PSBJ “Business of Philanthropy” Special Report

As usual, the Puget Sound Business Journal continues to crank out the MOST USEFUL information money can buy (in my humble and biased opinion) in terms of the local business scene and events affecting the marketplace here in the Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma region — as well as the State of Washington, as a whole.

For those who don’t track the paper on a regular basis, however, I wanted to call special attention to the latest installment of their “Business of Philanthropy” report, which is perhaps the single most useful published resource for folks interested in the local non-profit industry.  This special 35-page supplement, if you’ve never seen it, contains an abundance of articles on topics like non-profit executive pay, the use of mobile technology for non-profit causes, the impact of the recession on non-profit funding, and the like.  It also contains an invaluable list of the Top 25 Foundations in Puget Sound and the Top 50 Non-Profit Organizations in Puget Sound.  Heck, even the advertisements in this publication are valuable, since they give you clues as to which local companies believe in the concept of “corporate citizenship” and might be a great fit for somebody to whom such values are important!

This report was published in the PSBJ’s 9/25 issue, so you have a few days left to grab it off the newsstand before the next issue comes out.  If you miss it, however, you can either track down a back issue at the library or contact the Business Journal here to obtain one.  And if this kind of news content seems like it would be useful to your search efforts, going forward, we’d highly recommend you consider subscribing to the PSBJ on an ongoing basis.  If you’re interested in doing this, contact our buddy Elizabeth Case in the circulation department here — she’ll hook you up!

How “Promiscuous” Should You Be on LinkedIn?

Well, the poll results are in!  If you haven’t gone back and checked the posting I ran earlier this month, asking whether “quality” or “quantity” was more important when it came to forging connections on LinkedIn and similar sites, here’s a link that will take you there.

In sum, out of 27 people who took the time to vote, two of them seemed to feel that it was best to err on the side of building lots of connections, 10 of them felt people should be really cautious about who they hooked up with, and 14 felt that the answer really depended on the context of the situation and the purposes you were using the site to achieve.  And one person basically voted “none of the above” for some odd reason.  I’m not sure what other option there might be, actually, in terms of connection methodology, but if you’re the one rebel out there who voted this way and want to clarify your point-of-view, I’d love to hear it!

At any rate, it probably comes as no surprise that I would have voted for the third option, above, based on my belief that one’s “promiscuity level” on sites like LinkedIn should depend entirely on what you use the site for  and the risk/reward curve you’d face in connecting to lots of people on these types of systems.  For example, if you are someone who makes your living by networking and accessing lots of diverse people, I can completely understand the benefits that would result from connecting to almost anybody who asks, even if they’re a complete stranger.  For example, if you’re in a sales or recruiting role, there’s an awful lot to be gained, financially, by having thousands of 1st Degree contacts on LinkedIn and being able to access millions of other 2nd and 3rd Degree contacts, as a result.  You also probably have the networking chops to deal appropriately with the barrage of return favor requests and introductions you’re likely to get as a result of pursuing this high-volume strategy.

If you’re NOT in a sales-related role, however, you probably have a lot more to lose than to gain by overexposing yourself to thousands of contacts on these kinds of systems.  For starters, if you’re somebody in a management role with a well-known company, the reality these days is that you’re going to attract a lot of attention from job hunters seeking some inside help getting hired in your organization.  This can become  burdensome, after a while, especially if these requests are coming through complete strangers or other people you’ve let into your network, but don’t know very well.  You could also be a big neon target for hunter-type sales professionals eager to get an audience with you.  Don’t get me wrong — these are perfectly legitimate uses of the system and people have every right to ask the other folks around them for favors — but if you’d prefer to minimize the number of such requests you have to field on a regular basis, it’s smart to connect more carefully from the get-go and only build ties with a handful of people you have a great deal of trust in.

