Your search is the fastest lever you have.
Executive positioning & market activation
Most leaders spend it applying. Ascend5 has worked with thousands of mid-level to executive leaders to position them stronger, attract higher-quality opportunities, justify higher compensation, and map the growth that comes after this role. We are not a reverse recruiter looking for your next job. We use the search itself to catapult your trajectory.
What gets built
Three assets, built in parallel
All of it finished before any outreach goes out.
01 — Positioning
Résumé + Impact Brief
A rebuilt résumé that proves you track the business behind what you do — in dollars. Plus a recruiter-facing half-pager they can forward straight to a hiring team.
02 — Direction
Career Capital Strategy
The roadmap to your highest target level: the impact signals you still need, the tier of companies to target, and the other ways your experience can earn.
03 — Access
Customized 60-day pipeline
A tiered, AI-built list of companies that can actually grow from your expertise, activated through segmented campaigns that we build — but you own.
The climb
Eleven steps, three parts
Ninety days start to finish. The first 30 are the active build with us; the remaining 60 you run, and we stay with you through all of it.
Discovery form
You complete the discovery form. It is the raw material for everything downstream — scope of leadership, P&L or budget ownership, team size, industries, and quantified business impact. We push for dollar amounts, not duties.
Résumé rebuild
Most leaders leave their business impact off the page. We put it back on. Someone should be able to read your résumé and know immediately that you track the business behind what you do — those are the leaders companies hire, because that is the job they are hiring you to do.
Executive Impact Brief Recruiter-facing
A half-pager written for recruiters, not for applicant tracking systems. It answers, at a glance: the highest level you have operated at, your single strongest and most unique strength, the industries you have worked in, whether you have owned a P&L or a budget, and how many teams you have led.
A recruiter can scan it and see instantly whether you fit anything on their desk. In practice, many of them attach your compensation expectation and forward the brief to people hiring for roles you would never have seen.
LinkedIn rebuild
Since you don't want to give you LinkedIn password to anyone, we give you instructions to quickly copy and paste to mirror your resume- because it is the first place every person we contact will land. Often they use your profile to download a PDF that acts as your résumé when pre-vetting you for a call.
Career Capital Strategy 12-page strategy
Built at the same time as the résumé, because positioning should point at where you are going, not just where you have been. It covers:
- The roadmap from here to the highest level you want to reach
- Any missing impact signals — and which you need to pick up in this next role specifically
- Other ways to monetize your career capital: board seats, speaking, advisory, fractional, interim
- The top-tier companies you should be targeting, so every message is aligned to the destination
Your 60-day tiered pipeline
We use AI to build a highly customized, tiered list of companies positioned to grow from your specific expertise — because that is the actual job: helping a company grow with what you know. You review and approve the list before anything goes out.
Market activation The account is yours
Segmented campaigns run through a recruitment marketing tool using AI and automation to send genuinely human, genuinely short messages. Think of them as door openers — an ask about whether there is alignment between your expertise and their needs, nothing more. They are short and pointed enough that people get curious and go look at your LinkedIn, which now mirrors your résumé.
You are on the account from day one, and it is yours after 30 days.
Day 14 recalibration Traction guarantee
Two weeks in, we read the actual response data together — replies, profile views, who is engaging and who is not. If the market is not responding the way it should, or the positioning does not feel right to you, we rebuild it: stronger angle on your Impact Brief, revised messaging, retargeted pipeline. At no cost, and we keep recalibrating until your market responds.
This is not an exception to the process. It is the process — which is why the weekly calls exist.
Weekly session with your reverse recruiter
Once a week, 15 minutes, you and your reverse recruiter compare notes on what is landing and what is not, and adjust the segmentation and messaging. You will see exactly how your campaigns are built.
Interview & Value Prep One hour with your coach
Scheduled inside the active engagement rather than at the end of it, because the first real conversations start in weeks three and four — and you should be ready before they do.
- Vetting strategy — how to read an opportunity before you invest in it
- Compensation strategy
- Value prep and alignment
- A consultative opening and closing strategy
You are not on your own for this stretch. Interviews typically start after day 30, not during the build, which makes this the window where support matters most. Four scheduled check-ins carry you through it.
| Check-in | What we cover |
|---|---|
| Day 45 | What has come back since handoff. Interview and comp prep for anything live. A list top-up if momentum has dropped. |
| Day 60 | Prep for live processes, pipeline depth reviewed, and the reminder not to pause outreach while you are interviewing. |
| After Day 60 | Top up or rebuild if contacts are exhausted and it is needed. Prep for final rounds and offers.Outcomes reviewed against your target level and comp band, and what comes next if you have not landed. |
The 60-day momentum rule
At these levels your market needs to stay active for at least two months. We see it constantly on month-to-month engagements: clients have multiple irons in the fire, assume one will land, and then do not get picked — because the market is that competitive right now. If you stop reaching out at that moment, you lose all your momentum and start over.
