We're Hiring His Replacements. He's Hiring His Way Out.
A client asked us to fill two VP seats, then mentioned he's job hunting too
Last week a C-level client called to brief us on two open VP roles at his company. He walked through the open roles, the ideal candidate profile, the usual stuff.
Then, almost as an afterthought, he mentioned he’s quietly job hunting too.
The company’s growing. He just doesn’t love the industry anymore, or the day-to-day of his own job.
It’s easy to think of clients as hiring machines — people who just want roles filled, no inner life required. They’re not. They want to be proud of where they work too. They get tired of jobs that don’t fit, same as anyone.
But it puts us in a strange spot.
This guy reports directly to the CEO. He’s about to hire two VPs who’ll report to him — VPs who have no idea their new boss might be gone before they’ve finished onboarding.
Do we say something? To who? When?
Here’s where we landed: we’re not going to tip off candidates or rattle anyone inside the company. Instead, we’re going to ask our client directly — is he sticking around long enough to see these hires settle in, or do we need to start shaping the transition story now? Better to know the real timeline than to guess.
Questions to ask before accepting a VP or leadership role
If you’re a candidate: don’t assume the person who hired you will be your boss on day 90, let alone day one. Ask about leadership stability before you sign. Ask the hiring manager point-blank what their own career plans look like. The answer — or the hesitation — tells you something.
It’s fine if a boss is on their way out. It’s not fine to hide it from the people joining because of them.
To this client’s credit, he’s been straight with us about all of it. If things go well, we’ll help him land his next move too. That’s the job.
We don’t know yet if he’s staying long enough to see these hires through, or if we’ll be having the transition conversation sooner than he thinks. We’ll let you know how this one plays out.