Hi Reader

There's one sentence I've said more than any other this year, so I thought it was time I explained it properly.

It's not you, it's your strategy.

What I see a lot

Every week I speak to women in marketing, PR and Comms who are very good at what they do. Fifteen, twenty years in. Trusted with the big projects. The person everyone goes to when something needs sorting.

And they're stuck.

The promotion went to someone else. The applications go out and nothing comes back. Or the feedback is the same year after year: "keep doing what you're doing".

So they decide the problem must be them. Not confident enough. Not good enough at interviews. Too old, too expensive, too late.

After 20+ years on the hiring side of the table, I can tell you that's rarely what's going on.

The strategy gap

There's a gap between how strategic you are and how strategic people think you are. I call it the strategy gap.

You know what you bring. But the people making decisions about you, whether that's your MD, a recruiter or a hiring manager with a pile of CVs, only know what they can see.

And what they can usually see is a safe pair of hands. Reliable. Gets things done.

Lovely things to be. They're just not what gets you the next role.

Where the gap usually sits

It tends to be in one of three places:

• Your Profile. Your CV and LinkedIn list what you were responsible for, when they need to show what changed because of you.
• Your Positioning. Ask five colleagues what you're known for and you'll get five different answers. Or all five will say "she delivers".
• Your Presence. The right people don't know you exist because you've let the work do the talking and the work is very quiet.

Most women I work with have a gap in one of these far more than the other two. Once you know which one, you can stop trying to fix everything and fix the thing that matters.

A quick word on what you can't control

Ageism is real. So is AI screening your CV before a person ever reads it. I'm not going to tell you otherwise.

But they aren't always the reason and the strategy gap is the part you can actually do something about.

Want to know where yours is?

Book a free 20 minute Career Strategy Call with me. No pressure. I'll tell you where I think your gap is and what I'd do about it first.

Have a good week and chat soon

Padma

P.S. Not ready for a call yet? Take my free Get Hired Quiz. It shows you where to focus first.

P.P.S. Save the date: I'm running my free Strategy Gap webinar on Tuesday 17th November.

Reserve your spot here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_aaW_mF_QtupGYvN3s5knA​

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