Your timeline
What this does to the clock
Typical time to find a role: manual search versus EXPEDITE.
| Level | Manual | EXPEDITE | Why / what we recommend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager / Sr Manager | 1–4 mo | 1–2 mo | High volume of posted roles and active pipelines. Parts 1 and 2; add the Applies punch pass if you do not have time to apply. If resources are tight, take Part 1 and work the Tier 1 list manually. |
| Director / Sr Director | 3–6 mo | 1–3 mo | Networking matters more, though roles are still posted. Parts 1 and 2; add the Applies punch pass if you do not have time to apply. |
| VP / SVP | 4–8 mo | 1–5 mo | Usually requires search firm involvement and targeted networking. Parts 1 and 2; if you are short on time, continue full service for another month. |
| C-Suite / EVP | 6–12 mo | 3–8 mo | Board approvals, retained search, far fewer seats. Parts 1 and 2; if you are short on time, continue full service for another month. |
| Board / Operating Partner | 9–18 mo | 4–9 mo | Relationship-driven and slow-moving. Parts 1 and 2; if you are short on time, continue full service for another month. |
What this returns
The case for doing it this way
What clients get out of running the search this way.
Success rate placing clients who stay with the process. The other 2% ran out of resources, moved, or stopped looking for personal reasons.
Time to offer, cut by at least 50% versus searching manually.
Most recent result: two title levels and $200,000 in base and bonus. Not typical, but it happens — many leaders are already working above their title.
Higher roles and a higher comp trajectory. You are positioned to attract better roles. You have an actual business case for the salary and total comp you deserve. You have a plan for sign-on bonuses and for monetizing your career capital through advisory, fractional, or interim work if you want it. And you get months of your life back.
Before you decide
What slows a search down
Four things that stretch a timeline, whoever you work with.
- Doing it manually. Expect it to roughly double your timeline.
- Geographic restriction. If you cannot relocate for a role, add a month or two.
- Conditions inside your industry. Hiring cycles and headcount vary widely by sector.
- Conditions in the economy. The job market has stayed extremely flat even while the stock market shows growth — that is AI and automation, and it is not going away any time soon.
How to vet any reverse recruiter
- Ask how much of it is applying. At your level, a service that leans equally on applications will not be effective. Our package does not include applying at all — but you can add it.
- Be skeptical of “we will introduce you to our connections.” It rarely moves the market. Companies want to talk directly to you, the candidate. What we do instead: regular blasts to our partner network on behalf of clients who are not currently employed.
- Ask who else builds you a custom pipeline. No one else focuses on customized pipelines the way we do, and no one else treats the search as a way to catapult your growth and total comp trajectory.
Costs and options
What the second half costs
Everything above is built inside the first 30 days. From there the account, the pipeline, and the positioning are yours — and these are the options for carrying them through day 90 and beyond.
| Option | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Pipeline license | $79/mo | Keeps your pipeline sending through day 90. Includes the day 45, 60, 75 and 90 check-ins. |
| Continue full service | $1,500/mo | Everything we have built keeps going, with all the same services and support. |
| À la carte support | Published rates | Keep only the pieces you want past the first 30 days. |
| Applies punch pass | 20 or 40 | An application punch pass, if you see posted roles you do not want to miss. Recommended especially if you are currently working. |
Questions
Asked most often
Answered directly.
Who do you typically work with?
Roughly 80/20 executives to leaders. We cannot share client names — all engagements are strictly confidential — but in general they are Fortune 500 leaders moving up inside another Fortune 500, or moving to a mid-size company at the C-level or President/GM level so they can start earning equity; Series B–D executives looking to stay in that realm; and private-equity clients looking for opportunities in that space or inside PE-backed companies.
Compensation typically ranges from $250K+ base to $1M+ in total compensation.
I’m targeting $300–350K with a base in the $200s. Is this right for me?
At that level there will be roles posted, so we would recommend applying in addition to the program — the application punch pass covers it. That said, you will most likely have a better shot at landing through networking than through the postings.
Who works with me?
Two people. An executive advisor will be you primary contact.
Is this 30 days or 60?
Ninety. The engagement runs a full 90 days — what changes at day 30 is who is driving.
Days 1–30 are the active build: positioning, lists, scripts, campaigns live, weekly sessions with your reverse recruiter, and your Interview and Value Prep hour. Day 30-60 days... That second half matters, because interviews typically start after day 30 rather than during the build.
How long does this take at my level?
Always about half the time compared to searching manually. See the timeline table above for a level-by-level breakdown, along with what we recommend at each level.
When does traction actually start?
The engagement starts once we finish Part 1, which takes about five days. We then pull your first connects while we build your tiered pipeline, which follows a few days later.
Clients with a strong network get a lot of early traction from those connections — most people have only reached out to about 10% of their own network before coming here, and we pull the rest. The cold tiered outreach builds on top of that, and you will hear back from some of those within the first few days.