Is this advice reaching you too little, too late?  Have you already let a plethora of people connect to you on LinkedIn, including folks you don’t know all that well?  Unfortunately, the only permanent way to deal with this issue would be to actively disconnect with some of the people you’ve already hooked up with, but this is pretty bad form if they haven’t done anything specifically to abuse their connection with you.  A better approach, in most cases, is to visit your LinkedIn “Account & Settings” page and make a few adjustments that will protect you from some of the more extraneous requests.  For example, you could tweak your “Connections Browse” setting to prohibit casual browsing, as I do, so that people can’t just flip through everybody you know on the system looking for targets of opportunity.  Additionally, you can change your “Invitation Filtering” option to only accept invitations from people who know your e-mail address, going forward.  Or you can go into the “Contact Settings” page and tell the system to only let certain types of introduction requests through, such as business deals versus job inquiries, that sort of thing.

The bottom line is that you have a LOT of options in terms of how you approach sites like LinkedIn and how restrictive (or not) you choose to be about who you connect with.  The trick is to come up with the right strategy, for you, based on your professional focus and your relationship to “relationships” in general!

Career Q&A: “How Do I Prove I’m Strategic?”

“As part of my job search, I am running into an issue that surprises me and am unsure how to resolve.  I was knocked out of the running for a position because I was told I was not ’strategic’ enough.  I don’t know the best way to handle this.  I feel that I am strategic and that I couldn’t get the results I’ve gotten to date if I weren’t, but I’m having a hard time demonstrating/articulating this in an interview.  (When I ask what “strategy” means to them, I don’t receive very concrete answers, which adds to my confusion.)  If you know of any resources, tips, etc. that could help me demonstrate my strategic thinking ability, it would be most appreciated.  Thanks much!”

This is a great question, and before I launch into my typical long-winded answer, please note that you could plug almost any desirable trait or requested work strength into the advice framework I’ll be spelling out below and the results should be equally effective.  I will admit, though, that the “strategic vs. tactical” debate is one that has a special status in the interview process, since many employers ask for employees to be highly strategic in outlook — and frankly, I’m not always sure they, themselves, could define what they mean by this!

So let’s start there.  If you keep getting the feedback that you’re not strategic enough for certain positions, I’d ask you to first challenge yourself to define the differences between “strategic” and “tactical” in your own mind.  Are you clear on what it means to be strategic?  Do you have a really crisp definition of the concept, yourself, or are the two things kind of running together in fuzzy fashion in your own mind?  Don’t be embarrassed if this is the case.  It’s pretty common.  But if this is a point of vulnerability in terms of you landing your next job, you can’t afford not to have a crystal-clear command of the differences.  So do some research.  For starters, you could check out the definition of strategy here on Wikipedia.  Or you could Google the phrase “strategy vs. tactics” and find all kinds of fascinating discussions on the Internet in terms of the differences between the two, including a blog post here from marketing expert Seth Godin that makes some good points on the subject.

You could even turn to the popular StrengthsFinder assessment for an explanation of what it means to be strategic, since this is one of the 34 personal strengths this tool has singled out in individuals.  According to this well-respected framework, being strategic: “…enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, ‘What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?’ This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path — your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

So again, before I’d even start worrying about proving you’re strategic to an employer, I’d make 100% sure you have a solid grasp of what the concept actually means.  Armed with this understanding, you can then go back through your work history and look for examples that will support your claim.  Have you put together complex marketing plans that show how multiple tactical marketing steps will achieve the overall goal?  Have you identified key windows of opportunity in the market or areas where your competitors have a hidden vulnerability?  Have you helped executive teams decide among multiple choices by playing these scenarios out a few years into the future, to see where they would likely lead?  These are the kinds of contributions, to me, that would qualify as strategic in nature.  And another great way to illustrate strategy is to talk about the activities you convinced a company not to pursue, just as much as the ones you got the green light around.  This really shows you’ve got a strategic outlook, versus just engaging in activity for activity’s sake, which is often a hallmark of the tactically-minded individual.

Ultimately, you may not win every employer over.  Some may simply be using the “you’re not strategic enough” excuse as camouflage for some other aspect of your candidacy that they’re not thrilled about.  But if they keep fishing around this issue, or suggesting they’re not seeing enough strategic thinking demonstrated in your background, you have to be ready to immediately address this issue and put it to rest.  So first, get clear on what it actually means.  Even consider clarifying this definition out loud with the employer, before moving further, to ensure the two of you are on the same page.  And then, when the timing’s right, start walking them through a series of your most strategic accomplishments, one by one, until they throw the white flag and say “We’re sorry we ever doubted you!”

Website Review: Gist.com

Wow, technology is getting slicker and slicker with each passing day!

One of the latest offerings in the red-hot online contact management space is the tool Gist.com, founded by several enterprising entrepreneurs in Seattle.  Gist promises to help you “know more about who know” and to “build strong relationships by connecting the inbox to the web to provide business-critical information about the people and companies that matter most.”  Perhaps a simpler way of putting it would be to say that Gist lets you build a list of all your contacts on the web, then track a whole bunch of useful information about them automatically, such as the number of times you send/receive e-mail from them, how often they blog/tweet, how often they get mentioned in cyberspace, and so forth.  Essentially, it creates a “dashboard” that pulls in a constant stream of information from LinkedIn, Outlook, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and other sites so that you have all of this important data right at your fingertips.

Is this site a good one for job hunters to utilize, however?  That’s a tricky question.  My review of this site, in fact, is probably the most polarized one I’ve ever had to write.  On one hand, this site does some amazingly innovative and powerful things.  For starters, the very fact that it’s able to collect and organize information from all of the sources above, in one place, is pretty darn handy.  At a glance, you can monitor which of your contacts are getting visibility out on the web or publishing news about their latest ventures.  You also can rank each contact from 1-100 in terms of their “importance” to you, which may sound judgmental, but is a very important aspect of maintaining a solid, strategic network.  Kudos to Gist for including this feature, which I haven’t seen anywhere else!  Lastly, one nifty inclusion that I love is how the system has a button next to each contact that is colored green, yellow, or red based on how long it’s been since you last communicated with them in some fashion.  This “Contact” icon helps ensure you stay in frequent touch with the folks who are important to you, an aspect of networking I preach about constantly.  So this simple little reminder system is a wonderful thing.

Despite these tremendous features, however, I’ll confess I’m not yet fully convinced that these kinds of tools are the ideal method that professionals today should be using to manage their contacts.  After trying out a number of them over the past few years, I still have a number of reservations.  For starters, I’m concerned that one would rely on ANY website as the #1 repository for their critical relationship data.  I’m not so much worried about the privacy factor, since sites seem to be clamping down on that aspect of things pretty well, but what if somehow all of your precious data gets lost, or corrupted, or accidentally deleted?  Or the company goes out of business?  Far stranger things have happened on the Internet, as we all know, and should one of these calamitous events take place, your entire networking schema would be instantly crippled.  Secondly, as smart as the technology is getting, it still frequently “guesses wrong” about what news items belong with what individuals.  For example, when trying out Gist, myself, I noticed there was a news article attached to one of my contacts that said he and his whole family had been killed in a car crash!  After a moment of panic, I did some further digging and found out that it was (sadly, but thankfully) a totally different person who just happened to share the same name.

Additionally, despite the broadband revolution, it still worries me that I’d only be able to access my contact data when connected to the Internet somehow — and I’ve also found that updating the records on this site, or any similar site, is a laboriously SLOW process.  If I’m trying to update a bunch of records in a hurry, or take notes, there’s a world of difference between the speed at which I could do this in Outlook, or Act, or Goldmine, or another piece of “installed” software versus a website where you have to click Save buttons, refresh pages, and the like.  You can’t afford to have networking feel like a chore.  So based on this reason, alone, I’d become frustrated quite quickly if I had to rely on a site like Gist as the primary source for managing my networking activities.

In closing, while it’s just one man’s opinion, I’d give the folks at Gist.com an “A for effort” and salute them for building a truly impressive application.  The site is also still in beta form, to be fair, so we could certainly see some major improvements unveiled in the months to come.  Honestly, though, given the importance of networking to the job hunting and business development process, I’m not sure the whole world is ready to gravitate to this type of solution.  If you’re building your network from scratch, and don’t already have a contact management system in place, Gist.com might be a great place to start.  If you’ve already got hundreds or thousands of records pulled together, however, and an effective system for managing them, I don’t see a compelling reason to make the switch.

Different strokes for different folks, though.  Are any of my readers out there already using Gist?  And if so, would you agree, disagree, or add anything to my analysis of the tool?

Burning Question for Job Seekers #5

“When is the last time you really impressed yourself?”

Let’s hypothetically assume, if you’re reading this blog, that you are among the substantial number of Americans who have lost their jobs at some point over the past year.  When this happened, how long did you think it was going to take to find your next assignment?  A week?  A month?  A year?  Obviously, in these cases, it’s impossible to know.  You might end up finding a new opportunity almost immediately or you might discover, like many folks, that your search is going to take a bit longer than initially hoped or planned.  One thing I can tell you for sure, however, it’s that you can’t afford to put your life completely “on hold” until you find new employment.  You have to accept that the length of your search is a complete unknown and to make sure, consequently, that you build some enjoyable, interesting, and enlightening activities into your game plan along the way to keep your head on straight.

As part of this recommendation, I’d encourage you to set (and start working on) some ambitious personal development goals.  Is this a time to finally lose that extra 10 pounds you’ve been carrying around?  Or to train for and run that marathon you’ve always had your eye on, even if you come in dead last?  Or to finally quit smoking, learn Portuguese, or rebuild that old Chevy sitting in your garage?  These types of activities can make a huge difference in the success or failure of your job search, oddly enough, because they’re the kinds of things that will keep your self-confidence high.  Most motivational experts agree, after all, that the most authentic, sustainable source of self-esteem involves the process of overcoming difficult challenges and impressing the toughest critic of all: yourself.

So if you’ve been out of work for a while, ask yourself the “burning question” I’ve outlined above.  Have you impressed yourself lately?  Have you accomplished something in recent memory that really knocked your own socks off?  If you’re struggling to answer these questions in the affirmative, that’s a sign that you might need to incorporate some new personal development goals or commitments into your life.  It’s the single best way to keep your confidence high, which is a critical trait employers pick up on and a quality that’s extremely tough to fake in an interview, however much you might try.

Theoretically, I suppose, your stretch goals don’t have to be personal ones — and they could relate, instead, to the manner in which you’re conducting your job search.  For example, some people could probably impress themselves by buckling down and taking the time to polish their elevator pitch to perfection, master the art of Boolean Internet searching, or make five cold calls a day, despite (or more accurately, due to) the fact that such things are WAY out of their comfort zone.  In general, however, I think personal development goals are a more fertile area to explore if you need to give your confidence level a lift.  Either way, though, don’t lose sight of the main point here.  Unless you believe in yourself, and remind yourself you’re capable of achieving amazing things regardless of your employment status, you could easily spiral down emotionally and be much less effective in your job hunting efforts.

This is preventable.  Prevent it!

Erectile Dysfunction & The Interview Process

Sometimes job hunting inspiration comes from the most unlikely of places!  Today, while driving to an appointment, I heard a radio advertisement for the Boston Medical Group that almost perfectly demonstrated two very powerful interview techniques that I often suggest my clients use to give themselves a competitive advantage.  Who is the Boston Medical Group, exactly?  Well, errr, they’re a medical practice that apparently helps men deal with erectile dysfunction issues…

*** Important disclaimer: The author of this post is neither in need of such services or seeking information about said services; this truly was just something he heard, in passing, on the radio!

So what were the techniques in question?  Well, first of all, the advertisement started out by saying something along the lines of “did you know that over 50% of men DON’T have a positive result using Viagra and similar medications?”  This statement is a classic example of the “FUD technique” that is infamous within professional sales circles — and that can be tremendously effective in the interview process, should you choose to employ it.  The FUD concept (as I elaborated on in an earlier post, here) stands for spreading “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” about your competition.  In this case, recognizing that most men with the issues in question would first consider taking a pill like Viagra, before consulting a group like Boston Medical, the savvy doctors (or their advertising agency) realized that the clinic’s success depended on being able to knock the front-runners — Viagra and Cialis — down a few pegs.  Frankly, I think this was a stroke of brilliance.  I’m not sure about you, but I would have assumed (again, as a completely impartial observer) that various drugs such as Viagra would typically have a much higher success rate than the statistic claimed in this ad.  And while I have no idea whether the facts being cited in this radio spot are true, the advertisement still did its job by making me question an assumption that I more or less took for granted.

So how does this translate into an interview scenario?  Again, my earlier post goes into more depth about this, but it’s roughly the same as an underdog candidate saying “While I’d imagine you have tons of applicants who have already worked in your industry, for a direct competitor, I’d suspect some of these ‘industry insiders’ will be bringing some bad habits along with them that will be hard to break — whereas I’d be looking for you to teach me how you want things done, your way, from the ground up.”  Or another FUD example might be “Although I realize I don’t have advanced education in the XYZ field, like some of the candidates you’re likely considering, I’m proud to say that I bring 15 years of hands-on work experience to the party — and that my approach to the challenges of this assignment would likely be much more pragmatic, versus clinical or academic in nature.”  Again, if you know that you don’t stack up as well on paper as some candidates, this technique is your best bet of leveling the playing field.  If you don’t take the opportunity to spread a little bit of fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the capabilities of your most qualified (on paper) rivals, you’re basically giving the employer the green light to go the safe route and hire your competition!

What’s the second statement the Boston Medical Group advertisement made, reflecting an important interview technique?  Near the end of the ad, they came right out and said “You’ll see results in your very first visit!”  This equates to a job seeker making a promise…or a guarantee…or a claim with great conviction that they can easily prove how good they are, if given the opportunity.  It’s the opposite of implying you might be able to get results or hinting that, if hired, you might turn out to a be a great hire for the job.  Instead, you offer to prove, quickly and beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you can get the job done.  You might, for example, ask the interviewer to give you an assignment that will prove your competency, even before they decide to hire you.  Or you might proactively bring in a work sample or do a whiteboard exercise related to the company’s needs.  Or you might look the hiring manager straight in the eye and say “there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be able to tackle the issue of X,Y, or Z for you within 90 days, if hired.”  The point is that employers, just like consumers, are heavily influenced by these kinds of bold claims.  They’re impressed by people who stand behind their product and exhibit a little chutzpah.  So in the case of the Boston Medical Group, I’m sure there are some skeptics out there who would initially think “I don’t really believe that this firm can help me, but hey, if they guarantee I’ll see results in my very first visit, what do I have to lose?”

Again, this might be the weirdest source of interviewing advice I’ve ever drawn upon in my coaching career, but I couldn’t help but share it since I immediately recognized these two techniques in play — the FUD approach and the “guarantee” gambit — when I heard them used in this radio commercial!  So kudos to you, Boston Medical Group.  I hope I never need your services, but if I ever do, you’ve certainly planted a powerful seed in my mind and convinced me you might offer a viable solution…

Video: Tips for Coping With a Layoff

While I myself haven’t joined the growing wave of folks posting video clips on YouTube,  I continue to be impressed by the people who are embracing this new medium in a professional way – and using it to pass along some great information via short, engaging video productions.

Along those lines, I recently checked out a wonderful short video created by Debbie Whitlock of Sound Financial Partners.  Debbie is a financial advisor here in the Puget Sound area, as well as a friend of the firm, and she’s put together a six-minute clip that shares some very solid advice on how to get your finances (and related matters) pulled together following a layoff or unexpected job loss.

What I particularly loved about this presentation, and why I decided to share it, is that Debbie demonstrates a tremendous knowledge of some of the new credit laws, COBRA regulations, and other government programs that can help families get by during these difficult times.  This was a significant “value add” beyond some of the traditional advice I’ve seen financial professionals give regarding these situations — and reflects Debbie’s commitment to educating her clients, versus simply selling them services.  Here’s a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEB5JwxpTIE

If you found the info in this video helpful, definitely let Debbie know by clicking here.  I’m sure she’d love to hear from you, especially since I can imagine it takes a certain amount of courage to get up in front a camera and “broadcast” yourself out to cyberspace at large!

Great Cover Letter Example!

