You're a Head or Director in Australian or NZ corporate. You've always been headhunted, tapped on the shoulder, recommended before roles were advertised.

Until something changed.

This is the newsletter that explains why the calls have gone quiet, and what to do about it. One signal explained, one profile breakdown, one fix you can apply this week. Same format every Thursday.

Today's issue is the first.

Roughly 70% of Head of and Director-level roles get filled before they're ever advertised.

Recruiters fill about 30% of roles at this level. The other 70% goes to people the hiring manager already knew, had been told about, or had been approached by.

If you're applying or waiting, you're competing for a third of the market with everyone else who's also applying or waiting. The reason your inbox is quiet is because two thirds of the market is having a conversation you are not in.

The other two thirds is the conversation that happens before the role exists. That is the conversation Approached gets you into.

Stephen had been in the same company for 15 years. Senior technology professional. Took the redundancy package. Started applying.

Three months later: zero interviews.

He'd tried the AI resume platforms. Other resume writers. Direct outreach to recruiters. The message back was either silence or "great experience, keep applying."

When he came to me, I asked one question. "Could a stranger answer 'what is this person known for' in six seconds, looking at your LinkedIn?"

He couldn't answer. Honestly, neither could I, looking at his profile.

I spent 5 days rebuilding his signal. Headline rewritten as a positioning statement, not a job title. About section restructured around what he'd actually delivered, not the activities that filled his days. Featured section populated with the three pieces of proof a hiring manager at his target level would want to see. Experience rewritten outcome-first.

Twenty-four hours after his rebuilt profile went live, he had his first interview.

The capability was the same. Fifteen years of senior technology work. Same company, same skills, same achievements.

The signal was different. That is what this newsletter is going to be about.

Open your LinkedIn now. Read your headline as if you're a hiring manager scanning at speed.

Could a stranger answer "what is this person known for" in six seconds?

Six seconds. Not after a careful read.

Most senior leaders honestly answer no the first time they look. That is normal. It is also fixable.

This week, do one thing.

If your headline is just your job title, write a new one. The format that lands at this level is:

[Target role] | [Outcomes you drive] | [Sector or qualifier]

A few examples to anchor it:

HR Director | Building people functions that lift retention 20% in two years | ASX-experienced

Operational Transformation Director | Saving 7-figure costs through process redesign | Big4-trained

Head of Finance | Leading commercial decisions in growth-stage SaaS | CA, ex-PwC

You don't have to publish it yet. Just write it. Read it back. See whether it answers the six-second question.

If it does, you've moved one step closer to being readable. If it doesn't, you've found the gap. Either result is useful, because both tell you exactly what to fix next.

That's all you need to do this week.

Want to see how your signal stands across all four moves the senior market reads?

Take The Approached Audit · 3 minutes · $0

12 questions across Position, Signal, Target, and Relationships. The result page shows your overall score, your weakest move, and the next step matched to where you are. Most senior leaders score under 41.67% their first time.

No follow-up sales call. No mailing-list buy-in until you choose. 

See you Thursday.

Cheraine

Stop Applying. Get Approached.

P.S. If you liked today's issue, hit reply and tell me which line resonated. I read every reply, because I want to know whether the framing fits where you actually are right now.