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Judith Cushman & Associates Retained Executive Search in Communications
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Click here to view past editions. The Cushman Report Breaking News, Trends and Information about the Communications Marketplace for Senior Professionals February / March 2009
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View Introducing a new feature for Job Hunters JC&A is now posting listings from several job sites specialized in filling Communications and IR positions in companies and major institutions at mid-levels and above (http://www.jc-a.com/CareerAdvice/Jobsofinterest.htm*). If you know of additional sites, please their URL addresses and I will check them out and add them. Dates indicate when we first post the position. Listings will be refreshed every 2-weeks and removed if the position is filled or at the latest, within 60-days. This newsletter is about coping with tough market conditions. You will read stories about what not to do along with my comments about how to make a job change. It is about the stress you and your family feel, as well as, confronting difficult career decisions where both partners are uncertain about their futures. There are specific suggestions about how to behave so that you don’t “shoot yourself in the foot” when job hunting. It is time to focus on the basics because too many communications professionals are making mistakes—no matter how experienced they are. WHEN SHOULD YOU BEGIN JOB HUNTING? SECTIONS ONE, TWO and THREE WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A “GOOD” CANDIDATE? * * * Let’s begin with what seems to be an obvious question: WHEN SHOULD YOU BEGIN JOB HUNTING? This is not such an easy question to answer. (See sections one, two and three.) Here is the story of one couple and how they answered (or didn’t) that question. You’ll read at least one surprising answer. My client is based in a major metropolitan city and this couple had relocated there for the husband’s job. His wife, of course, moved with him and found a local position. Neither expected to stay permanently in this city. His wife was at the early stages of building a career in PR and was off to a promising start. Her husband was highly educated, working for a major company and earning a higher salary than she was. He was unhappy working there but was in no position to quit without another offer. Meanwhile, his wife was in an organization that was losing business and no longer a stimulating, learning environment. She was miserable and instinctively knew she had to leave. Neither had much experience job hunting and they had been married for about three years. She sent me a resume (after I had done targeted research) expressing interest in a position with my client. I immediately responded and, based on my evaluation, felt she was ideally suited for the job we were filling. She visited the company, which was small and team oriented. Everyone agreed she naturally fit the culture and was qualified to do the job. It appeared to be almost a perfect match. She was scheduled to return for a final visit where it was understood that, if all went well, an offer would be extended. Her feedback to me was extremely positive. The company had been looking for several months because finding someone who “fit” was a challenge. The stage was set to make an offer. A day before her scheduled meeting, after I had talked to her references, I checked voicemail where she had left a message. It seems her husband would be receiving an out of town job offer and she wondered if she should keep her appointment. I immediately called her back to find out more about her predicament. It turns out that she and her husband had been talking about the possibility of relocating and were looking forward to leaving the area sooner rather than later, although no firm deadline had been set. She also indicated that her husband’s job offer wasn’t a job offer. It was actually a first interview with the company and the hiring manager had said they would be asking him to come back for a second round. Meanwhile, the manager discussed bringing HR into the picture to talk about employing him for a job out of the area (so it appeared there were several decision-makers involved who had yet to be consulted). She felt she could not keep her appointment unless my client knew of her circumstances and was OK with her inability to commit to a long term relationship, if the offer materialized. (If you were considering hiring her, what would you do?) My client was more than surprised when he heard of her dilemma. After a thorough conversation reviewing all of the implications of the situation, including what this revealed about her judgment, her appointment was canceled. I had several in-depth conversations with her and said, “I assume that you and your spouse had discussed what would happen if you were job hunting and received an offer locally before he received an offer that would involve a relocation.” I said that her husband had no guarantees that an offer would be extended after just one interview. He could be looking for many months before a position would materialize that would be acceptable. Her job was becoming more and more untenable and she said she could not stay there much longer. What could she do? She said she might quit and do freelance or temporary work. I pointed out that her decision could affect her career and competitiveness in the future. I also noted that her spouse might be in “limbo” for a long time, considering market conditions. She thanked me for my advice. Shortly thereafter she quit her job and