I'm confused. You are saying that you have had CTO interviewers that did a gig role for 3 months as a CTO? Did they also have another job at the time or was this their only job?

This one is a bit harder (naturally). A recent/typical case was a CTO type candidate, they participated part-time in some meetings, had some exposure to the team, talking through issues with other CxO. During this time candidate is also shopping around too. It's basically buying consulting while you decide to hire. It does not generally take 3mo - but you'll add a probationary period that gives you maybe 12mo room.

Thanks for the clarification! I had no idea C-suite hiring was at all like this. Naively, I figured there would be clean breaks and legal 'firewalls' about such dual responsibilities and obvious conflicts of interest.

It really explains a lot about the C-level people and their lack of engagement with work (for my company at least!); they don't seem to be doing their full jobs as, well, they aren't. I really need to figure out how to get on this carousel.

I realized I wasn't super clear, let me add more. The case is where the candidate is NOT currently on W2 wages anywhere else. Typically, these candidates have enough cash reserves to be able to take a few months to find the next gig. A little highriing bonus takes the edge off.

Ok, cool, got it. Thanks!