Over the past year, we’ve noticed a surge in senior executives and specialists entering the job market, and exploring their next steps. This number feels significantly higher than in previous years.
As a courtesy, we make time to meet with them, either in person or online, depending on the circumstances, even if we don’t have a direct engagement for their specific background. This article starts a series about senior managers on the brink of a new future.
We’ve found that these senior candidates can be roughly split into three categories based on how they got here:
- Corporate Veterans: These individuals are -abruptly or not- at the end of a corporate career, with their employers closing or restructuring operations in Asia. (Victims)
- Circumstantial Candidates: This group includes trailing spouses—both male and female—and returnees with personal ties in Asia who want to emigrate from their home countries.
- Life Rethinkers: More than ever, we see individuals rethinking their lives and stepping out of senior roles by choice. After 20 or 30 years in the corporate trenches, they’ve opted for a leap year—a sabbatical, often unpaid—with no clear idea of what’s next.
These groups are equally split between genders, with more foreigners reaching out to us than locals. In fact, locals are mostly senior professionals affected by early retirement policies of local companies, typically between 55 and 60, and not ready personally or financially to stop working.
The first shock for all three groups is professional loneliness. Suddenly, no one is asking for their advice or decisions anymore, and there’s no administrative or organizational support system in place. No assistants, no specialist managers to help, no driver to get you to a networking event. If you want something done, you must do it yourself.
With loneliness comes a loss of status. While many claim they don’t care about these things, secretly, it stings like a hypodermic needle- particularly when headhunters no longer call or fail to return your calls.
The second shock is more obvious: from day one, the jobless executive turns from a “net saver” to a “gross spender.” Hopefully, some investments will pay out regular dividends. If not, reorienting your portfolio might become urgent.
Twenty-odd years after your first entrance into the professional job market, you find yourself competing with others who are still employed, who might be cheaper, better connected…
The question quickly arises: How do I go from an amateur to a professional job hunter?
Do you recognize yourself in this situation? How did you deal with it? Tell us about overcoming professional loneliness. We would love to hear your stories!