Nordh Executive Search

A recruiter opens your LinkedIn profile and decides in less than ten seconds whether to message you or scroll on. And it's not your experience that decides it, it's how you're positioned on the page.

In this episode, Jan Nordh explains why LinkedIn isn't a social platform but a search engine for talent, and how to set up your profile so the right recruiters and hiring managers actually find you. It's the practical follow-up to the last episode on the open-to-work banner: that one was the why, this is the how. With 19 years in executive search and 25 years in enterprise sales, he knows both sides of the table.

You'll learn:

• Why a recruiter decides about your profile in ten seconds, and what they really look at
• The three-part headline formula that gets you into the search: role, keywords, impact
• How to write your about section as a story instead of pasting in your CV
• The one open-to-work setting that turns loud searching into targeted getting found

For enterprise sales professionals, sales leaders, cybersecurity pros and anyone in DACH and the Nordics who wants to be found, not just visible. Topics: LinkedIn, Cybersecurity, Enterprise Software, IT Sales, Executive Search, DACH, Nordics.

Where is the line between a resume that positions you strongly and one that costs you the job on the first reference call?

In this episode I break down, from the headhunter's side of the table, what you are allowed to frame strategically on your resume, and what will reliably cost you the offer. Because the most common mistake among genuinely strong people in enterprise sales and cybersecurity is not the invented title. It is the opposite: honest, accurate resumes that hide their own value completely.

You will learn:

Which claims are verifiable and will collapse your offer instantly (degree, employers, dates, management responsibility).

Where legitimate translating starts and inventing ends, using your title, your numbers and your role on the deal.

Why top performers systematically sell themselves short, and how to write decisions instead of tasks.

How a hiring manager decides on your resume in six seconds, and what they are actually looking for.

How to frame employment gaps and short stints cleanly, without apologising or creating an inconsistency with LinkedIn.

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, cybersecurity sellers and sales leaders in DACH and the Nordics who take their positioning seriously. Keywords: resume, CV, job application, enterprise sales, cybersecurity, IT sales, executive search, DACH, Nordics, career strategy.

109,000 unfilled IT roles in Germany. A 424,000-person cybersecurity gap across Europe. And experienced enterprise sales professionals sitting in processes that die after five rounds.

That is not a contradiction. It is the most important market shift of the last two years, and most candidates are reading it wrong.

In this episode I go through what is actually happening in DACH, the Nordics and the US. With real numbers: 1.15 million open positions in Germany, down 42 percent from the 2022 peak. Around 170 days average time a vacancy stays open. And from a Greenhouse analysis of 640 million applications, the figure that explains everything: almost one in three posted roles closes without a hire.

You will learn:

Why longer interview processes are a symptom of uncertainty, not thoroughness

What the data from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the US really says about your odds

Why almost 30 percent of all processes end without a hire, and what that says about your rejections

Why AI-optimised profiles are currently working against you rather than for you

Why your bottleneck is not the interview, it is the stage before it

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, cybersecurity sales people and sales leaders across DACH and the Nordics. And for hiring managers who want to know what their process is costing them.

Should senior executives use LinkedIn’s Open to Work banner?

For many professionals, it increases visibility. But at Director, VP and C-level, it can sometimes send an unintended message.

In this episode, Executive Search Consultant Jan Nordh explains why visibility is not the same as demand, why credibility matters more than reach, and how executive candidates can position themselves more effectively in today’s hiring market.

You’ll learn:

• why 150,000 LinkedIn impressions don’t necessarily lead to job offers,
• how senior hiring managers often interpret the Open to Work banner,
• why executive recruiting is driven by trust, not volume,
• and what successful leaders do differently when searching for their next role.

If you’re an executive, VP, CRO, sales leader, or senior professional considering your next move, this episode offers practical insights into executive positioning and career strategy.

Why do so many outstanding sales professionals fail interviews, despite being exceptional at selling?

Because they stop selling the way they normally do.

In this episode, Executive Recruiter Jan Nordh explains why your next job interview should never feel like a presentation. Instead, it should be approached exactly like a successful Discovery Call.

Drawing on more than 25 years in Enterprise Sales and 19 years in Executive Search, Jan shares practical techniques that help top-performing Account Executives, Sales Leaders and Enterprise Software professionals stand out during interviews.

You’ll learn:

• Why presenting your CV is often the biggest interview mistake

• How to diagnose the hiring manager’s real business problem before positioning yourself

• How to qualify a role just like you qualify an enterprise sales opportunity

• Why the interview itself is your live sales demonstration

• How to leave every interview with a clear next step

Whether you work in Cybersecurity, Enterprise Software, SaaS, AI Infrastructure or Data Centers, these techniques will help you conduct interviews with more confidence, more authority and better results.

If you’re preparing for your next Enterprise Sales interview, this episode provides practical advice you can apply immediately.

“What are your thoughts on AI?”

It sounds like a simple interview question.

In reality, it has become one of the most revealing questions in executive hiring, leadership interviews and enterprise sales recruitment.