left the PR field. She is now trying a new career direction in sales and says this is something she really has wanted to do. (I have no idea how she came to this conclusion, since it was nothing that had been discussed.) I suspect that she may change her mind again just as quickly. At this point, I have no confidence in her judgment or ability to make thoughtful career decisions nor would I trust presenting her to a client. My client questioned her professionalism and level of maturity. Now, back to the question, when should you be job hunting? In her case, the answer should have been, “not now.” Despite being miserable in her current job, she was in no position to make a change because she was in no position to accept a job offer. The first step in order to be ready to job hunt in a two-career family is to work out a strategy between the spouses/partners about how to make career decisions. If one partner is a significantly bigger bread winner, does that partner make the decision first and will the other partner follow if a relocation is involved? Or, will both partners agree that whoever receives the offer first, will be able to accept the position and the other partner will only accept an offer that allows the first one to keep his/her new job? In this case, money is secondary. How do couples work out the relocation question particularly if children are involved and the extended family is local? What scenarios are acceptable if one spouse has a position and the other is laid off? What if the local market for the laid off spouse is so weak that job prospects are dim? Can that spouse find work in a different market segment locally (most likely lower-paying) as a way to tread water? The issue that I have not seen discussed is the stress that job change creates in a family. One of the reasons the candidate interviewed for and then withdrew from the process, in my opinion, is that she and her spouse did not have a clear discussion at the outset. They did not broach the sensitive issue of where her career needs fit versus her husband’s. She did not ask him for a commitment to support her if she made a job change so that she could, without reservation, pursue the position she wanted. The discussion that has to occur about transitions is painful. It could put the partners in serious conflict with one another over values and the respect each accords the other to achieve career goals. This may be so fraught with the potential for conflict that couples hope they do not have to have this discussion. Many would say, “I don’t have to deal with this now. Let’s just wait and see how it goes.” In my opinion, this is absolutely the wrong decision. If one spouse is considering a job offer and then it finally becomes necessary to address the issue of whose career takes priority, there is too little time and the pressure is too intense to make a thoughtful decision. The pain and disappointment resulting from, for example, rejecting an offer will profoundly impact the relationship, not to mention the damage to the professional reputation of the candidate who rejects the offer (she never should have pursued). (Coping with stress is a topic I discuss separately. See below.) Meanwhile, let’s address the question of, when should you begin job hunting? Here are the reasons not to, when:
You should look for a job when:
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A “GOOD” CANDIDATE? Separate from the skills required to be considered for a position, there are common-sense rules about how to behave through the job search process. A “good” candidate will not “shoot himself in the foot” and be eliminated from the competition before the first interview. When the process is over either because you are hired or not, you do not burn bridges. The PR community is small and you will see these people again. Here is another story about what not to do as you job hunt. I was recently “on the prowl” searching for candidates for a client that wished to hire local talent. The position was in the high tech area and we were looking for someone with energy, enthusiasm and a flair for media relations. I targeted agency candidates. One PR account representative, who had achieved recognition from a professional association for his outstanding pro bono contributions, came to my attention. He responded to my email and indicated he wished to discuss my search and the job description I sent. Initially, he quickly answered my emails and calls. We decided that the opportunity I was filling could be a “fit” and exchanged emails about logistics and questions I had. Meanwhile, I read his resume which was loaded with links and special features. It was difficult to read, and did not give a clear picture of his experience. He did revise it as a result of my feedback. At this point, I noticed it was becoming more difficult to reach him. When candidates are working, sometimes they can only check email in the evening. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He did meet with company managers and after that visit, they were eager to have him return for a second round of interviews with the leaders of the organization. I alerted him to my client’s interest and we were able, with some difficulty, to schedule a date. At this point, I planned to discuss the situation and prepare him for this meeting, which could lead to an offer. He virtually stopped answering my calls and emails. At one point, I received a note saying he was very busy. I left messages during the day, evenings and weekends. On the day he was scheduled to meet the client, he arrived for his appointment 30-minutes early. He had misread the email confirming the appointment. We had not had a chance to discuss the interview and how to prepare for it because he did not respond to me. Had we talked, I suspect that error would have been caught. As it was, he did not realize his mistake and thought when the client was unavailable to see him after waiting for 40+ minutes that this was unacceptable and left. When my client looked for him in the reception area, he was stunned to see he was gone. I contacted the candidate and pointed out the error was his (something he had not considered, which was very revealing about his character). He apologized and expressed an interest in rescheduling the meeting. There were some extenuating circumstances that my client considered and the meeting was rescheduled. At this point I asked if there were any impediments to him considering an offer since I would not want my client to go through another round of interviews only to find it was a waste of time. He said there were no issues that would prevent him from considering an offer. Once again, I made several efforts to talk with him but he did not respond. I had been hoping to offer counsel about how he had handled the situation to that point and how some of his errors in judgment could be corrected. I also wanted to discuss compensation and review how ready he was to leave his current position. In some cases, I walk a candidate through an offer/counter offer scenario. This helps focus him/her on the issues that are important in either accepting or rejecting an offer on its own merits. I am a firm believer in not “playing games” and leveraging one offer to receive a better one. In the end that behavior is detrimental to the candidate, no matter how much short term gain might occur. The rescheduled meeting occurred and went well. My client offered the finalist the position on the spot and he said yes. They worked out the starting date, along with some minor logistical details. We were all delighted that the situation had been retrieved. Several days later, I received a worried call from my client. The signed offer letter had not been returned to him, nor did he receive any response to his call or email. We both agreed something was wrong. That evening, I immediately followed up with an email and received no response. I tracked the candidate down and found him at the desk of his current employer. I asked him what the situation was and he asked if I had read his email. I told him that neither I nor my client had received an email. He said that he had notified his current employer that he had accepted a new job and his employer asked if he could extend a counter offer. The candidate agreed, waited several days for the counter offer and decided to take it. I knew nothing about this turn of events. I asked him to resend the email telling me what he had decided. I also told him that I would not work with him again. Once informed of the situation, my client also sent him an email indicating they have no interest in any further communication with him. Here are the lessons to take away from this story. Honesty is the best policy. If you are working with a recruiter, explain your situation and any issues that might cause concern about your candidacy. If no third party is involved, after the first interview goes well, raise those questions directly with your contact at the hiring organization. Do not appear to be interested in the position when you are not. Exit gracefully. A job needs to be appealing as it is presented to you; do not interview for the sake of interviewing after the first round or because you feel you can negotiate for more money than they say they have. If you are looking at other positions and can anticipate offers or other factors affecting your timing, let either the recruiter or the company representative know. Do not wait for them to ask. If you are an appealing candidate, they will do everything they can to accommodate your schedule or they will let you know if they cannot and stop the process. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. During the recruiting process, everyone is on tenterhooks; relationships are fragile and a small misstep can become a fatal error. Behavior is scrutinized: is the candidate responsive? How much enthusiasm has s/he shown? How willing is the candidate to adjust his/her schedule for an interview? If you are working with a recruiter you trust, ask him/her for counsel about how to do well in the interviews and take his/her advice. S/he wants you to present yourself as best you can. Develop a rapport and partner with the recruiter. S/he can provide insights into the hiring organization and the people you will be meeting. The recruiter should be the first person you call when you have a question. Find ways to respond quickly to calls and emails from potential employers. If you cannot talk because you are in an open office during work hours, let your recruiter know in advance or send a quick email acknowledging the call and indicating you cannot respond until a particular time. Arrange phone appointments if at all possible. Be available to talk very early, during lunch or after hours. Flexibility and a “can do” attitude are the keys to success. If you know you will be unreachable due to travel or because you are in meetings, send an email with your schedule and suggest times when you are reachable. If the interviewing process lasts for several weeks or even months, how easy you are to reach becomes a pattern and an indicator of future behavior on the job. If you are always responsive, your potential employer learns to trust you and feel confident. As one manager told me, “Showing up is more than half the game.” When you are at a critical stage in negotiations and the hiring organization needs to reach you ASAP, carry a cell phone/blackberry everywhere. If you are “casually looking” or “not rushing to accept the first offer because you want to know what is out there” you are sending the wrong signal to the hiring manager. Consider each job on its own merits. Don’t schedule an interview until you are ready to accept an offer within a month. Counter offers should never be worth taking. If you are job hunting for the right reasons and you are looking not only at the immediate offer but at your long-term future with your new employer, a counter offer should be irrelevant. Staying or leaving should never just be about the money. You should be able to say to yourself (and the recruiter), “I really would like to have an offer, and if the figure is ‘X,’ that would be very fair and acceptable.” This is one approach to eliminating a bidding war. You should go through the mental exercise of tallying up the pros and cons of your current job before you start job hunting—not at the offer stage. If you think there are reasons to stay put, develop a non-threatening strategy to see if your employer will give you what you want. If you are turned down, then there is every reason to update the resume. Later, if after turning you down, your supervisor makes a counter offer when you are ready to leave, think about how poorly that reflects on the values of the company (and its regard for its employees). If you renege on an offer, realize how poorly that reflects on your character and what your word is worth. That is why I will not trust or ever represent a candidate that plays that game. The stress and uncertainty caused by losing a job is intense and unrelenting. It is even more difficult when a couple faces the complications of two careers on the line. It is inevitable that when one partner is job hunting, both become anxious. If a relocation is involved, particularly where there could be less family support in the new area, this leads to tension about what is the best decision for the family. One of the most important actions to take is for the family to have a thorough discussion at the outset and outline a multi-layered strategy and timetable for how they will approach a job search. If relocation is not an option, it limits the job search and raises the question, “If work is not available in my area of expertise, where else can I look? What jobs can I find where I can ‘tread water’ until the market picks up?” Stress undermines judgment and leads to mistakes. It also can affect how an individual presents himself/herself in an interview. Productivity goes down and the ability to perform efficiently is reduced. Recognizing that performance is affected, I would suggest that job seekers reduce the workload and expect that they will be less productive while they are looking. That also means setting up more systems, taking careful notes and not relying on memory. You will need to establish new work routines and while that occurs, you will be more prone to errors. Pay more attention to details. Double-check your work, even simple emails, and make sure you keep your calendar updated as soon as there is a change. Be prepared for last minute adjustments and be gracious about them. Reconfirm appointments and be sure you have contact information if you need to reach someone just before your meeting. That might mean knowing the phone number of a restaurant, hotel, or the personal cell phone of the individual you are meeting or his/her assistant. Focus on what is important, e.g. preparing for an interview, doing research about the organization. That will give you more confidence about doing well since you know you are fully prepared. Leave plenty of time to arrive for what could be the most critical meeting of the week. If you come feeling stressed by just barely showing up on time, that adds to the stress you are already feeling. It will be difficult to focus on the interview. Your ability to answer questions with precision, feel sufficiently relaxed and engaged will be compromised. If you focus on the job search without taking time to relax, talk to friends, laugh, or find ways to relieve the tension, you will not present yourself well in an interview. Exhale. We are all going through difficult times. In these challenging times, take a creative approach to finding a position. Plan to interview extensively (you would be very lucky if you landed a job quickly). Stay fresh by building your network and connecting to friends via social media (Linked In, Facebook, etc.), as well as traditional channels. Volunteer where the members of the organization can be helpful to you. Consider creative alternative solutions such as project work, freelance or temporary assignments. Mention that option in an interview. Stay on top of news in your marketplace about hires, cutbacks, etc. There may be opportunities for short-term work. Decide what you would realistically consider for a starting salary and benefits. Indicate prior earnings and if you will accept a lateral offer. If you are somewhat flexible, add that as well. Don’t let the interviewing process go past the first round until you know the range of the position and it is acceptable. If not, and you are seriously interested in the position, tell them what your compensation needs are. They have the option to indicate that an adjustment is possible. The principle here is: “Don’t waste anyone’s time.” Industry segments that seem to be more growth oriented are: Public Sector, medical and healthcare, technology and, environmental/green initiatives. Good luck.
