Promote Yourself (29 page)

 

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Aligning Your Personal and Corporate Brands

Not every job turns out to be exactly as advertised (or hoped for). So after you've been with your employer for six months or so, I recommend that you do a quick audit by asking yourself these questions:

•
Does my brand and my company's still match up?

•
Am I happy with where the company is going and how they're getting there?

•
Is the company giving back to the community in the way I expected they would?

•
Do I fit in with my coworkers, my boss, and the corporate culture?

•
How satisfied am I with the dress code, workplace flexibility, salary, and benefits?

If you've gone through this brief audit and have decided that you'd be better off working somewhere else, it's time to start your search. In the next section, we'll talk about exactly how.

 

The Search Begins: Scouting Out Your Next Opportunity Outside Your Company

In the Brad Pitt–Edward Norton movie
Fight Club
, the first rule is: “Do not talk about Fight Club.” Same goes for when you start investigating new opportunities. The main reason is that if your employer finds out, your job could be in jeopardy. And since it's always easier to get a new job when you already have one, getting laid off can only hurt you by making you look desperate and subject you to job seeker discrimination.

So in the early stages of your search, be very subtle and stay as much under the radar as you can. Start by making sure your online presence is updated to reflect your current skills and experience. There is absolutely nothing wrong with (or suspicious about) doing this. Then do some passive searching on LinkedIn, job hunting Web sites, and checking internal job boards. “Passive searching” means looking at listings but not sending out messages to your network letting them know you're looking—and not posting your résumé online
anywhere
. It's scary how easy it is to find information online (almost all companies have either people or automated systems that look for mentions of their company), and it's even scarier that some employers who find out that an employee is looking will retaliate by laying him or her off.

Then start using your social networks to connect with people in your industry or the industry you want to head into. If you haven't already built relationships, do it now so when you finally go public with your search, you'll already have your contacts in place. Chances are that you'll hear about job openings. And speaking of relationships, don't forget about headhunters and recruiters. These people usually have a very broad and deep understanding of what's going on in your industry, who the players are, where open positions are, how much they pay, and so on. If you've been contacted in the past by a recruiter but ignored the e-mail, it's time to start responding. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. And don't be afraid to mention that you're considering a move. Headhunters' livelihood depends on maintaining clients' confidentiality, so your secret is normally safe with them.

A word of warning. When you start lining up interviews, make sure you schedule them around your current work hours. The last thing you want is for your boss to see you having lunch with a competitor in the middle of the workday. Most people in hiring positions understand that if they're interviewing someone who already has a job they'll need to keep that information private. But if you're concerned or you're in an industry where everyone knows everyone else, you may have to make a direct request for privacy.

 

Moving On: How to Leave Your Company in Ways That Promote Your Brand

I come across too many people who think that leaving an employer has to involve bad blood. I can tell you from personal and professional experience that it doesn't. The problem isn't
why
the employee is leaving: Forty-four percent of managers and 42 percent of young workers polled in my research said it was reasonable for an employee to leave a job if “any better opportunity comes along.” Fifteen percent of managers and 14 percent of young workers said it was reasonable to quit if “an opportunity that pays more money comes along.”

The key to leaving with your head held high (and a bunch of ringing endorsements you can leverage in your next job and for the rest of your life) has to do with timing the announcement. “Giving very little notice and/or going to a competitor are good ways to burn bridges,” says Allan McKisson, VP of HR at Manpower. “But if someone is leaving for personal or career reasons and they've kept us in the loop, we're glad to help.”

One important piece of advice: Don't pull the plug on your old job until you have a confirmed offer or a signed contract from the new one. Jumping the gun could leave you with no job at all.

When it comes time to make the actual announcement, tell the truth. You're not the only one with a network—and you never know when you're going to bump into someone you used to work with. Lying about what you're doing after you leave your current employer is just too risky.

Being honest about your plans—and offering to help fill your soon-to-be-former position with someone from your network—will make it a lot easier for you to get LinkedIn recommendations from the people you work with and for—something you should do as soon as possible so your smiling face and astonishing accomplishments will be fresh in their mind.

Finally, be sure to keep in touch with the people you worked with. Again, you never know when or where you'll see them again.

 

Should You Get an MBA?

Overall, 43 percent of the managers we interviewed in our study said that having an advanced degree would be an advantage, but it's not required. Only 10 percent say it's required. Interestingly, 60 percent of the young workers we interviewed felt that having an advanced degree is either recommended or strongly recommended (but not required), and 22 percent say it's required. Another case of a pretty big disconnect between perception and reality.

Aflac's Matt McDonald told me that it's more important that young people pursue their strengths, work to align those strengths with their passion, and work hard. “An MBA from a prestigious institution may open a few doors, but hard work will sustain the relationships you make and the reputation you build for yourself,” he said. “Some theory is necessary, but practical experience, in my opinion, is more valuable.”

There are, however, a number of factors you should consider when evaluating your options and making your decision. Of course, when it comes to making your own decision, statistics and personal stories aren't particularly helpful and, unfortunately, there's no right or wrong answer. In some specialized fields (such as accounting) an MBA or other advanced degree may be required. In other fields, an MBA could make you stand out in the market (unless everyone else has one—in that case, not having an MBA will make you stand out but not in the way you'd like). If you aspire to be a manager or you want to work for a big-name consulting firm, an MBA—especially if it comes from a top tier business school like Harvard or Wharton—will definitely help.