In this episode of the Nordh Executive Search Podcast, I explain what hiring managers are actually evaluating when they ask about Artificial Intelligence, why most candidates answer the wrong question, and how experienced professionals can demonstrate judgment instead of simply expressing an opinion.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why AI questions have become common in executive interviews

• What hiring managers are really testing

• The three-part framework: Position. Proof. Limitation.

• How to answer with real business examples instead of generic opinions

• The mistakes even experienced sales leaders and executives make

• Why judgment has become one of the most valuable leadership skills in the AI era

I also share a real example from a recent Executive Search assignment, where two highly qualified candidates received completely different outcomes because of how they approached this single interview question.

Whether you’re interviewing for an Executive role, VP Sales, Sales Director, Enterprise Account Executive or another leadership position, this episode offers practical advice you can immediately apply.

About the Nordh Executive Search Podcast

Hosted by Jan Nordh, founder of Nordh Executive Search, this podcast shares practical insights from more than 19 years of Executive Search and 25 years of Enterprise Software Sales.

Why doesn't the most qualified person on the shortlist automatically get the senior role? Because senior roles are rarely decided on knowledge alone, but on something that becomes visible in the first few minutes of an interview: executive presence.

In this episode, Jan Nordh, founder of Nordh Executive Search, takes the topic to where it really counts for you: the interview room for a senior sales role. Drawing on 19 years in executive search and countless interview debriefs, he explains why the verdict is often set after just a few minutes, and why technically excellent candidates fail exactly here. Using the example of Kai, who loses the same role and then wins it on the second attempt, he shows what can actually change in the first three minutes.

What you'll learn:

Why hiring managers file you as a peer or an applicant in the first few minutes, and filter everything afterward through that lens.

Where technically strong candidates really lose in the executive interview, and what the line "I couldn't see a CISO taking him seriously" means.

What presence looks like in concrete terms: pace, pauses, clear positions, naming a weakness without your voice cracking.

Three concrete levers to deliberately shape how you come across in an interview.

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, cybersecurity and sales leaders across the DACH region and the Nordics who don't want to lose their next senior role on first impression.

Topics: executive presence, cybersecurity, enterprise software, IT sales, career strategy, executive search, DACH, Nordics.

Since 7 June 2026, an EU deadline has redrawn the balance of power in salary negotiations. Most people talk about compliance. The real question is: what does it mean for your next salary conversation, whether you sit in Stockholm, Paris or London?

Jan Nordh breaks down the EU Pay Transparency Directive from a market perspective, practical, not legal. Why it shifts negotiating power toward the candidate, and how the picture differs across the Nordics, France and the UK. Sweden is pushing back and wants to renegotiate, France is moving toward salary ranges in adverts and a salary-history ban, and the UK sits outside the directive entirely after Brexit, with its own rules. At the center is the part rarely addressed concretely in sales: variable pay. Commission, bonus and OTE are explicitly covered by the rule, and the fixed and variable parts must be reported separately. The real lever is not the base, but where inequality actually sits in sales: territory, accounts, quota and ramp.

What you'll learn:

• The five core points of the directive, in plain terms, and what they mean in practice
• Where the Nordics, France and the UK really stand, and why Sweden is the outlier
• Why in sales the inequality sits in the variable part, not the base
• The right question in the room: is that base or on-target earnings?

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives and sales leaders in cybersecurity, enterprise software and AI across the Nordics, the UK, France and the wider EU. Snapshot June 2026.

Most candidates rehearse their answers. But they never understand the questions. And that is exactly what decides an interview between an offer and a rejection.

Jan Nordh has spent years in debrief meetings, hearing what hiring managers say about candidates the moment they leave the room. In this episode he turns the table around and shows the interview from the other side. What is really being evaluated behind questions like tell me about yourself, what is your biggest weakness, or why are you leaving your role? The lens is enterprise sales: the hiring manager is the economic buyer, and you are selling exactly one product, yourself, as the solution to their problem. Plus a timely note on the new EU Pay Transparency Directive and what it means for your next negotiation.

What you'll learn:

• Why tell me about yourself is not a warm-up, but the first question you are scored on
• The line hiring managers think in the debrief when you trash your old employer
• The clean salary strategy: research, anchor, and turn the question back
• Why the offer almost never goes to the best CV, but to the best fit

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, sales leaders and anyone making their next career move in cybersecurity, enterprise software and AI across Europe and the Nordics.

Why does a recruiter go completely silent after a good conversation? Most people blame the system, the market, or the ATS. The honest answer is more uncomfortable — and it almost always has something to do with you.

In this episode I explain what really happens when a recruiter ghosts you: usually, something in your story didn't add up — and it wasn't worth their time to challenge it. I break down why reliability is the most underrated career strategy in enterprise sales, why trust is the only currency that counts, and how to get your credibility account back into the black.

What you'll learn:

• The real reason recruiters ghost — and why almost nobody says it out loud
• Why being flaky is more dangerous than lying — and works exactly the same way
• Why hiring managers pick the reliable eight over the unpredictable ten
• A 4-level model to build your credibility systematically

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, sales leaders and anyone steering their career strategically in cybersecurity, enterprise software and AI across the DACH region and the Nordics.