The harsh truth: Why experience alone won’t get you the executive role?

In contemporary leadership hiring, being competent isn't good enough; you need to be seen. The purpose of this article is to explore why senior leaders, with all of the experience been getting overlooked—and what it really takes to get noticed.

LinkedIn states that 85% of leadership jobs are filled through networking rather than applications. Still, thousands of experienced professionals have little regard for networking in their job searches.

They hope their experience alone is enough to capture attention. The results? They are left with empty inboxes, missed opportunities, and mounting frustration. More often than not, these Directors, VPs, and AVPs will deliver measurable impact to the business, but your visibility is the reason they weren't hired—not competency.

The answer is experience is no longer enough; especially if you are vying for a leadership position. As an ex-AVP who has risen through all ranks at Accenture, Reliance Jio, Kotak Life and SBI General Insurance; I have seen the visibility value from roles and functions apply in the experiences of my peers, mentors and my own through the years.

The executive visibility gap is real

Traditionally, there has been one way to grow your career: do great work, earn trust in the organisation, and be promoted. This has worked for many Directors, VPs, and AVPs, but when we reach for the CXO role, this is no longer enough.

In today’s hiring environment (executive or otherwise), hiring is no longer about performance and reputation; the hiring process now includes a digital component. The way that highly experienced professionals are found, evaluated, and shortlisted has changed due to technology and data-driven recruitment platforms.

Modern hiring is increasingly powered by:

• AI-powered Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that screen for strategic keywords across résumés and LinkedIn profiles
• Recruiter search algorithms on platforms like LinkedIn Recruiter that prioritise visible, engaged professionals
• Sentiment analysis and content scoring tools that assess thought leadership quality across public platforms
• Automated talent intelligence platforms that map executive networks, media mentions, and domain influence.

Opportunities today will go to the most visible as opposed to the most experienced. If you are not consistently showing up in the research projects or are not trending on LinkedIn or joining digital discussions, you have zero visibility in the minds of recruiters and boards when making data-based decisions.

There's so much noise in the digital world that even the most experienced professional can easily become invisible without a profile that is actively maintained and without ever having contributed or shared their point of view in public. A lack of visibility means their application is typically disregarded - long before a real decision-maker has ever laid eyes on it.

In short, Performance may get you respect in your organisation -but visibility built on digital relevance opens doors in the external world.

Why this gap happens

This gap isn’t one of ability — it’s a gap in tracking how tech is changing what executive search looks like.

The majority of senior executives focus on operations, leading a team, and executing on a strategy. They are seldom in markets, and even less on public ones. That works until it doesn’t.

What’s frequently been missed, however, is this:

A personal sense of credibility doesn’t have a digital footprint. AI tools and search algorithms can’t read your mind — they surface only what is published, endorsed or tagged online.

The landscape has changed—quietly, But radically

The leadership hiring ecosystem today is no longer simply job boards and internal referrals.To find potential leaders today, hiring leaders are looking for strategic structures for action.

Recruiters are looking for talent based on prior experience or prior online presence, thought leadership, and perceived relevancy. Boards want to see some level of digital fluency along with a public voice. Executive roles are often filled today through networks, visibility, and intentional and personal branding.

Most experienced professionals, seemingly trapped in the Old script of:

"Update the résumé. Wait for calls. Wait and see."

Strategic personal branding is no longer just a “nice-to-have” but is now considered a vital leadership competency. Today’s executive recruiters and hiring committees are increasingly relying on a variety of digital signals to determine not only what you have done, but also who you are as a leader. A personal brand provides the opportunity to convey the complexity of your value proposition, your leadership style, and your values in a way that your résumé never could. It establishes trust, creates connections, and shows that you are an industry thought leader.

For example, Rajesh Agarwal, a well-established AVP with 15+ years of experience in the insurance industry, was struggling to move from his current level to senior leadership positions, even though he had substantial accomplishments and experience.

By restructuring his LinkedIn profile, had him write several thought leadership pieces that showcased his experience in digital transformation, and connected him with some strategic key decision-makers in the industry. 

It only took three-months from when Rajesh was going to interview and be an invited candidate for 2 C-suite positions; he ultimately got a VP position at a leading fintech company. Rajesh’s personal brand built the foundation for advancing his career in a way his résumé never could.

Leaders who invest in their executive brand had realized accelerated career progression often being pursued with several unsolicited opportunities often without even a job application. Conversely, and equally alarming, is that leaders who do not pay attention to their executive brand risk obscurity despite their accomplishments. In a world driven by data and opinion, your personal brand provides the linkage between your experience and your next executive opportunity.

The new playbook is from resume to reputation

This is where executive branding and reverse recruitment take center stage.

Working with aspiring CXOs to change their story—moving them from static résumés to dynamic reputation tools and from basic LinkedIn profiles to strategic amplification platforms. Then directly pitch these individuals to specific hiring managers and recruiters through the vast network and data-driven outreach.

Now consider this: over 70% of executive-level roles are never publicly advertised, and are filled behind the scenes or behind closed doors, through what is colloquially known as "hidden" recruitment conversations. Without strategic visibility, you won't even know these opportunities are available, much less get invited to apply for them. We don't just help you apply for jobs; we create visibility for you.

By combining personal branding, thought leadership and intentional reverse recruitment,professionals can increase the odds of being seen up to 5x higher than traditional job hunting. Typically, they will have 3-5 targeted interview opportunities within an 8-week engagement.

A Call to the quietly powerful

If you're reading this and nodding your head in agreement, let me say this:

"It's not too late, but it's time to stop playing small. You've done the hard work - now it's time to make sure the world knows what you've done. Don't wait to be discovered. Be seen. Be heard. Be positioned."

Because the next big opportunity isn't going to the loudest voice, it's going to the most strategically positioned one.

By Sapana Nikhade, Founder, LeadershipAura.com