Landing Top Executive Positions

Executive positions don't go to those without any experience. Unless your father runs a large corporation, you're not going to find an ''entry-level'' executive position. The way to get yourself into one of the top executive positions in the business world today is to become an absolute master of the skills that you'll eventually need to make a convincing case for your candidacy.

Top executive positions are certainly not for those who want to be lazy and spend most of their days with their feet up on their desks surfing the Internet while collecting big paychecks. Executives are among the hardest workers in any company. That said, they do of course enjoy some great advantages over all of the ''lesser'' employees:

• They have considerable power, including the power to hire and fire.
  
  
  
  
• They make a lot money.
  
  
• Their work consists of high-level decision making, project creation and implementation, using creative brain power freely, and often times travel which includes some fine accommodations and perks.
  
  
• In purely physical terms, their work is usually the easiest in the company.
  

In spite of all that, though, top executive positions are definitely hard-won. What's more, executives are typically under the most emotional stress of all a company's employees. They have to deal with other top decision makers at other companies. They're the ones who have to deal most directly with the government. Their higher profiles make them the first and easiest (and often unfair) targets of the public, any shareholders, the media, other employees, or lawsuits if things go down a rocky road. Although they have the power to hire and fire, needing to fire someone is usually a painful, emotionally taxing thing for them. They must often make very difficult decisions about the direction the business should take. And finally, since their power and money are highly coveted, they're constantly being ''gunned for'' by lower level employees and other CEOs.

As the saying goes, ''it's lonely at the top.'' Those with top executive jobs must deal with all of these things. This means that top executive positions definitely aren't for everyone. Not only is experience required, but the right temperament is also critical. Those who get these positions have to be very responsible, personally accountable, and able to handle high levels of stress and constant scrutiny. They must often work longer hours than the average person, be away from their families more than the average worker, and be comfortable making major decisions that will affect a lot of people and possibly the entire direction and future of the company.

But for those who do have the right personality and mindset, the compensation is worth all the trouble:

• Executives across all industries are earning an average of $65,000 per year. But that figure averages together the full pay range, which runs from $40,000 for executive secretaries to $169,000 for people like national account executives.
  
  
• Healthcare executive positions average $79,000 per year; that's 26% higher than the average compensation for all jobs nationwide.
  
  
• Executive sales positions average $64,000 per year, which is 2% higher than the national compensation average.
  
  
• Executive marketing positions average $65,000 per year, which is 3% higher than the national compensation average.
  
  
• Executive recruiters average $80,000 per year, which is 28% higher than the average national compensation for all jobs.

So how can you get a top executive position? The following tips should give you some good ideas:

• Make sure that you do your "lesser" jobs impeccably. Always dress for success, and do both what you're told to do and more than what you're told to do. Gain as much knowledge about every aspect of the business you work for as you can.
  
  
• Look at the job market the same way you would a business. Consider it competitive. For executive positions, that's far more competitive than usual. When you begin searching for executive positions, consider prospective employers as buyers who are seeking only the best product…you.
  
  
• Attract attention to yourself. Make yourself stand out. Not through being outlandish or getting yourself into trouble at the company or with the law, either. Just think outside the box, and constantly give suggestions to your superiors about how the business's operations could be improved or enhanced without being critical of your superiors' performance.
  
  
• Have only a small segment of employers that you seek executive positions with. Don't try to be all things to all people, and never fool yourself into believing that you can really even do that. Take your hard-won experiences at your past jobs and your knowledge about the business you're in, and use those as your selling points. In other words, if you've been working in the mechanical lighting industry, for example, don't try to become a healthcare executive.
  
  
• Know and use the techniques of highly successful salesmen to get your foot in those doors and sell yourself.
  
  
• Negotiate with those who give you an audience to get yourself the best possible deal. This alone will demonstrate your executive mettle.