If we’ve spoken about your career at any point, chances are you’ve asked me at least one of these.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with senior corporate affairs and communications leaders. Different sectors, different titles, very different stories – but the same themes keep coming up: Is now the right time? Am I being paid properly? What’s actually next for me?
So here are the 10 questions I’m asked most often, along with the honest answers I usually give.
The honest answer is that it varies significantly depending on where you sit. Some sectors are hiring hard right now – PE-backed businesses, growth sectors and certain advisory firms among them. Others are being more cautious, hiring fewer people but at a more senior level, and looking for candidates who can cover more ground. Hybrid and flexibility expectations are largely baked in at senior levels, but not universally.
It depends on your sector, level and specialism, but there is real, sustained demand for senior leaders who can influence at board level, manage reputational risk and articulate clear value. The market is patchy in places, but it’s far from dead.
“Good” timing is less about the economy and more about your leverage. Have you just delivered something big that you can use as a headline achievement? Are you at risk of going stale – same stories, no real stretch? Would you be leaving equity, a bonus or a promotion conversation on the table by moving now?
When we talk this over, I’ll usually walk you through what you’d be giving up if you moved today, what you’d be able to access if you started a process in the next 3–12 months, and whether a quiet exploratory phase makes more sense than an immediate leap. It’s rarely a simple yes or no.
This is more involved than people expect. We start with our own Salary Guide – data we’ve gathered directly from the market and trust. From there we look at the average pay uplift you’d expect from making a move, the size and shape of your remit, and what live mandates are actually paying right now. We also factor in an honest assessment of your performance – where you sit relative to your peers, and what that means for your market value. It’s a nuanced conversation, but it usually lands on a realistic range and a walk-away number that genuinely reflects where you stand.
I listen for where you’ve done your best work and where your energy is highest. From that conversation, we usually arrive at two or three clear directions – Group Corporate Affairs roles in a certain type of business, perhaps, or senior advisory positions with a particular sector focus. It’s rarely just one answer.
This comes up a lot – particularly for people with heavy Middle East, emerging markets or sovereign wealth experience, or a deep specialism in financial services, real estate, infrastructure or tech. That kind of background can be a significant asset, but it needs careful positioning.
We’ll work out where your experience is genuinely compelling to a hiring organisation, and where it might be read as too niche or too removed from what they know. How to translate it into language that UK, European or US boards will recognise and value. And whether to lean into it as a clear differentiator, or balance it with other elements of your story so the picture feels broader. It’s one of the more nuanced conversations we have – but usually one of the most useful.
We look at the real headroom in your current role – not the promises. If you can meaningfully reshape or progress in the next 12–18 months, staying can be the right call. If you’ve quietly hit the ceiling, it’s time to create options elsewhere. That distinction matters.
This is usually about fit and energy as much as it is about skills. To work it out, we’ll explore when you’ve been at your best and happiest – and what conditions created that. Whether you lean more towards pure corporate affairs, financial comms, internal, brand or issues and crisis. And the types of leaders you thrive under – hands-off, hands-on, visionary, detail-driven.
The answers usually point quite clearly in one direction. My job is to hold up the mirror honestly, so that whatever you decide, it’s based on where you’ll genuinely do your best work – not just where the next opportunity happens to be.
Most senior CVs describe responsibilities. What they need to show is impact. We shift the focus to outcomes: crises navigated, value created, leadership influence demonstrated. Then we align your positioning and profile with the roles you actually want – not just the role you’re in.
I’ll give you both versions – what excites clients, and what quietly concerns them. What they assume before they’ve even met you. Then we reframe your story so you address those concerns upfront and lead with your strengths, rather than leaving it to chance at the interview.
This is where we go well beyond what you’d find on a job spec or company website. For every client we work with, we build detailed briefing notes that cover the things candidates actually want to know: revenue, structure, benefits, hours, the social side, key people and client portfolio. The history of the business, where it is today and where it’s headed. The interview process, and what the hiring team is really looking for.
When we talk through a role, you’ll come away with a genuine picture of what it would be like to work there – not a polished version, but an honest one. That kind of insight makes a real difference, both in deciding whether a role is right for you and in how you show up when you’re in the room.
If you recognise yourself in several of these questions, you’re in very good company. Senior comms and corporate affairs leaders tend to wrestle with the same things: value, timing, risk and direction. None of that is a sign you’re behind – it’s a sign that you care about making considered, well-judged moves.
If you’d like to talk any of these through in the context of your own career, I’m always happy to have that conversation.
Sarah Leembruggen
MD, The Works Search
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The Works Search: a search consultancy specialising in PR and corporate communications. We have unrivalled matching abilities and are known for finding the top 5% performers in the industry - the ones who deliver and make your reputation great. For more advice or market insights, do get in touch with us on 0207 903 9291 or email: sarah@the-works.co.uk.
