Matteo

Client: Matteo was senior director of worldwide supply chain for a leading designer and producer of luxury accessories.

Industry: Luxury, Fashion, Retail

Function: Supply Chain, Operations, Transformation

Challenge: Poor cultural fit with leadership combined with a desire for a more senior position led Matteo to seek a new opportunity.

Process: Armed with a new resume and tools to engage the unpublished job market, Matteo embraced the concept of "paying it forward" to build his network and become a known entity among the hiring community.

Landing: His campaign produced four competing offers, one of which he accepted for a position as executive vice president of operations at a luxury fashion company.

Matteo, who is based in the New York City metro area, has over 20 years' experience in supply chain operations and transformations for global fashion and luxury goods companies. Most recently he was senior director of worldwide supply chain for a global designer and producer of luxury accessories. After three years there, however, Matteo felt that the culture in the organization was not a good fit, and he decided to explore the market for opportunities with a higher-level title.

"I felt I deserved more," said Matteo. "I had done all this work in the industry, but my title still said 'senior director.' I felt I needed more recognition, to become a VP, a SVP, or maybe a C-level leader."

So Matteo looked around and found The Career Doctor. He immediately saw how its program could help him reach his goals.

"What I liked is that The Career Doctor focuses on senior executives. It's not a company that takes anyone who has the money to pay. I also liked the systematic approach TCD takes when working with clients."

Matteo quickly enrolled and got to work. He found the Career Plan program to be a meaningful experience.

"I enjoyed the Career Plan. The assessments were interesting and gave me confirmation that my personality is suited to working in a supply chain environment. I'm analytical, and I like a fast pace with complex challenges," said Matteo. "My consultant, George Dooley, was also very helpful during Career Plan. He encouraged me to complete the various exercises and helped me develop strategies for my career change."

With the help of TCD's writing team, Matteo overhauled his resume to better present his experience and career narrative.

"My old resume was good, but it was very fact-driven. I'm a supply chain professional. I'm used to data and numbers. What TCD taught me was how to make it more emotional. We're human beings after all, and if a resume generates emotions, it resonates with the reader," said Matteo.

"George opened my mind to the 'pay-it-forward' concept in networking. I realized that if you give and don't expect anything in return, opportunities will come."

Matteo especially valued the conversations he had with George about building up his network to get access to the unpublished job market, where approximately 75% of available opportunities exist. George encouraged him to embrace the concept of "paying it forward" as a way to expand his network without putting pressure on the people in it.

"When I started this process, I already had lots of contacts in my network. What I was missing was leveraging those contacts to get to more people. George opened my mind to the 'pay-it-forward' concept in networking. I realized that if you give and don't expect anything in return, opportunities will come. If I meet someone and offer to help, at the end of the day they will remember me when something comes up for which I might be a fit."

This approach allowed Matteo to get his name around the industry and become a known entity in the hiring community.

"My strategy was to use every conversation I had to generate a couple more connections. By doing this systematically, you start meeting a lot of people. I also reached out to CEOs and hiring managers of interesting companies who might not be looking for anything at the moment. I knew that if I talked to enough people, at some point one of them would have a position for me," said Matteo. "My goal was to be on the radar screen of the hiring community so that when an opportunity came, they would think of me."

"My goal was to be on the radar screen of the hiring community so that when an opportunity came, they would think of me."

Matteo's strategy generated results. About six months into his search, three VP-level opportunities came to him at once, and soon, a fourth came on top of those. The four companies competed for him with multiple rounds of meetings and interviews, and Matteo had to decide among the offers.

"It was a blessing to have four options and to be in a position to evaluate and compare them. I had meetings with each of the four CEOs, and each CEO tried to sell the company to me. I felt I had done a great job building my network and presenting myself to the industry, and the proof was that I now had all this optionality."

He eventually accepted an offer to serve as executive vice president of operations for a fashion company in New York that offers men's luxury apparel and accessories directly to consumers.

"My new job is at a company that sells directly online and through a network of stores. My role involves managing the supply chain, but I'm also in charge of transformation projects to improve the customer experience. It's a great opportunity."

For those considering a career change, Matteo has this advice to give:

"Network, network, network. I tell this to everyone. You may be very good at your job, but if you decide one day to look for a new position, you will struggle to find one if you don't have a network. For me, it took hundreds of connections to finally get a few opportunities. It's a numbers game. You have to talk to a lot of people to get something. So, my advice is to network continuously and cultivate your network."

Back to main page