I can’t resist cross-linking to a recent post over at “The HR Capitalist” blog that highlights an extremely creative cover letter the author received — and one that many people, including myself, would hold up as an example of superior cover letter copywriting.  Take a moment to click here and read the posting in question.

Pretty original, eh?  You certainly won’t find many people out there putting this much thought into their materials or going to such lengths to argue why they should receive an interview despite their “underdog” status.  It’s really quite brilliant.  The only small problem (despite the factual error one of the blog reviewers pointed out, which was that Jordan was drafted as the third pick when he entered the NBA, not the second) is that these types of letters can’t really be duplicated — or used in any effective capacity as a template.  They’re so original that you’d have to be the one who comes up with the initial idea yourself, or one like it, since duplicating this letter “as is” would expose you to easily-discoverable plagiarism.

So going forward, at least you now have an example of the type of cover letter you COULD write if suitable circumstances presented themselves and you had a major stroke of inspiration.  In the meantime, don’t worry if you’re not quite turning out pieces at this level.  Millions of people still get hired by simply submitting their resume, along with a straightforward, more pedestrian cover note that explains why they’re writing and a few key qualifications they could bring to the job in question.

If the spirit so moves you, however, you can try taking more of a creative risk like the individual showcased above.  I’ve certainly seen many such examples during my tenure as a career coach and would be happy to offer feedback on any such draft you put together.  There’s a fine line between “clever” and “gimmicky” and if you stay on the right side of it, there’s no question about it — you can really get an employer’s attention!

Book Review: Words @ Work (Lynda McDaniel)

While the world is still waiting for the “revenge of the English majors” to formally occur — and for companies to recognize the full importance of business writing skills — there’s no question that written communication has become a larger and larger part of today’s professional sphere.  Look around you, and you’ll find numerous exciting new communication channels (such as this blog) that are 100% driven by keyboard.

So for those of you out there ready to take the leap, and ratchet your writing capabilities up to the next level, I’ve got just the book for you!  Lynda McDaniel, a business writing coach and Director of the Association for Creative Business Writing (of which I’m admittedly a proud Board member) has just released a short book called Words @ Work that contains twelve chapters of great advice on how to become a better writer.  You’ll find this book on Amazon.com (search by author name) as well as on Lynda’s own site if you click here.  As you’d expect, it’s very well-written.  That’s a given.  But the most noteworthy aspect of the book (in my opinion) is how Lynda opens up and shares many of the personal trials, travails, and struggles she’s suffered through on her quest to becoming an expert writer herself.  Her belief is that good writers don’t necessarily have to be born — they can also be made, if you’re willing to apply yourself and invest some sweat equity in improving your craft.

Some of the specific highlights of the book I’d call out include Lynda’s suggestion that many writing projects start out with a 10-15 minute “brain dump” where you simply pull out a sheet of paper, roll up your sleeves, and start writing whatever enters into your head related to the subject.  Don’t edit your work as you go.  Don’t censor yourself.  Don’t grant writer’s block even a millisecond to take hold.  Just let the ink flow, see what ideas materialize, and before you know it you’ll likely see some useful themes emerge and have a workable starting point.

I also love her mantra that “good writing is really good editing” and that even the best writers fight their way through multiple drafts before a final polished product emerges.  In my own case, I’ve had many people over the years compliment my writing style and express their wish that they could bang out copy as quickly and naturally as I do.  What they DON’T realize is that behind the scenes I’ve usually reworked almost every piece I put out at least a dozen times before it goes to print.  It’s not a speedy process by any stretch of the imagination.  But I’m flattered, nonetheless, that they like the end result!

Another final snippet from the book I won’t soon forget is her advice related to sentence structure.  In one of my favorite passages, she writes “Long sentences. Short sentences. Complex and incomplete. Just as a salad gets better with more texture — diced avocado, chunky tomatoes, and thinly sliced cucumber — a good paragraph needs a variety of sentence structures.”  Remembering this “chunky salad” metaphor could help quite a few job hunters to improve their cover letters and job search documents, since one of the fastest ways to bore a hiring manager to death is to have all of your sentences run approximately the same length.  An even greater sin?  Start each sentence with the “I” pronoun.

