More executives seek new jobs

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Chris Newmarker Staff Writer

Is a top manager in your company looking for another job?

The chance he or she has embarked on a job search is greater now than it’s been for some time, according to some Twin Cities recruiters who are hearing more from top-level executives who have jobs, but want new ones.

At Bloomington-based accounting and staffing firm Ambrion, the firm’s owner and founder Brian Carlson is getting job queries from employed, high-level executives at least once a day. Such conversations were rare a few months ago.

Ken Heisler, the managing director of Minneapolis-based Salo’s executive-search business, has seen a recent 20 to 30 percent increase in conversations with employed executives in the hunt. He now talks with about 10 of them a week.

Marni Hockenberg, owner and executive recruiter at Minnetonka-based Hockenberg Search, gets approached about jobs at a networking event once a week, something that hardly happened before the recession.

All of the recruiters say it’s an unusual situation for them. They’re more used to seeking out employed executives, rather than executives contacting them.

“I think that people are gearing up to make changes in the new year,” Hockenberg said.

Executives’ reasons for finding another position vary. Some are disgruntled about the heavier workloads during the downturn, or don’t like how their companies handled employees, or are worried whether their companies will survive. Others simply want to make a change.

What such executives have in common is that they think the jobs market is going to improve and want to be positioned to take advantage of it.

“As the market gets better, those people are seeing the same signs. And those who were staying in positions they weren’t super excited about are starting to reach out and explore what their options might be,” Carlson said.

Looking for a change

One executive who recently made the leap is Jennifer Albrecht.

For the past nine years, she was director of marketing at HTG Architects’ Minneapolis office. The recession slowed business for many architecture firms. On top of that, Albrecht realized that she was clocking in so many hours that she was “living to work, rather than working to live.”

She said it was “just time for a change.”

“I put my resume out there in multiple locations, just trying to network with my own friends and family. I was letting people know I was looking, albeit quietly, because I didn’t want to leave the firm before I had something lined up,” Albrecht said.

Then in October, Albrecht was having dinner with a friend, Stephanie Laitala, president and owner of Minneapolis-based Owl Bookkeeping and CFO Services. Laitala said she was looking for someone to handle marketing.

“I looked across the table and said, ‘Are you waiting for me to say I would be perfect?’ ” Albrecht said.

Albrecht started at Owl on Nov. 30 in an office in St. Paul. “I feel lucky to be, A, working with a friend, and, B, working in a business that is pretty recession proof,” she said, adding that companies need Owl’s services in good times and bad.

Another executive, who asked that his name not be revealed because he doesn’t want to jeopardize his present job, also seeks something new. He’s now vice president of human resources at a Twin Cities-area manufacturer that suffered a big revenue plunge during the recession. The company laid off many workers.

“I don’t like the way the company has been managing the situation. I consider it unacceptable,” he said.

For the past half a year, the manufacturing executive has been quietly networking. When he sees an Internet posting for a job, he doesn’t risk sending a resume directly, but instead finds someone who might refer him to someone inside.

“I’m not going to settle for any HR position. I’m looking for a company that has potential in the future,” he said.