Career Mastery expert Becky Heidesch is the founder of two online career centres, and a US nationwide boutique executive search firm, where she has interviewed hundreds of executives and placed senior level women in dozens of industries in corporate America.

As a public speaker, she has led career seminars for companies and organisations, along with various women’s groups including, Women in Automotive, Women in Financial, Women in Government, and Women in Sports.

Becky discusses her background and the motivation behind writing her new book "The Career Master Class for Women". She shares insights on the unique challenges women face in the workforce, as well as universal career management strategies that apply to all professionals. Becky emphasises the importance of being proactive in managing one's career, especially given the rapidly changing business landscape.

Becky describes her experience working in executive search, including the rigorous 17-step process her firm uses to vet and place candidates. She explains how they aim to find the perfect "needle in the haystack" to fit the client's needs, and the importance of cultural fit in addition to skills and experience. Becky also discusses the guarantees and consequences of unsuccessful placements.

Becky outlines the key qualities she looks for in successful candidates, including strong skills, tools, education, and experience, as well as personal qualities like emotional intelligence, judgment, and work ethic. She emphasizes the importance of the "total package" and how her firm assesses candidates across multiple touchpoints.

Becky discusses the challenges and evolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in hiring. She shares how her firm has adapted to client demands for more diverse candidate slates, and the need to balance talent and merit with addressing historical underrepresentation in certain industries and roles. Becky emphasises the importance of focusing on competency while also recognising the need for pipeline development.

Becky provides advice for professionals looking to make career changes or extend their working lives. She encourages finding the intersection of passion, skills, and opportunity, and being strategic about transitioning to new roles. Becky also highlights the benefits of leveraging the experience and wisdom of older workers to complement the digital skills of younger generations.

Graham Arrowsmith

Graham founded Finely Fettled ten years ago to help business owners and marketers market to affluent and high-net-worth customers. Graham founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, which combines the world's biggest source of 10,000 marketing experiments with AI. Find Graham on LinkedIn.

Kevin Appleby

Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin...