Category Archives: contruyendo redes

To MBA or not to MBA? That’s Andy’s question

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There’s a discussion going on over at brazencareerist.  Andy Drish is trying to decide whether to get an MBA or not.  His dilemma came about because his employer is offering to pay for part of his MBA and he’s finding that to be too good an offer to refuse.  Among the things that have been brought up in the course of the discussion are:

1. Whether or not he has enough work experience or will he be one of the youngest in the program – and feel that he cannot contribute as much as the more experienced students.

2. Are his two local schools the best choices?

3. How quickly should he aim to complete the program.

What I noticed was not being considered – and it was something I thought about when I looked into getting an MBA – is the opportunity cost.  While I was kicking the tires of local MBA programs in Sydney, something became evident early on.  In a labor market where everyone and anyone has an MBA, the degree no longer makes candidates stand out as much.  As a consequence the increase in pay is not as significant as it was a few years back when not as many job candidates had an MBA.  In a nut shell, I found the return on investment in an MBA to be questionable. 

That puts an interesting spin on things.  Ten years ago, getting an MBA was the no-brainer thing to do if you wanted to rise up the corporate ladder at a faster than average rate.  Today the answer is not as black and white as that.  In an increasingly diverse and complex environment, traits like entrepreneurship and resiliency are powerful commodities.  Neither of which can realistically be mastered in the comfort of an air-conditioned class room. Both are the result of living through real experiences and manoeuvring through real challenges.  As such, putting yourself on the line and starting your own business or taking time to travel and explore the world, are two experiences that will make you stand out from the pack.  Speaking for myself, I do not have an MBA.  I’m not saying that I never will get one, but I know that my experience as an entrepreneur has landed me jobs that I would otherwise not have been considered for. 

If it’s the knowledge that you’re looking for in an MBA program, today there’s so much information outside of the walls of academia that personally I do not see the need to sit in a class just for that.  As long as you’re making time to read quality material and to listen to pod casts, it’s possible to stay on top of the major trends in management, finance, accounting, strategy, change among other things.  Here are two of my favorite sources of information: Harvard Business IdeaCast and TED

‘What about networking?’ you say.  Sure it’s likely that you’ll meet like-minded go-getters and high achievers just like you in an MBA program.  But that’s not the only place where these type of people congregate.  If you have $50k to spend and the time to spare, I think you’ll be better off joining the most prestigious golf club, tennis club or sailing club in your area.  There, for even less money and more fun, you’ll get to meet the who’s who of the business world.  And even better than at a university, there will be a cross-section of people.  At clubs it’s likely that you’ll find more than just cubicle bound employees in their 20s and 30s like you looking to get ahead.  For example business owners, CEOs and other decision makers of a variety of age groups – who either got an MBA years ago or never got close to academia.  Another effective way to make good connections is through doing volunteer work.  The major perk is you get to support good causes while you meet people who may one day be key in your career. 

I’m not saying that MBA’s are dead – and that people should stop getting them.  Personally, I’m still open to the possibility that one day I’ll enrol.

However, I am asking people to look at an MBA degree for what it’s worth. I’m asking you to be open to other possibilities. An MBA is not a cure-all for career stagnation.  Other things like starting your own business, travelling and writing a book are also solid ways to breathe life into your work life.  If you do enrol in an MBA, I hope that it is for the right reasons.

I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts.

 

 

How to decide between 2 great job offers?

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In a recent post I wrote about how to cope when you don’t get offered a job that you want.  Now I’d like to explore the opposite situation.  What can you do when you’re in such high demand that you need to decide between two great job offers?

Even if it’s one of the good problems to have in life it’s good to be prepared.

Here are some points to help you compare:

  1. Forget the money:  To make sure that you’re choosing the right job for the right reasons, look beyond your pay-check.  Ask yourself: “If I did not work for money, which job would I choose?”  Which job is more in line with what’s important to you and what you’re drawn to?  The more in line your job is with those two things, the greater your chances are of staying motivated for longer and being better at your job.
  2.  Stretch your time line:  What do you find when you look beyond the role you’re being offered?  Are there areas within the company that interest you and that you could get involved further down the track?  In which company is there more room for growth?
  3. Launch pad: Which role offers you a more solid foundation for your career?  Look at what each company has to offer in terms of training and other professional development opportunities.  For example does either company have a mentoring program? 
  4. The green test:  Which company scores higher when it comes to contributing to the community and lessening their impact on the environment?  
  5. What are the minds like:  If you get a chance, meet your future team.  Do you sense that they are like-minded?  If it’s within your role to work with clients, how like-minded are they?
  6. The car trip test:  If you were to go on a road trip with one of your future bosses, which of the two would be the easiest to get along with on an 8 hour road trip?  With which one would you have the most fun?  Who would teach you the most?
  7. Push your limits:  Which role would challenge you the most?  I’d go for the one that stretches me the most.  After switching jobs 12 times in 10 years, I know that after 3 months you’ll start to feel at home.
  8. Role models:  Because you’re only as good as those you hang out with on a regular basis, make it a point to find out if there are people within either company who are worthy of imitation. 

Okay, now lets talk money.  But only after you’ve weighed up everything else. Otherwise you risk being blinded by money and missing out on all the other things a job can offer.  It has been my experience that the unquantifiable rewards of a job have benefited my career the most in the long-term.

I’d LOVE to hear what you think.

‘So what?!’ (How to cope when you don’t get a job offer)

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Lets face it, with the current state of affairs, the competition for good jobs has gone up more than a few notches.  Chances are there will be many more bright people out there looking for work.  To you that means that it’s possible that you’ll have to interview for several jobs before you land one.

But is getting rejected from a job the end of the world?  Being that throughout my work life I’ve been turned down from jobs (notice the plural) even after I’ve gone to several interviews, I personally don’t think so.

To begin with, nothing is the end of the world.

More than that, there’s opportunity in everything.  The key is knowing how to find it.

Here are a few of the things that have helped me say (and really mean) ‘So what?!’ whenever I’ve been rejected:

  1. Think silver lining:  Not getting a job offer might be a blessing in disguise because a better job might be waiting for you right around the corner.  I have the benefit of hindsight since that happened to me not so long ago.  After going to three interviews, including one with the company’s Managing Director, not only was I sure that I’d get an offer, but I really wanted this particular job.  It ticked all of my boxes, including that it was close to home and it paid 20% more than my current job.  I was very surprised when my recruiter called to say that someone more experienced got the job.  As I was licking my wounds, within the hour of getting turned down, I got offered an interview for a job which more than exceeded my expectations.  It included a 30% higher pay and a national management role.  After three interviews I did get an offer that I accepted.  And the fact is that had I been offered (and most probably accepted) the first job, my recruiter would not have thought of me when this second job came along.
  2. Un-spoil yourself:  I get it, life lessons do not pay the bills.  But learning to make lemonade when life gives you lemons is one of those skills that will help you cope with one of the realities of life.  Unlike what we may have lived under our parents’ roof, in life we do not always get what we want.  Learning to make the most of what we do get will definitely give us an edge over those who waste precious time whining whenever they don’t get what they want.  It’s not about being complacent, it’s about being real and un-spoiled!
  3. Bounce back:  In a changing world resiliency is winning trait.  The more times you get a chance to practice bouncing back, the better you’ll get at it and the less shaken you’ll be next time that things don’t go how you expected.
  4. Keep the lessons:  Be honest with yourself and ask yourself why you did not get a job offer.  What could you do better next time?  Review your cover letter and resume.  Or could you have packaged yourself better during the interviews?  Use the experience as an opportunity to learn a thing or two.  Those lessons are your to keep for life.  Very few successful people got to where they are today without falling a few times.  The key is they got up and learned from the fall.
I’d LOVE to hear how you bounce back from a rejection. Or if you haven’t…

I had breakfast with Carly Fiorina, Diana Sawyer…

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This morning I had breakfast with Carly Fiorina, the ex-CEO of Hewlett Packard, Ivanka Trump, yes Donald’s daughter, Dara Torres, the 40-year-young Olympian, of course Bobbi Brown, from the make-up empire was there too, and Gayle King was also among the bright and inspiring women who joined me as I ate a bowl of oatmeal.  Impressive right?

Well, guess what?  You too could have breakfast with them (for free – except BYO oatmeal) and lots of other super inspiring women – all worthy of imitation, all willing to share their journey to success with you and me.  Here’s how – click on this link and you’re there.

Aside from having access to podcasts of interviews of these women, at www.womenforhire.com you’ll find a wealth of free resources for your career. For the guys reading this, advice does not come dressed in pink on this site.  And unlike other sites where they offer teasers and then when I get to what I really want, they ask me to pay, this site does have free sound advice.  Finally someone who doesn’t use ‘tactics’ to get money from me.

(no, they are not paying me to say any of this)

Here are my favorite lessons from this morning’s breakfast meeting:

Just by listening to Carly Fiorina – who was named at 43 by Fortune Magazine as “The Most Powerful Woman in Business” – I learned that after her very public firing from HP, even that did not seem to her like the end of the world.  As traumatic and disappointing as the experience was, she was able to find a lesson – she now knows that she’s not afraid of anything. 

By listening to Diana Sawyer, one of Good Morning America’s anchor, I learned that I’m doing the right thing by waking up at 5am.  To all my friends who for years have asked me what do I at 5am, all I can say is there’s no doubt in my mind that the day belongs to those who are ready and able to seize it.

I loved hearing Joy Browne’s interview because like me, she’s worn lots and lots of hats throughout her career.  Trained as an engineer she got to work at the NASA space program, training astronauts.  And from there she’s worked in radio, written books, and worked in archaeology among other things.  Based on her experience she recognizes that every role she’s had is related simply because there are transferable skills.  To you that means that nothing that you do at work is entirely new.  In other words, as many times as you switch jobs, you’ll never ever be starting from scratch.  I’ve known this in my career as a job hopper but it’s always great to hear it from someone so accomplished. 

What I loved most about what Dara Torres, who at 40 years-young swam at the Beijing 08 Olympics, was that she was open and honest.  Among the great insight that she shared was that she did not know early on in her life that she was going to be a swimmer, let alone an Olympian.  She figured it out at an age that’s considered to be too late by elite athletes’ standards.  That tells me that if you still do not know what you’ll be doing for the rest your life, that you still have time to find out and even succeed.  She also says that being dedicated, organized and focused has had a lot to do with achieving the goals that she’s set for herself.  Hint, hint…

I hesitated to click on Ivanka Trump’s interview because I feared that I’d be listening to a silver-spoon-fed spoiled brat.  I was very surprised to hear that Ivanka, who has had all that she has wanted and then some, has really made a life for her self.  That tells me that regardless of how much we’re given, it is up to each of us to make a life for ourselves – to cast our own shadow.  The fact remains that we are each given a life to live – and it’s up to each of us to live it.  Ivanka could’ve very easily made a career out of embarrassing her self at her dad’s expense, but instead she chose the high road and is making a career for herself.  And guess what?  Before she went to work at her dad’s business, to learn the ropes, she was employed at another organization.  That’s a huge hint for anyone who wants to have their own business.  Donald Trump knows that a great way to prepare yourself for owning your business is to work within an another organization.  I wrote about this in an earlier post and it’s quite refreshing to see it put in practice by one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.

These are my top 5.  I’d love to hear what you learn from these remarkable women.  

Is your money where your mouth is?

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Here’s some food for thought.

A recent survey conducted by McKinsey & Company showed that 87% of 7,751 people around the world who were surveyed demanded that companies go green and focus on more than profits.  I didn’t find that surprising.  What I found jaw-dropping was that 33% of those same consumers said that they were either ready to buy green products or already did.  In other words, only one third were willing to put their money where their mouth is.1

What does this have to do with your career?

As concerned as I am about what companies people are supporting with their hard-earned cash, I’d like to turn the focus to what employees are doing with their careers.

Just like more and more of us demand companies to have a triple bottom-line that is focused on profits, social contribution and environmental impact, the question is what is the bottom line of our careers focused on?  Does your career have a triple bottom-line, focused on financial rewards, social contribution and caring for the environment?  Or are you working for money alone?  By working for money alone, as employees are we again not putting our money where our mouth is?

Here’s the deal.  As long as there are employees who are willing to work for money alone and consumers who are willing to base their purchases on price alone, there will always be companies who will be able to exist for profit-making alone.

To help tip the scale, here are my thoughts for the day:

1.  Work as if you count.  Anita Roddick said it best:  “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t been in bed with a mosquito.”

2.  Ask yourself:  “By going to work every day, what am I helping to move forward?  Is that in line with my values?”  If your answer is ‘no’ ask yourself: “What would be in line with what is important to me?”  For a list of assessments that will help you find out what you value, check out my post: I’m not so sure I’m self-assured.

3. Ask yourself:  “Through my work, am I creating the world that I want to live in?”  If your answer is ‘no’, then ask yourself: ”What would I like to work for?”  As a starting point, it does need to be to save the rainforest in Brazil or orangutans in Sumatra, it can be to simply stop supporting what you are right now.

Find a recruiter for life

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I did a short stint at a recruitment agency.  It was long enough to see the underbelly of the industry.  While what I saw was not pretty, I’m now thankful that since then I found a very professional recruiter to work with.  For the past 4 years I’ve stayed loyal to a recruiter who has landed me two great jobs in a row.  In fact, they have all been bigger and better than my previous ones.  Okay, so I kissed a few frogs before I found my prince(ss) – but my search certainly paid off.  I can now say that there are some great professionals out there.

What does my prince(ss) have that all those frogs didn’t:

1. She shows respect for me:  On our first meeting, it was clear to me that she took time to get to know about my career path.  From her comments, I knew that she had gone through my resume with a fine-tooth comb.

2. She gets me:  At our first meeting she asked me well-thought questions about my career and life in general.  To close our meeting she did a great job at summarizing my checkered career path and pointed out aspects of my personality that were quite insightful. 

3. She keeps her word:  At our first meeting she proposed a series of next steps.  Shortly after, she followed through on each one of her commitments.

4. She shows integrity:  Although shortly after we started to work together, she asked me for a 30-day exclusivity, she never asked me to sign a contract.  She trusted my word.  In return, I felt compelled to trust hers.

5.  She keeps me in the loop:  Since day one, whenever she makes contact with a potential employer, almost immediately I receive a phone call to let me know how it went and what are the next steps.  When she’s not meeting with my potential employers, she also keeps me up to date about her search and potential opportunities that may be coming her way.

6. She involves me in the job search:  She encourages my feedback about the roles that she sends my way.  As she often reminds me, she wants to know if these opportunities are on track with my expectations.

7. She has my best interests in mind:  She isn’t manipulative and has never forced me to go to an interview I’m not 100% sure about.  The same has applied to every position I’ve accepted.  She gives me space and time to make up my own mind.

8. She’s well-networked and specialized:  Being that she’s worked in the healthcare industry in Australia for more than a decade, she’s known by the key players.  As an owner-operator of her boutique agency, she personally takes care of these relationships.

9.  She thinks laterally:  Time after time, she identifies opportunities that most recruiters would not think to connect with my career path.

10.  She’s supportive:  Using her back-ground in coaching, she’s able to help me resolve doubts I might have before an interview.  Usually she also gives me clues as to what the employer is looking for.  I’m well aware that she gets commission if I get the job, but to me it feels that she’s going the extra mile to make sure that I feel prepared at my interviews.

Maybe your prince is right around the corner.  When you find them, I suggest that you hold on to them.

Job hopping 101

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Because I’m still reading through the hate mail that I received after posting Are You Getting the Itch to Switch (jobs) on brazencareerist’s blog: http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/09/08/are-you-getting-the-itch-to-switch-jobs I thought it would be a good idea to set the record straight about my philosophy about job hopping.

Lets start by defining what it isn’t.

Job hopping is not a sport. It’s certainly not about running away from something. Neither is it a way to feel redeemed by getting back at your boss or the HR department. Make no mistake, if it’s not done strategically, job hopping might as well be called career suicide.

In order for job hopping to lead you to success in your career, you must be strategic and follow a few ground rules.

These are my top 10:

Rule #1: Be a career owner. Take charge and run your career like a business venture. Have a long-term plan. At the very least know what you want to achieve during the next 5 years. Map out how you’ll get there. That way when you switch, you’re not running away, you’re going towards something.

Rule # 2: Package yourself on your resume. Ditch the features. Focus on the benefits that your past experiences will bring to your future employer. Your potential future boss does not care about how many clients you cold-called. She wants to know that because you’re not afraid of cold-calling you have the potential of opening new accounts. Back up your claims with past accomplishments.

Rule #3: Package yourself during the interview. Okay, so I’ve had 4 jobs in the past 5 years and I owned and ran a business in between. To show my future bosses what that means to their bottom line, other than quite possibly that I will not be around for more than 18 months – I use the following illustration:

+ + + + + = $$$ for you

To do this, I pull out a piece of blank paper and a pen and draw this same picture as I talk about what I learned from each experience. I focus on the transferable skills that I bring to the table that will impact their bottom line. For example, when I mention that I’ve had my own business, I explain that I can work under minimal supervision and get things done. I do not leave it up to them to answer: “What’s in it for me?”

Rule #4: Partner with a recruiter. I’ve worked in recruitment so I know how nasty recruiters can get – especially when they’re desperate to fill a role (i.e. to get commission). But I have also found some very professional ones out there. In fact, much of my success in hopping around I owe to one particular recruiter who since day one got me. It was more than chemistry. She took time to read my resume and ask me insightful questions. Not only did I feel respected, I also felt that because she took time to understand me, that she would be able to place me well. Twice in a row she has placed me in jobs that have been bigger and better than my previous ones. I suggest that you take the time to look for a recruiter who you feel comfortable with and you can trust. When you do, keep them around. I had to kiss a few frogs before I found mine.

Rule # 5: Network. I don’t believe in being Machiavellian about relationships. It’s those people who I genuinely connect with who have helped me the most during my career. So there’s little point to go around collecting acquaintances. For your network to really support your success, it must be made up of people you like and respect. Your recruiter is one of them.

Rule #6: Prepare for the sales presentation. Make no mistake, you are selling yourself at an interview. For that very reason, I treat every interview in the same way that I treat a sales presentation to a client. The difference is that at an interview I’m the product and the salesperson. I make sure that I know my product (i.e. my resume) and also my presentation. These days there are no secret questions at an interview. You’ll find lists and lists of interview questions online. Here’s a list I found to be quite insightful since it gives advice to interviewers on how to get the best (and worst) out of candidates: www.bnet.com/2403-13056_23-52952.html

Rule #7: Ask for the job. Please do not get so close to the job and yet be so far away simply because you do not ask for it. I admit that it can feel awkward to say to the interviewer: “I like what I know about the company, and what I learned today about the role and the team. And I really want this job. What will it take for me to get it?” But being that I’ve sat on the other side of the table, I know that candidates who do not ask me for the job come across as people without a back-bone. As a future boss, I want the person who will do whatever it takes to get the job done – even if it means putting up with a few seconds of awkwardness.

Rule #8: Learn to negotiate your salary. In an earlier post I wrote about negotiating the empowered way (http://silvanaavinami.com/?p=28). The main thing to keep in mind when you’re negotiating your salary is that a negotiation is the beginning of your relationship with your future employer/boss, not the end. To set a positive tone, aim for an outcome that’s mutually beneficial. For the relationship to last, you must feel that you came out getting what you need. By the same token, do not expect your future boss to give you more if that will land them in the loosing position. Expect them to pay you in line with your contributions – not the smick life-style you want to lead. By focusing on the value that you’ll add to the company, quite possibly you’ll find that you’ll be able to afford all those toys that you want.

Rule #9: Exit in style. I covered this in an earlier post (http://silvanaavinami.com/?p=161). In short, aim to preserve the relationship that you worked so hard to build with your soon-to-be ex-employer. Very few people know you as well as they do. Like I have, some day you’ll find that they will be great allies as you sail across the big blue ocean of possibilities.

Rule #10: Become a learning machine. To successfully switch jobs, let alone careers and industries means that you’ll have to climb some steep learning curves. And tackling all the information that comes your way can at times feel like trying to survive an avalanche. The key is to find out very early on in your career what steps you go through to learn new information as well as under what conditions you learn best. Once you know this, you’re less likely to panic if by month 2 in a new job you still feel clueless. For example, I know that after month 3 things start to gel in my brain. After month 6 I’ll start to see the light. So I no longer panic. I simply make it a point to sleep 8 hours a night for the first ew months so that my brain survives the over-stimulation.

You become what you read

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In line with an earlier post where I talk about taking responsibility for outcomes in your career and striving to give work the best version of you, I believe that one of the best (and easiest) ways to self-actualize is through reading top-shelf publications, including books and journals – both on-line and off.

Reading – of the good kind – is perhaps one of the best things that I’ve done for my career.  That is why it irks me every time that I see a girl on the train, wearing what look like excruciatingly painful high-heels* and too much make- up for day light, holding a New Idea magazine (I prefer to call it No Idea – it’s Australia’s #1 gossip mag).   To me that train ride is a missed opportunity for her to learn something of value and do something with her life.  While I believe that a little brain candy is necessary to keep sane in life, it should by no means be something that a. one spends much time on or b. any money on.  You read right. 

My personal rule of thumb for keeping sane and staying actualized is 90/10. That means that I spend most of my life time reading worthy material and only 10% reading mind-numbing stuff.  If you’d like to stick to the infamous Pareto Principle, by all means shoot for 80/20 – or risk turning into a personality-less consumerist. 

I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve bought (with my own money) a beauty magazine.  (Okay, I admit that getting beauty and gossip magazines from doctors’ consulting rooms, was one of the perks of working as a medical sales representative)  However, I cannot keep track of the number of National Geographic, The Economist, Time, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, inc. and Entrepreneur that I’ve invested in. 

While I do believe that EVERY publication, whether top-shelf or not, has SOMETHING to offer, I don’t believe in looking too hard to find gold.  More so, statistics say (and don’t ask me how statisticians come up with this stuff) that you get an average of 10% from any book that you read.  So if you insist on reading crap, well, you do the math…

By far the book that has had the most positive impact on my career has been (drum roll please) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (http://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits.php). My intention is not to give you a summary here – my intention is to get you to get off your bum and read it if you haven’t.  I read it for the first time more than 10 years ago and some of the principles that Stephen writes about continue to guide me.  Sure, his writing can sound like a sermon at times – but for those of you looking to take your career seriously, this is the Bible. 

(I know that my dear friend James Adonis – a very successful twentysomething, would agree. Check out his new venture: www.teamleaders.com.au)

3 of Stephen’s habits that remain on the top of my mind are:

1. Be proactive.  In my world, this has meant quite literally: ‘get off your bum and go get things done for yourself – cause no-one will make things happen for you’.  Maybe that’s the reason why I get up at 5:10am every day to meditate for 20 minutes, then I read for 20 minutes and then I go to the gym for an hour.  All this is to make sure that I give my work the best version of my self.  That includes a focused mind, an actualized self and an oxygenated brain & body. 

2. Begin with the end on mind.  I remember that when I finished reading that chapter, I took out a pen and paper and wrote down what I’d like my life to look like when I looked back on my 100th birthday.  Doing that exercise sure fired me up.  That was when I realized that it was up to me to make out of my life what I wanted my life to be.   It became clear to me that if I did not know where I was going, then I’d be leaving myself for the taking of those who did know.

3. Put first things first.  I’ve taken this habit to a more practical level. The time management matrix that he offers for separating the urgent from the important is probably the best model that I’ve seen for getting things done at work. Ever since the days when I was working as a pastry chef, almost 10 years ago, I’ve been following a time-management ritual.  I plan my weeks on Thursday afternoon and my days the night before.  Every Thursday I jot down everything that I’d like to get done the following week; my to-do list.  Then I go through the list and for each item I ask myself: ‘is this urgent? or is this important? or both?’  Then I mark the urgent and important with a letter A, the important with a letter B and the urgent with a letter C. Every night of the week, to get closure on my day and to get psyched up for the next day, I go through my to-do list and re-prioritize it based on what I’ve accomplished so far.  By doing this I’m making sure that I’m focusing on what’s most important in my life – not in someone else’s.

What have you done for your mind lately?

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*For the record, I believe in wearing stilettos at work. But please, if you need to walk on hard city pavement for more than two blocks, do me a favor.  Get yourself a nice-looking shoe bag so that you can keep your high-heels in your purse.  Then change to them in the elevator – feet binding is so passé ladies!

Note: I do not and will not get any remuneration from any provider if my readers – you – buy or use any of their services…I’m just sharing the wealth cause I care about you!

Are you getting an itch to switch (jobs)?

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In the past 10 years my all-time record for staying at a job is 18 months. My average stay is 14 months. And after switching jobs 12 times, I’ve learned to tell when it’s time for me to start planning my next move.

To enlighten you, here are my top 10 telling signs:

  1. I start to feel that it’s Groundhog Day at work. I’m well aware that it’s virtually impossible for every single day, let alone task at work to be new and challenging. Inevitably there are standard processes and procedures that need to be followed and cycles to be repeated.  But when I start to feel the weight of the routine, and it seems that everything has been said and done, I know it’s time to open my eyes and ears for new opportunities.
  2. I take longer in the mornings to leave the house. Whenever I feel challenged at work, each morning I head out the door looking forward to accomplishing things at the office.  But when I start extending the time that I take to get ready to go to work, usually by spending more time reading to give my brain the stimulation that it craves and is no longer getting at work, I know it’s time to actively explore other options in the market.
  3. I get annoyed by the small things.  When a client’s request that seemed minor last week – a ‘no problem at all’, all of a sudden turns into a ‘you gotta be kidding me’ request, I know I need to look for my headhunter’s contact information.
  4. I spend more time on personal emails. My cardinal rule for personal emails is to take care of them at home, before or after work. So when my friends start to hear from me during the day on a week day, I know it’s time to research other jobs and companies.
  5. I stop volunteering for projects.  Whenever I’m interested in learning something, I perceive new projects as a great opportunity to learn about my role and the industry.  When taking on more work starts to feel like a drag, I know it’s time to tap into my network of ex-colleagues and friends to look for new opportunities.
  6. I start to wonder if what I’m doing really is for me.  When I start to feel that there’s a clash between my values and my role and/or the industry I’m working in,  I know I need to update my resume.
  7. I start to wonder if my job is contributing anything meaningful to the world. When I start to feel that I’ve been put on this earth to do something more meaningful than say promote prescription drugs or sell insurance, I know I need to contact my head-hunter.
  8. I start to look at the clock at 4:30pm and wish it would be 5pm. When I no longer willingly arrive early or stay late at work, I know it’s time to set up informational interviews.
  9. I start to question what the future holds for me at a company.  When I start to feel that my role is the highest I could possible get within a company, I know it’s time to dry-clean my sharpest looking suit.  
  10.  I start to feel that staying at my current job presents an opportunity cost for my career. Just like when I’m in love, I do not think about anyone else because I’m sure that I’m with ‘the one’, whenever I’m challenged by my work, I don’t think of other jobs.  But when I start to feel that I’m missing out on bigger and better opportunities by staying at my current job, I know it’s time to start thinking about what to say to my boss so that I can go to interviews during work hours.

How can you tell that it’s time to start planning your exit strategy? I’d love to know.

(in my next post I plan to share with you how I’ve left from 12 jobs – for the exception of 1 – on very friendly terms with my boss and colleagues)