the job description to create a profile of the ideal candidate, taking into account skills, knowledge and personality. Once this profile has been created, the next stage consisted in a selection process: Deciding which companies to target as well as the non-relevant ones.

This ensured enriching his candidate database with the most accurate profiles. Market research must be a precise orientation before being conducted, especially for such a qualified and specific position. Advertising and establishing the credibility of the position comes third in the process by publishing on the Antal website as well as on LinkedIn. Peter also uses LinkedIn recruiter. However, advertising is not enough to receive the expected highly qualified profiles. As this was a very specific position, the existing candidate database was not sufficient to gather the top ones. While advertising and contacting new candidates, he made sure to always build credibility around the role and his knowledge of the sector. He regularly published content such as articles related to sales and marketing, but also posted a video explaining the experience of Hiring a marketing executive with global responsibility.

Peter Wharton shared his viewpoint from experience both as a marketing exec for tech companies and as a specialised recruiter for pioneering software vendors. The advert on social media was linked to our website page aiming to offer a seamless candidate experience. The advanced search techniques and selection process resulted in 8 profiles to recommend to the client.

Client management: The client was specifically looking for a candidate with years of experience in an international company. The challenge for this medium-sized company was that most candidates were not interested in leaving a large company for a smaller one, even considering the rapid growth pace. The post-COVID uncertainty were not reassuring the best profiles contacted by the consultant. A second challenge was a change in internal management which led to a delay in the hiring process. It was essential to keep candidates interested in the position during this delay. Regular communication with all candidates, kept them informed of the situation, but also kept them motivated for the role.

The outcome: Finally, Peter spoke to 20 candidates and presented the hiring managers 8 profiles from the USA, Germany, Italy, and France, all of which came from his own research. Four of them were selected for a two-stage interview. One of the 4 candidates received an offer from Peter, who then negotiated it with the candidate, including additional benefits in the package. The other candidates were kept informed and received feedback on the outcome of the placement. They continued to work with the team of consultants in Geneva until they all received satisfactory offers. The client was very pleased with Peter's services, especially given the initial challenge of the high-skill mix. They contacted him at multiple times following the initial placement to fill 5 senior positions in the US, Europe, and Asia last year and already requested help on 5 new roles this year.

Written by: Peter Wharton, Managing Partner, Antal Switzerland