That said, depending on your situation, having an MBA might not help in the long run as much as you might think. Sixty-four percent of CEOs of the Fortune 100 companies do not have one. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson don't have an MBA. The only U.S. president with one is George W. Bush.
2

It's becoming hard to justify an MBA in today's' society when young people are strained by student loans and people aren't getting jobs. On average, people with a bachelor's degree earn $2.3 million over their lifetime. Those with MBAs earn $2.4 million. But the average tuition for a two-year MBA program is $82,147 (with books, housing, and other expenses you're up to $120,000), which makes the whole thing a wash.
3
Assuming you borrow most of that, paying your loans off over ten years will cost you $1,300 a month after interest and fees. Twenty percent of MBA graduates default on their loans and 40 percent of grads rely on their parents for loan assistance.
4

Regardless of which way you're leaning, ask your manager or HR whether the company would pay for your program. Many employers will either foot the entire bill or offer full or partial tuition reimbursement programs. Also check out your alternatives. The Kauffman Foundation estimates that more than 2,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. offer entrepreneurship programs.

I know I've just given you a lot of information, but ultimately the decision to get an MBA is going to be a personal one, one that can have a major impact on your career and your ability to promote yourself. On the “get one” side, pursuing an MBA is a big commitment because it costs a lot of money and time. Depending on your situation, those sacrifices could pay off and lead you to better positions and higher salaries years out. On the “don't get one” side, MBAs are not for everyone—I don't have one. Colleges are evolving though, and you can take classes online from anywhere in the world now. Entrepreneurship classes can be particularly useful if you want to start a business someday or work for a start-up (you'll be with other entrepreneurial-minded people who might have companies already).

 

A Word on Job Hopping

I'm not a big fan of job hopping (which I define as repeatedly starting news jobs and then moving on six to twelve months later). It's really a perception issue. Having a series of short-term jobs on your résumé gives the impression that you're not terribly loyal and given how much it costs to hire and train new employees, a lot of companies won't want to invest a big chunk of cash in someone who may not be around long enough to produce a decent ROI. And, as I've said before, job hopping makes it pretty hard for you to earn your coworkers' trust and show them what a star you are.

In a survey of 1,500 hiring managers and recruiters conducted by Bullhorn, which makes recruiting software, 39 percent said that “the single biggest obstacle for an unemployed candidate in regaining employment is having a history of ‘hopping jobs,' or leaving a company before one year of tenure.”
5

Here's what Donald Trump told me in an interview: “I look for somebody who has been at another job for a long period of time. If I see somebody who has had seven jobs in two years, I'm not interested because I know they'll probably be leaving me pretty soon.” Liam Brown, COO of Marriott International, has a different take. “If we're looking externally, I don't pay much attention to job hopping unless it's rampant, like an every-six-months kind of thing,” he told me. “It all depends on the interview and the conversation with the person. If they are the right person for us then we'll hire them.” If you end up in a position where you quit or feel like you have no choice but to hop, then at least be able to articulate that in an interview. Tell them the honest truth as to why you're making a move and they will respect you more and won't look down on it.

Here's the kicker. Regardless of what anyone says, it's important to always be open to new opportunities. If something amazing comes along, get some advice from trusted friends, colleagues, and/or advisors. If it truly makes sense, take the leap.

 

How to Strategically Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Company or Freelance Business

In Chapter 10, we talked about intrapreneurship—how to develop a passion-driven business inside your company. In this section I want to talk about
entre
preneurship—quitting your job and building that passion-driven business without internal corporate backing.

Making the transition to the new business is pretty much the same whether you're doing it internally or externally. For example, you'll have to find a way to balance your full-time job and your other business. You'll be sacrificing your nights and weekends, and you'll have to make sure your side projects don't negatively affect your productivity or distract you from the job you were hired to do. For me, making all those sacrifices for a few years paid off because I was positioned to make the business I'd started on the side into a full-time career.

Entrepreneurship is all the rage—and Gen Y has what some are calling an unprecedented entrepreneurial spirit. According to a survey by Employers Insurance, 46 percent of Gen Yers want to start a business in the next five years.
6
Post–Gen Y people are jumping on the entrepreneurial bandwagon, with more and more people starting a business while they're still in college and becoming full-time entrepreneurs upon graduation.

Even businesses are taking note. My company did a study recently and found that nearly a third of employers are looking for entrepreneurship experience when hiring recent college grads.

Opening your own company sounds kind of glamorous, doesn't it—and there are plenty of really great things about doing it. But there are just as many challenges, which means that being an entrepreneur is most definitely
not
for everyone (as impressive as the stats above are, between 46 and 67 percent of people are
not
becoming entrepreneurs).

Not long ago you'd often hear that the entrepreneurial mind-set (especially in high-tech) was “Ready, Fire, Aim.” As a result, a lot of people got the impression that becoming an entrepreneur was something you could just jump into without any preparation. Some who did, survived. But most didn't. So to keep you from going off half-cocked and quitting your job, I want you to take a few minutes to consider some of the pros and cons.

Pro:
You're the boss and you set your own hours.

Con:
You may be working twelve hours a day with no time off for months. You constantly have to sell yourself and drum up new business. You need to be self-directed, and the line between your personal and private lives can get awfully blurry.