In this episode of How I Hire, Andy Mowat speaks with Alan Stein, CEO of Kadima Careers and former post-sales/CS leader at Salesforce, Tableau, and Facebook, about his systematic approach to executive hiring after interviewing 500+ candidates at Google. Alan reveals the hidden reality that most senior roles are designed around specific people before posting, and shares the tactical frameworks that separate the 5% of standout candidates from those who unknowingly eliminate themselves. His insights expose the gap between what executives think matters in hiring versus what actually drives decisions behind closed doors. Topics discussed: - The proactive role design strategy where Alan created positions around specific talent, including how he enhanced an escalation management role by incorporating predictive telemetry capabilities after the candidate suggested preventing escalations rather than just managing them. - The structured four-phase interview evaluation that 90% of interviews follow: recruiter knockout screen for location/comp/qualifications, hiring manager assessment for cultural fit + capability, loop interviews with specific behavioral/technical components, and the tactical ”questions from you” phase where executives frequently self-eliminate. - Why LinkedIn optimization has replaced resume strategy for executive hiring, with specific examples of how Andy landed multiple unicorn roles without ever submitting a traditional resume, and the structured approach to making your profile function as an effective landing page. - The contrarian ”take every interview to completion” philosophy, including Alan’s real example of an offer being rescinded for being overqualified due to resource expectations from Google, and how to position yourself when pursuing roles below your traditional level. - Alan’s Gmail monetization case study that he used across 500+ Google interviews to evaluate general cognitive ability through market sizing, pros/cons analysis, and executive recommendation synthesis—adaptable across companies for assessing strategic thinking under pressure. - The back-channel reference methodology that circumvents provided references, including the tactical approach of identifying LinkedIn mutual connections with stronger relationships to you than the candidate, and the ”only respond if awesome” communication framework. - How acquiring company-specific terminology differentiates you from 95% of candidates through strategic intelligence gathering—V2MOMs at Salesforce, XFNs (cross-functional networks) at Facebook—rather than generic research that anyone can Google. The advocate cultivation system for breaking into target companies, where Alan explains identifying decision-maker influencers who can bypass the thousands of posted applicants by getting your profile directly in front of hiring managers before formal processes begin. ABOUT YOUR HOST:  Andy Mowat has built GTM engines for top companies throughout his career. He led Revenue Operations and Demand Gen at four unicorns, including scaling from $10M to $100M ARR at both Upwork and Culture Amp, and helping guide Box and Carta through IPO scale. With a passion for connecting people, Andy has advised executives on their careers for years and launched Whispered to make searching for executive roles less intimidating.  Learn more about about Whispered: www.whispered.com Interact with AI Andy: www.whispered.com/whisper-search