Here is a case study of a two-career couple where one had an offer in France and how they decided what to do. From: Judith Cushman [mailto:jcushman@jc-a.com] Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 10:12 AM Subject: RE: The Cushman Report January/February Edition "Judy, "I am happy to share a couple of thoughts since we recently went through the relocation process/discussions in our determination to come to France in ‘07. At the time, my husband worked in HRIS (human resources information systems) for an international consumer products company and had been with them for nine years in different roles. He had never been to France, didn’t speak the language and had two teenagers in a Midwest city under the age of 18. Needless to say, our discussions on the opportunity to move were extremely detailed. "I’ll say at the outset that I think one has to have the right partner and very strong respect of what it takes to make both people comfortable with a major life change. For us, the idea of moving in general didn’t come out of the blue. Neither of us were native New Yorkers. Having spent ten plus years in NYC, I think we were both ready for a change of location. We had discussed the general concept of moving, whether he was willing to relocate for my career and what cities were acceptable to both of us. It was a short list of 5 - 6 major cities. When we first started discussing moving, I was working with public companies in the Midwest so the major cities in one of those states were on the ‘list.’ I had very much wanted to work with an energy company in Investor Relations and early in’07, was one of two final candidates for a job. After several months of discussions however, that opportunity fell through. That process however did force us to have detailed conversations on how we would leverage our contacts to provide him with opportunities in whatever city we went to, how we would cover our financial obligations if he couldn’t find a job immediately and how long we were willing to be apart from each other to facilitate a move. "Later that year (after we’d remodeled our bathroom in NY, thinking we were staying for a while!) came the opportunity to move to France. Moving overseas to a country where English was not the native tongue added several other components to our discussions. 'What, if any, opportunities would he have career wise in France or what else was he going to do with his time? Could we cover his emotional and financial obligations to his children in the States? Would I still respect him as a partner if he couldn’t work and I had to be responsible for all our financial obligations – including giving him pocket money? Would we be financially sound on only one income? Was this really a good career move for me and how were we going to get back to the US? What happened if there was a family emergency in the US? What about our house and our pets?' "It became a series of 'What If' discussions, where we imagined the best and worst case scenario along with how we would manage it, if that issue occurred. We each committed to outcomes/courses of action that were critical to each of us being comfortable about the idea of moving. For example, we agreed that he or we would make a certain number of trips back to the US to make sure he saw his children. In the end, it came down to one major issue -- him not being able to work in France while in the middle of his career. On that front though, we ended up being extremely lucky. My husband spoke to his company about our opportunity. After some discussions, his company allowed him to continue his employment for a finite period of time, working remotely. So, in December of ’07 we moved to France, three cats in tow, for 2-3 year commitment. "Now, having been here for a year, we face somewhat of a reverse situation. With his remote assignment concluded in November, my husband was able to find a job with an international French company speaking English, which he starts next week. There is some irony in the fact that his new role is with a company in the Energy sector, but we both think it bodes well if we ever want to move to Texas! However, I’ve been informed by my company that we only have approximately another year in Europe. "There are, as there are in most companies these days, a lot of changes going on and my boss whom I moved over to Europe with is retiring soon. We are not ready to leave Europe and would like to be here for a couple more years. However, since we are here on my work visa and his right to work is based on my job we face a new series of questions. 'Should he start a new job now if we might be leaving in a year or less? Does the large amount of travel in his new job outweigh the benefits of enjoying being in Europe together? Is a year of work experience better than none at all?' "Basically, after playing the “What If” game again, we decided that international experience and more job responsibility would only further enhance his career, regardless of where we end up living long-term. We do run the risk however that he’ll have only been in his new job for 9 months and I’ll be asked to return to the US. That being said, I’m doing a little networking around my company to see where there might be other opportunities to stay in Europe, if my current assignment ends. Europeans find the proactive nature of my conversations very interesting and entertaining, but that, “Working in an Int’l Co” could be its own (story for another) email . "General Thoughts about Couple Relocation
- Are both parties even willing to relocate? (I’ve got a lot of NY friends whom would say ‘Absolutely Not’) - Where would each of you be willing to go and what cities/countries are definitively out. - What are the most important issues for you both? Being close to family, seeing Europe, two incomes, etc. - What are the factors that make relocating for a career worthwhile? I.e. More responsibility, income and what are the impact of those factors. - What are the activities outside of work that make you both content? How does relocating impact that?
"While we have had a couple of hiccups during the move, they were the same things we’d have had to deal with in any city --- setting up the Internet/Phone/Gas etc. Those discussions were just in French. Quite frankly, I lucked out and found a partner who took on the challenge of moving as a great opportunity and hasn’t complained once. We are both pleased we made the choice even though we continue to feel like we have 40 balls in the air, but I think that comes from working through the major concerns before we ever started the process. "Hope this is helpful and I look forward to hearing from you soon." |
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Judith Cushman & Associates 15600 NE 8th St., Suite B1, PMB 178, Bellevue, WA 98008 s (425) 392-8660 Fax (425) 644-9043 jcushman@jc-a.com s www.jc-a.com The Judith Cushman & Associates web team would appreciate feedback concerning this site. Please e-mail your comments, questions and suggestions to heathers@jc-a.com. |
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