Early on in the process of coaching executives in transition, I like to make the point that the job search, like most of life, can be filled with trade-offs. Given the goals for the candidate, I suggest that success in the search may rely on their ability to flex. Often, there needs to be flexing on some dimension of the search.

For example, if someone definitely wants to stay in the area, something they can’t trade off, then they may have to flex on type of job, industry, expected salary or the length of time it will take to land a role.

However, if the person insists on being at the same or higher level of status and compensation, they will most likely have to flex on location. The same may be true if they are dead set on staying in the same industry, depending on how specific it is defined (e.g. P&C small commercial underwriting vs. insurance). The more specific the “industry” the more likely the need to flex on location and/or level of job.

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