Short-Term Strategic Assignments: Occupational Game Changers or Career Killers?

iStock | z_wei

Let’s say you’ve received a job offer from your employer to assume a strategic, short-term, role-specific job separate from your current role. Would you accept this type of offer? Is it a good idea?

 Such an offer can be a testament to your talents and your employer's confidence in your ability to guide important projects to successful completion. There are many reasons to consider accepting the new position and approaching it as a trial promotion (whether it is or not); but the opposite may also be true – there are cons to such a deal, and it's worth giving these factors a sober look.

First, the pros. Most of us work in well-defined and focused roles with little room for flexing personal and professional capabilities we may possess. Time-limited strategic roles are typically outside a professional's "regular work" and are an opportunity to demonstrate an additional slate of skills, such as project management. They can be a trial by fire that will increase your skills, deepen your professional relationships, and allow you to hone your expertise while giving you an opportunity to take the job out for a spin and see if you like it.

For example, let's say you're an accountant and spend most of your time crunching numbers. You're offered a short-term position leading an asset management team tasked with overseeing the transfer of company property after a sale. You may do a great job and hate it. But you may love it. And now you know.

A time-limited strategic role can often be a high-profile project that features great visibility and involves working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. The success of the initiative is paramount and a professional milestone. It's your time to shine.

The work can be rewarding and illuminating. Many special corporate initiatives are part of a long-term vision for a company undergoing some significant change. You may be at the forefront of a new sales territory, product launch, or implementation of cutting-edge technology. You are the ship's captain for a day, so to speak, and steering it to a safe harbor (e.g., increasing sales) is a high-level professional achievement. 

In some cases, special roles require travel or relocation. Yet again, such an offer is an opportunity to see new places, work with new people, and expand your cultural horizons.

But it’s not always ducks and bunnies. In the spotlight you can shine, but sometimes you crash and burn. If you don't deliver, the consequences may be just as significant as the rewards.

Also, time-limited, short-term, strategic role, or other duties as assigned - no matter what you call it, it won't last. Whatever gains and perks you may enjoy along the way will end. If you do an incredible job, you may get an offer for another strategic role, but you may not. It may be a professional stepping stone, or it may not. Three months, six months, a year, or two - your strategic role will end. You risk a game of musical chairs, and there is no telling where you will land when the job ends.

While most time-limited strategic roles go to professionals at the top of their game, in some cases, hopefully, few, there are people at the other end of the spectrum. You may be asked to spearhead a "bridge to nowhere" project to get you out of the way, or, worst case scenario, lay the groundwork for "eliminating your position," a budgetary trick, so there is no job to return to after your special initiative is over.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Found Out Your Employer Was Sold? Be Prepared!

iStock | Feverpitched

If you just found that your company has been sold, your response should be action.

Companies are bought and sold every day. A change in a company’s ownership can happen in many ways, each with a direct impact on people’s livelihood. No matter the circumstances, when there is company ownership or investor changes there is a high probability that people from the executive suite to the mail room will lose their jobs. When companies are bought and sold large amounts of money are involved, and the sources of that money want their money back ASAP.

It’s best to be ready - here’s what you should do if you found out your company’s been bought:

 1.     Get your resume ready. Do not wait to find out your official fate. Heads may roll. Maybe your job isn’t on the chopping block, but that doesn’t mean you will choose to stay. You may not be fired, but your role and/or compensation may change in a way that makes you want to go.

2.     New owners mean new managers. The higher up the ladder you are, the more indispensable you believe you are. However, nobody is immune to the upheaval caused by an ownership change. Executives, directors, and managers are at the same risk, if not more than other employees.

3.     Cost cutting is on the way. One of the words you’ll hear when the ax is about to fall is “duplicative”. Once you hear that word, heads will roll. While the ultimate outcome may be beyond your control, you should still pile the sandbags before the storm surge. You want to be perceived as a revenue center, not a cost center.

4.     Be aligned with the new owners. Uncomfortable work is heading your way. You may have to train your replacement or report to a new boss, who was in a lesser role at the company that bought yours. You may have to fire your co-workers on the new company’s orders, or go around and scrub their computers the day they leave so there is no trace they had ever been there. Be helpful, no matter the task. Exit with grace, no matter the challenge. Do your best work until you roll out of the parking lot for the last time

5.     Prepare for the culture shift. Change is inevitable. Whether the change benefits you or handicaps you, there will be change and the free-floating anxiety that goes with life-altering uncertainty. Your daily duties, the way performance is measured, and to whom you report, are just a sample of the potentially impacted areas. The people who survive are people who adapt to a rapidly evolving situation.

