It feels safer to keep options open. "I'll target a few functions and a wide level range, more shots on goal." At senior level, that instinct backfires. Narrow targeting consistently outperforms broad, and here's why.
What broad targeting costs you:
1. Your resume can't position for everything. A document aimed at Sales, Marketing, and CS at once reads as focused on none. Recruiters read breadth as a lack of depth.
2. Your sourcing gets slow and shallow. A wide target means scanning everything and tailoring nothing. The funnel fills with low-fit roles.
3. Your data becomes unreadable. When you're applying across three functions and two levels, you can't tell what's converting, so you can't fix anything.
4. You read as unfocused, which at senior level is disqualifying. A Director who'll "consider anything" signals to hiring teams that they don't know their own value.
What narrow targeting buys you, the dividend:
A resume that positions sharply for one family. Fast, deep sourcing in a defined market. Clean data you can actually read. And a candidate who reads as someone who knows exactly what they want, which is what leadership hiring is looking for.
3-5 titles, one function family, one tight level band. The focus isn't a limitation. It's the thing that makes the search work.
— Dr. Hosney Adel