Navigating the Complexities of the Job Market in 2025 – Key Takeaways From SOM’s Executive Search Panel

Candidates for senior-level jobs will find a mixed landscape this year, according to four executive search leaders SOM’s Career Development Office convened for an insightful webinar held online on January 23. Speakers included Ellen Weinreb ’98 from the Weinreb Group, Brian Joyce from Korn Ferry, Anastasia Crosswhite and Sarah Burley Reid from Spencer Stuart. SOM’s Elizabeth Sena moderated the discussion.

Crosswhite, a higher ed specialist, said her field has seen remarkable turnover at the senior levels in the past two years with no sign of any change coming in 2025. Financial services, Reid’s area of focus, was marginally slower in 2024, as firms awaited the outcome of the election. With that uncertainty now settled, certain sectors are “on fire,” with special emphasis on wealth management, private equity, and private credit roles.

Health care hiring is influenced by the fact that many major health systems are losing millions of dollars, Joyce said. That’s putting an emphasis on filling roles that either generate revenue or reduce costs. And searches for sustainability roles, while active, have been trending downward for the past couple of years, according to Weinreb.

The lively 50-minute conversation touched on a number of questions important for executives as well as those looking to break into the executive ranks; and practical advice on how to get on a recruiter’s radar (spoiler alert: cold-calling doesn’t work); the differences between your resume and your LinkedIn profile; and how you can adapt your online presence to attract the attention of the AI tools that now do much of the screening for executive search firms.

Thank you to our speakers including:

• Anastasia Crosswhite, Spencer Stuart executive and nonprofit leadership expert
• Brian Joyce, Korn Ferry Global Health Care Services Practice
• Sarah Burley Reid, Spencer Stuart Financial Services Practice
• Ellen Weinreb ’98 Weinreb Group Founder & Sustainability recruiting expert

Click here to watch a replay of the webinar.