With 30 years of experience in management roles and extensive expertise in managing people, Robert Cassar, founder at Heroix, brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.
Over the years, Robert has helped countless professionals in finding roles that align with their needs, values and career aspirations. Moreover, he has acted as a mentor, lecturer and thesis supervisor – which experiences all enrich his capacity to guide candidates through their career journeys. His insights are invaluable for anyone looking to excel in their career journey, particularly at the executive level.
What would you say are some of the key questions candidates sitting for a job interview at an executive level, should be prepared for?
When it comes to interviews for mid- to senior-level positions, candidates should be ready to answer a range of questions that assess their leadership abilities, strategic thinking, and adaptability. The key in such scenarios is to always find genuine cases in one’s experience which can be linked to these situations and refer to them as an example as to how they had tackled such situations in real life.
This enhances the candidate’s potential to interview success twofold. On one hand it shows that what was written on the CV is genuine, there is experience behind it. On the interviewer’s side, the interviewer can ask secondary questions to continue expanding on such examples and therefore continue to deduce that the experience mentioned is sincere. On the other hand, such anecdotes will assist the interviewer to remember the individual. Case examples give the interviewer a good mental picture of the interviewee.
Statistics show that job mobility increased in recent years. Are more people willing to change careers in Malta?
Job mobility has indeed increased. And this is not a Malta-only phenomena. The evolving nature of work, driven by technological advancements and changing market dynamics, the pandemic and its repercussions has led many professionals to seek new opportunities or move to totally new career paths. You get practising medical doctors wanting to move to senior roles in commercial entities, banking executives leaving their risk averseness and looking to move into C Suite asking specifically for a start-up environment, people with a strong accounting background wanting to merge their expertise with ESG eyeing the upcoming demand for high profile roles in this sector.
Has this made it more difficult for organisations to retain talent?
Yes, this is indeed a challenge. We get introduced on a daily basis with new business customers who would be willing to engage more headcount for further growth for their setup, but are held back due to the challenge of finding and retaining the right talent. Increased job mobility has been making talent retention challenging for organisations. This has assisted companies to continue to invest more in employee engagement, career development opportunities, and competitive compensation packages to retain top talent.
When people decide to change jobs or careers, is a more attractive pay package the most determining factor?
While a more attractive pay package is always an important factor, it is not the only one. Many professionals also seek better work-life balance, opportunities for career advancement, and a positive company culture. Factors like job satisfaction, personal development opportunities, and alignment with personal values and goals play crucial roles in the decision to change jobs or careers.
What makes for an effective CV that stands out from the rest?
An effective CV should be clear, concise, and, especially for senior roles, tailored to the specific job. It should highlight key achievements and skills relevant to the position, rather than just listing job duties. Including quantifiable results, such as "increased sales by 20%" or "reduced costs by 15%", and expanding on those, can make a CV stand out, as these can be talking points for the interview. Additionally, a professional layout, free of errors, and including a compelling summary or objective can significantly enhance its impact.
For candidates presenting themselves for a job interview, how should they prepare themselves?
Preparation is crucial. Candidates should research the company thoroughly, understand its culture, recent achievements, and challenges. As said, candidates should prepare examples from their past experience that demonstrate their skills and achievements. Additionally, understanding the job description and aligning their skills and experiences with the job requirements is key.
Finally, though it sounds obvious, get into the ‘logistics’ of the interview in detail. Be sure if it’s online or on premises, be sure of the time; if online, check the link, that one has the latest working version of the communication platform to be used. Nothing creates stress more than clicking on the Zoom link two minutes before the interview and the platform requires updating. On the other hand, if meeting on location, be sure of the exact location, who to ask for, where to park. Go through the company’s website and their social media presence, see how people dress at work – this will give you a clue of how to show yourself. Unconsciously or not, whoever will be interviewing will want to see someone who can integrate well and happily to the culture, and this includes dress. Now for the interview, dress a notch up in formality, to that found in the search, after all you’re going in for an interview and not the regular day at work. The appearance point is especially critical for people-facing roles such as commercial roles. When interviewing for such roles I always keep attentive on how the individual walks into the meeting room, how they’re dressed, their greeting and overall ‘room vibe’.
In what ways does your presence on the Jobhound platform add value to Heroix’s service offering?
Being on Jobhound via Times of Malta website enhances our service offering by providing us with a channel frequently visited by executives. It allows us to present job opportunities that align with the skills and career aspirations of many seeking new career paths and roles.
How does Heroix support executive candidates in their search?
At Heroix, we focus on a personalised approach to candidate support. We aim to understand candidates’ career goals, values, and motivations. This allows us to highlight roles they might not have considered but which align with their expertise and potential career trajectory. We also provide feedback on their CVs and support in interview preparations. Our aim is to help candidates find positions that not only match their skills but also resonate with their personal and professional aspirations.
Our goal is that a candidate’s move is for the long term, so that they establish themselves in the new role and grow in their expertise. This not only brings added benefits to their career prospects but also more stability in their personal life as while they establish themselves in their role, they become more satisfied, more motivated and this has a positive effect on their life outside work, on their personal projects and the important people in their personal life.
What strategies do you employ to ensure candidates find companies that align with their values and passions?
We employ different approaches to understand candidates' values and passions. Our experience in mentoring and coaching assist us to help candidates to identify their core motivations and long-term career goals. We then leverage our network and industry knowledge to connect them with companies that share similar values and offer the right cultural fit. By aligning candidates with organisations that reflect their personal and professional ethos, we help them achieve greater job satisfaction and long-term career success.
How does understanding a candidate's potential career trajectory benefit their job search?
The default one might fall into, erroneously, both from a potential employer’s side and from a potential employee’s side, is to ‘just’ look into the past. The adage ‘the past is not a guarantee for the future’ fits here too. Looking at past achievements both academic and secular, needless to say, is an important factor in evaluating a candidate’s potential. But it’s far from enough. Especially in 2024 and beyond.
How will people be preparing their marketing campaigns in 2026? Managing a team in 2025? Same as in 2016 or 2015? Things are changing exponentially. What worked 10 years ago, albeit one dare say even 4 years ago, pre-pandemic, may well not be today’s standard or that of next year. Therefore, understanding a candidate's potential career trajectory allows us to provide tailored advice and highlight opportunities that align with their future goals and the future of work.
By focusing on where a candidate can go, rather than just where they have been, we can identify roles that offer growth and advancement, ensuring they continue to develop professionally while assisting organisations to have a better edge than competition in the market.
To explore the executive vacancies presented by Heroix, visit https://jobhound.mt/b/heroix.
For a personalised search and discussion to see how you can match your career aspirations with the job market, Mr Robert Cassar can be reached at robert.cassar@heroix.eu.