At any rate, if you’re even remotely interested in the craft of writing or in improving your skills in this regard, I’d urge you to pick up a copy of Words @ Work in the near future.  It’s an extremely practical and useful guide for getting better at this stuff.  And I’m not just saying that because I’m Lynda’s friend.  Heck, I couldn’t even persuade her to give me a kickback for each new customer I sent her way.  Then again, though, I guess she did give me a spot on her Board…

Career Q&A: Will “Settling” for a Job Hurt Me?

“I’m stuck in a quandary.  I’ve been searching for work for about six months now and have received an offer for a role at around half my previous salary.  Several friends of mine are facing similar situations, as well.  And while I’m certainly not too proud to do a job that’s more ‘junior’ than I’m used to, I’m concerned such a move would hurt my future marketability and ability to compete for higher-level positions down the road, when the economy picks back up.  Your thoughts?”

Let’s not kid ourselves.  The honest answer to this question is “yes” and I’d accuse anyone who tells you otherwise of either being out of touch with reality or simply trying to spare your feelings by telling you what you want to hear.  It reminds me of an individual I met a few years ago who had taken a two-year sabbatical to sail the Caribbean, after being an executive in the mobile technology industry, and who was wondering if this would hurt his marketability in terms of landing a new position.  He said all his friends had told him it wouldn’t.  I told him his friends were utterly full of baloney — but that they were probably great friends, nonetheless, since they were likely coming from a place of good intentions and trying to keep his confidence up!

The simple truth, however, which I challenge anyone to dispute, is that every occupational field has some sort of “perfect pedigree” that employers look for when hiring a new employee — especially if they’re searching for one on the open market.  This profile almost always follows the same formula: it involves somebody who has done the exact same job function, for a very similar company, within the exact same industry, within a very recent time frame.  So anybody who gets off this track or falls short of this ideal wish list, by definition, is going to end up with less marketability than they enjoyed previously.

Don’t get me wrong, though.  Despite the potential marketability bruise, there are still numerous cases when I’d encourage somebody to take a lower-level position without even giving it a second thought.  Why would this be?  Well, I’d hope it would be obvious, but given the choice between a career storyline that involves working in a somewhat lesser role versus one that involves a person not working at all for a long period of time, I think the latter scenario is a FAR more dangerous and damaging alternative.  In addition, taking a “survival” job these days is often an inescapable necessity for economic reasons, and also provides many other benefits in terms of helping a person stay confident, keep their skills sharp, and continue building and growing their network.  So if you’ve been looking for a while now, and haven’t gotten any consistent traction for jobs at the level to which you’re accustomed, I’d seriously consider taking just about any relevant job offer that comes your way.  Any port in a storm, as the old saying goes…

Should you choose to do this, sure, you’ll need to be prepared down the road (when the economy perks back up) to explain to your next potential employer why you took this apparent step backwards in your career arc.  This shouldn’t be hard to do, however.  Just be candid, explain your rationale, and position yourself as a highly adaptable human being who decided you’d rather be working and applying your skills, talents, and strengths somewhere than continuing to ride the bench and sit on the unemployment rolls.  Employers are getting more and more tolerant around these types of professional storylines every day, since everybody knows times are tough and that many talented people have been forced to settle for positions that aren’t taking full advantage of their talents.  If you adopt the right mindset in addressing this issue, and don’t apologize for it, you’ll find that most employers get over it with barely a second thought.  Some might even consider it a selling point, if they’re like me and prize flexibility and an “unquenchable work ethic” above a great many other professional traits an individual could possess.

So in the end, each case is unique, and you’ll have to weigh the decision carefully if you find yourself facing the choice of taking a step backwards in terms of your traditional pay and responsibility level.  And yes, making such a move will hurt your marketability to some extent.  But this damage won’t be fatal, if you don’t allow it to be, and in the majority of cases taking a junior assignment will turn out to have been the smart course of action, as opposed to holding out exclusively for higher-level opportunities they might currently be few and far between.

There’s a fierce economic wind blowing out there, and from what I’ve witnessed those people who learn how to bend, rather than break, will be the best positioned to come out ahead in the long run!