From there we monitor progress and meet weekly. If traction is soft, we revisit the scripts and adjust. By the end of the first 30 days you will be dialed in, and then you manually reach out for the rest of the 90 to your executive pipeline given to you with the customized scripts that you can personalize even further. You scheduled check-ins at days 45, 60, 75 and 90.
What does the outreach volume look like?
LinkedIn caps us at 30 invitations and up to 30–60 messages per day, which is the maximum the platform allows. That is roughly 900 invitations in the first month, and includes a second message within 24 hours once the invite goes out.
Not everyone will connect, but it grows your network significantly. Your job is to monitor your LinkedIn messages and reply — gathering market insight, solving their pain points, building relationships, and offering yours back when it is useful. That is what executives do.
What are realistic response rates?
Connection rates run 8–20% on LinkedIn depending on your career capital, and response rates run 2–5% against 1–3% for email. Most people will not reply, and that is the expected outcome rather than a problem.
The pipeline works on volume and consistency — you feel the traction, not the numbers.
Can you target advisory, interim, or fractional work at the same time as a full-time role?
Yes, and many of our executives do exactly this. The positioning conveys that you want to help a company grow with your specific expertise, and that you are open to how that looks — full-time, interim, fractional, or advisory. We can target fractional and interim companies, search firms, and PE firms simultaneously while the full-time search runs.
Is $15–20K a month in advisory revenue a realistic outcome?
It is possible — our executives do this. But it depends on your career capital and your results. We position you to the best of your abilities and then see how the market responds. We will not know what is realistic for you specifically until we deep dive into your career during the branding session.
Are you a search firm or a placement firm?
No. We are a market activation firm, and the distinction matters.
Search and placement firms are engaged by companies, not candidates — the economics only work in that direction. A company generates recurring revenue across several hires a year, and a single executive role can pay that firm $40K+ at roughly 20% of salary. An executive comes through the door maybe once every two years. That is why almost nobody builds a real service for executives directly.
Reverse recruiting filled part of that gap. What we do instead is force-multiply your executive networking through market activation.
Will you introduce me to your connections and work your relationships on my behalf?
Be skeptical of anyone who leads with this — it rarely moves the market, because companies want to talk directly to you. What we do instead: we send regular blasts to our partner network on behalf of clients who are not currently employed, and we build the outreach engine that gets you in front of the right people from your own account, including search firms who do have open mandates you can benefit from. Ultimately it is your career clout that will create opportunities and we position you well to showcase this. Plus you will know what cloud to continue to build.
I’ve already filed hundreds of applications with almost nothing to show. Why?
That is not a demand problem, and it is not uncommon. At the executive level, roles mostly are not filled through portals in the first place — the effort was real, the channel was the constraint. It is the human connection that will benefit you the most and our entire program is built around this. Searching at this level can also take roughly twice as long today as it used to. This is exactly why the outreach engine exists.
Can I just do this myself?
You can. You can take Part 1, use our tiered lists, and continue to hit the market on your own- this time with executives.The pipeline exists to keep many irons in the fire.
What actually happens once I start?
You fill out a discovery form. We develop your résumé based on what we are targeting and run a gap analysis, then send it to you with questions to answer as fully as you can within 24 hours.
We meet for a one-hour branding and positioning session within two days of submitting the discovery form, where we dial in your Executive Impact Brief, build your Career Capital Strategy, and run a second gap analysis to make sure nothing is missing. Once the résumé is finalized we work together to develop your LinkedIn and build out your tiered lists. You review all of it.
Why does the profile work have to come first?
The outreach messages exist to earn one click through to your LinkedIn. If the profile still leads with an outdated title or geography-limited scope, that click is spent for nothing — and it generally does not come back.Instead, we mirror your LinkedIn to the resume work so your business impact, level, and unique value is clear.
Whose pipeline is it?
Yours. You review and approve every company, every name, and every script before anything goes out.
Messages go out daily from your own LinkedIn to people one to two levels above your target role, heads of talent, executive search firms in your space, and private equity when the strategy calls for it. We open the door; you carry the conversation from the first reply, in your own voice. You are on the account from day one and it is yours to keep.
Why is this built from scratch every time?
Volume without precision is noise. The outreach only multiplies if the targeting is right and the messaging sounds like a person wrote it — that is the entire game. Every executive’s background, market, and leverage points are specific to them, so there is no generic version of this.
Why us
No company does what we do
We are the only firm that treats your job search as a growth vehicle for your career and your compensation.
- We start with the strategy — a career and comp growth roadmap that drives how the outreach is built.
- We build and customize a pipeline and scripts for the right people, based on your experience, your career capital, and your growth targets — live within days.
- Instead of paying $3–4K a month for three months, we dial everything in within the first 30 days, then we pick up traction, even after the first 15 days until day 60.
- Not many reverse recruiters focus solely on leaders and executives. We specialize in it.
Client list includes
A small boutique, working nationally
Tech · Healthcare · Energy · Power · and beyond
Never more than 10 clients a month