6.     Don’t Rely on your traditional workplace relationships. After the ship hits the iceberg, people will scramble to save themselves. Pre-existing internal networks and relationships may not carry their former influence. In other words, it is possible few people have the ability to be your life preserver. Make things easy on yourself, and take direction from the new owners and leadership to understand what you are supposed to do.

7.     Understand your severance package (if applicable). When a company buys another company, they understand employees of the acquired company may not be aligned with their direction, culture, or mission. They may offer severance to people who decide to leave, and those are the lucky ones. While offers vary, think before you accept a separation package before you have another job lined up. It is better to start another job than accept a finite amount of money that may be depleted before you’re working somewhere else.

8.   It’ll be easy to explain in interviews. If you’re forced into the unemployment line or decide you need to move on, your company being bought is an easy scenario for people to understand. If you’re interviewing and your “reason for leaving” is a buyout by default recruiters and hiring authorities will understand your circumstances. Focus on what you’re looking for not what you’re leaving.

9.  Rattle your network. Work your professional and personal network. Get some leads. The sooner the better.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

How To – And How Not To – Work With A Recruiter When Looking For A Job

iStock | Nuthawut Somsuk

A common misconception is that you, as a job seeker, can hire a headhunter and they will find a job for you. That isn’t the way it works.

Companies hire staffing firms or independent recruiters to manage the complex and laborious process of finding, recruiting, interviewing, and successfully placing new talent. A business can employ a full-time recruiter, outsource to a staffing firm, or contract with an independent recruiter on a need-to-hire basis. In every scenario, companies employ recruiters, so no one should be surprised they act in the best interests of the employer, not the job seeker.

 However, a major quirk of the company-recruiter relationship is the recruiter’s currency is talented professionals, not the companies that pay them, so developing relationships with as many skilled professionals as possible is a vital part of their job. The wider a recruiter’s net, the more valuable they are in the marketplace, so recruiters and workers have a vested interest in developing mutually beneficial relationships that go beyond a single job.

 This is where you enter. Your initial interaction with a staffing firm or recruiter is job specific. You apply for a job through a recruiting agency’s website and they reach out to you if they believe you’re a potential hire. What if you don’t get the job? Is that it? How you approach your relationship with the recruiter will determine whether it’s one and done, or if your professional network gains an effective agent to advance your goals.

 Here are some tips to effectively manage your relationship with a staffing firm or recruiter.

1.     Be strategic about whom you contact. Staffing firms/recruiters specialize in certain disciplines like accounting, information technology, executive, etc. If you’re a database administrator, you should work with a recruiter whose relationships are in information technology, not leisure and hospitality. Each firm/recruiter will have different clients. Do your homework! For example, let’s say you have a list of the top five companies you want to work for. Try to find out if they use a staffing firm or recruiter and target that firm or person.

2.     Always Be Marketing. A meeting with a recruiter should be treated with the same seriousness and preparation as an actual job interview. You are the product and this is the time to be an aggressive salesperson. Recruiters are not part of the hiring decision. They only present candidates. However, they are the gatekeepers of the interview process and you have to get through the gate if you want to be on the inside. When you speak or meet with a recruiter, you’re asking them to lower the gate. To do that, be your biggest advocate. Make a lasting impression on the recruiter so they don’t ask, “Who was that?” when they’re flipping through resumes.  

3.     Be an easy candidate. Recruiters are busy. Very busy. If you are unemployed, you are not as busy as a recruiter. Yet, job seekers can be impatient and pushy with recruiters and that is a great way to diminish your professional reputation. Do not call them multiple times a day. Be gracious. Be prepared. Be on time. When you walk into the job interview the recruiter arranged for you, you represent yourself and them. You don’t have to get the job to make a permanent connection with the recruiter. You just have to be an easy candidate. If you are, recruiters will continue to work on your behalf.

4.     Be helpful. If someone gifted you $100, you would have a favorable opinion of them. The recruiters' currency is talented workers that they can place at one of their clients. If you want to get in good with a staffing firm or recruiter, proactively refer quality people to them. If you send “business” their way, they will have a favorable opinion of you (not to mention how grateful your friends will be if the recruiter ends up getting them a new job).

5.     Do not rely on the recruiter. Even if you have the best recruiter, they are busy. Very busy. They do not spend eight hours on you. You do not pay them. They spend eight hours a day juggling many open jobs and many people. Recruiters may have the autonomy to carry out the organization’s staffing objectives as they see fit or operate under strict timelines and directives. There is no way for you to know what happens behind the scenes, so don’t assume that working with an employment agency or recruiter is a guarantee. You are still responsible for finding a new job. Don’t punt. Stay on offense.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.