Interviewing for a VP Engineering Role
We at SheTO had the opportunity to learn from two of our brilliant members, Beth Daggert (VPE @ Procore) and Kathryn Vandiver (VPE @ BlueOwl), who sat down with us to share their wins and failures on their personal journeys to land their VPE roles. The discussion was incredibly candid and authentic; anyone who is planning to interview for a new opportunity can benefit from their experiences and wisdom .
Below are a few of the key tips from Beth and Kathryn on how to start the journey:
Failing interviews is part of the process so Be Resilient! Yes, it’s painful and can be demoralizing but stay strong, objective, do your homework and learn from every interview. You will be successful in the end!
“I spent June 2019 to June 2020 focusing all my efforts on landing my next role. This spanned 20 different company interviews, which amounted to 99 individual interviews, over the course of the year, before I got this job.”
“Keep your smile file, keep all the good things anyone ever said, keep your list of accomplishments to keep you going as this is challenging.”
“There were a number of points along the way, where I thought, “Oh, my gosh, it's time for me to pack my bags. This whole thing is just, it's over and done! And can I even manage somebody again, or get a job in technology? I don't know!”
“If you do the math, it’s like an 80% failure rate; I've been rejected at every step of the process, but I ultimately ended up in a great opportunity that I wanted”
Build a network and community - It’s a fact that most VPE roles are landed through your network. You should always be building this network but start tapping into that network at least 6 months in advance of starting your search by sending out feelers that you’re interested in exploring VPE roles. Take time to meet other executives and executive recruiters.
SheTO is a critical resource here as we not only can help connect you with opportunities, we can help you with mock interviews and even connect you with SheTO members in your target companies. These network connections are priceless in helping to navigate the interview process and really get an understanding of the company culture. SheTO also hosts interview practice sessions and a variety of workshops around interviewing and executive presence.
“I started looking for groups like SheTO. I also tapped into:
Upward: a high power group there that got me some connections
Exec Thread: which was a place where I could start finding out what's going on.
I started working with Plato, which is engineering mentorship stuff, doing VP dinners. So I could meet other people.”
“I sought out an executive coach, I solicited feedback and got into discussions with peers. So all of that gave me insights into places where I might be weak, where I might need to strengthen and in order to be a VP at a different company than the one I was currently at.”
“ I did hire an executive coach, after I took my last position, which I probably should have done before as I think it would have helped me mentally prepare for the rigor of a VPE interview. I was just interviewing a lot, having a lot of conversations with recruiters. But I also needed to reinvent myself on my LinkedIn, I had to spend a lot of time making sure my LinkedIn reflected myself in the way that I wanted to be perceived when it came to those VPE roles. Then reaching out applying to jobs directly.”
“The exec coach I used really helped me, coming from a very deep technical background, in terms of expressing and communicating with those executive stakeholders”
Prepare your story: It’s critical that you can demonstrate that you can solve problems in a way that the CEO or hiring manager never has to see them. That's the story that you have to tailor to the opportunity. SheTO hosts ongoing practice sessions where you can build and practice your elevator pitch.
“Preparing for an interview was exhausting in regards to writing my story. I made sure that I had a story for every point on my resume, because that was how companies were going to evaluate me. I did a lot of interviewing for VP roles, which in most cases don’t pan out, so I would go back and reflect on the questions, write them down in order to be more prepared the next time around.”
“You just have to get in there and be dedicated; this is your story, this is your direction, this is your career. Just keep at it and eventually you'll start to crack that nut on getting those interviews and getting those conversations.”
Practice demonstrating confidence - It’s critical that you show up with confidence but not arrogance. Take the time to prepare your answers and research the company so you can dialogue in a relaxed and confident manner. Having and demonstrating your executive presence is key to nailing your leadership interview. Join our next "Build Your Executive Presence" workshop to get tips and tricks on how to show up as a confident leader.
“I joined Toastmasters for about six months to learn to speak ad hoc, because I would fall apart when asked to answer challenging questions under pressure. This helped me gain skills to tell my story with authenticity and respond to questions under fire with confidence.”
“I did mock interviews with a couple people to be camera ready. To be able to speak in front of a camera and speak with confidence.”
“Arrogance versus confidence.I had to figure out how to calibrate myself as a woman going in cold where these companies didn't know me, yet still showing the right level of competence that I know my technology area. I definitely lost a couple of opportunities on the basis of the perception that I was arrogant versus confident.”
“Have confidence in yourself. By the time you reach the interviewer, you've done all your homework, it is not a final exam, it is literally a conversation so take all the pressure off. You're just there to talk to people. This helped me so much from a framing perspective and it's the truth.”
SheTO is here to help so (1) start the work early (2) lean on your network and (3) be resilient!
Onward and upward!