Inside the hidden CMO job market

It’s never been easier to apply for a job, with new opportunities often one click away on job platforms such as LinkedIn. Thanks to AI and online applications, gone are the days of extensive cover letters and personalized resumes. But for marketing executives seeking new work, the hardest part might be finding the job openings in the first place. Companies are eschewing traditional job boards and keeping a high percentage of chief marketing officer searches confidential, feeding into what has become known as the hidden CMO job market, which is driven by networking and referrals. The practice of hiring covertly is not new. However, changing labor dynamics and business conditions are making it more prevalent. During the pandemic-spurred Great Resignation of 2021 and 2022, the job market was candidate-driven and many companies were rolling out the red carpet of perks to attract prospective hires. Many of those perks included the option of hybrid or completely remote work, options that have greatly diminished in open roles in the last three to six months alone, according to Richard Sanderson, who leads the marketing, sales and communications officer practice in North America at Spencer Stuart. Such cultural changes at work are prompting employees to seek options elsewhere, especially those who joined companies that offered remote work only to find that they are now required to be on site, despite living far away. This rise in job seekers, combined with the frictionless job application process, is leading to a flood of applicants, creating an exhausting process for human resource teams to sift through hundreds of candidates, according to industry experts. So their job becomes easier by engaging in targeted, confidential searches. “It’s a challenging market for job seekers right now,” said Missy Stella, senior unit manager of marketing and supply chain recruiting at LaSalle Network. “And it’s challenging for employers too because they’re also being flooded with such great candidates at a high volume that they don’t know what to do.” Michael Wright, founder of Taligence, an executive search and talent intelligence firm that uses publicly available data to track hires, estimates that about 80% of CMO and senior marketing leadership roles are never posted. “An overwhelming number of CMO or CXO positions are hired under the radar,” he said, referring to chief experience officers. Read more: CMO hiring is on the rise—behind top marketer employment trends In some cases, companies quietly look for candidates because the current CMO is not a good fit and they want to keep the search under wraps. But in other instances, openly advertising for a new marketing leader could imply trouble at the company, such as its current brand strategy not working, according to Sanderson. “Competitive sensitivity” drives a lot of confidential searches, he said. “If a company is publicly disclosing they’re looking for a certain leader, it may be an external sign that a brand is having a challenge and a company may not wish to broadcast that to competitors,” he said. The changing CEO-CMO relationship Some experts pointed to a disconnect between the CEO and CMO as a driving factor. For example, a hidden search could be a result of a company leader turning to networking for talent to address specific skillsets, said Lisa Mann, managing director, consumer practice and chief marketing officer of executive search firm Raines. Since the role and expected responsibilities of a CMO are different at each brand, a referral network could be more helpful to find the right candidate. Some CEOs may want a marketer who specializes in retail media, for example, or someone who has more digital and social media expertise. “The scope of the CMO role is different at every company and that’s forcing a different way of identifying talent because it feels very task-oriented now,” said Mann, noting the “fragmentation” of the CMO position. “What’s happening in a lot of C-suites is this frustration with and disconnect with the CEO and CMO and it devolves into… let’s just scope the job and see who would be great at that and who knows someone.” Earlier this spring, a senior VP at IBM posted to his LinkedIn network that the company was looking to add a VP of global brand, content and creative to its team. Described by Taligence’s Wright as “half-way hidden”—because it was not officially posted to IBM’s own job board—the listing encouraged marketers to apply. It has received 74 reposts, 28 comments and nearly 800 reactions. IBM did not return a request for comment about the listing or its strategy. A ‘Cheesecake Factory’ dilemma While, in most cases, there are no legal ramifications to confidential searches, certain companies are required to post executive-level job listings, experts said. In such instances, the listing may be up for just 48 to 72 hours as brands turn to their own private searches. “We do have some clients that for any full-time open requisition, even if they have someone in mind for the role, they still legally have to post it,” said Stella. She noted that, in the current environment, she is seeing a lot of executives getting jobs through referrals and personal networks with someone else vouching for them. She likened an employer’s dilemma to a “Cheesecake Factory menu” of too many options. “It’s analysis paralysis so you just choose whatever the server recommends,” Stella said, noting that overwhelmed hiring managers are going through their own networks first for referrals in the same way that a Cheesecake Factory customer might ask a server for recommendations. Experts also said that many companies, including private equity firms, are growing their own internal talent acquisition teams to search through referrals. For example, Wright noted that Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm that has financially backed the likes of Airbnb, Instacart and Coinbase, has nearly 70 people with the word “talent” in their job title, as the company builds up its own recruiting engine. How to get found Experts said candidates should make themselves visible through self-promotion in order to be in the consideration pipeline for hiring managers. “They’re talking to networks, their board is connecting them to other executives that might know talent—everyone is asking their network and that’s the hidden market,” Mann said. Wright recommends that CMOs build up their personal brands through more visibility, such as speaking engagements, written thought leadership pieces and book writing. He also said candidates should focus on cultivating relationships with company decision makers and other influencers so they’ll hear about new prospective openings early. Candidates can also look to niche networking platforms such as ExecThread and AboveBoard, which often list confidential job openings. “Being known beats applying,” Wright said. “The types of executives who position themselves as industry influencers are going to get approached more than those who are quietly plugging away.” Recent news: CMO job moves and hiring trends to watch

Inside the hidden CMO job market

Featured Stories