This week, let’s focus on mistakes people make at the 5 yard line – that incredible – adrenalin laden “what should I do” 72 hours where “they like you – you like them” and you’re in the early stages of negotiation of a job offer…
Let me give you some true- painful – but true – and funny examples first of how candidates have stumbled at the finish line….
“Sounds like a great opportunity, but I’ll need to consult my Yogi to see if the karma is good for me to make the move.” (I wish I could say this is not true…..but it actually happened….)
“I’ve thought about the offer, but my 5 year old son said he couldn’t leave his friends so I’ll have to decline.”
“My cat is getting really old and I’d be afraid that I couldn’t find a good vet in Boston.”
“I made a decision not to accept a dime under $80,000 for a new position and this offer is only $79,000 so – no deal.” Honest to goodness – this guy actually said “No Deal” like Howie Mandell was offering him the silver briefcase and a shot at 500,000 dollars…
And here’s one that’s not so funny – but true – from a gal that has called me every month or two in the past few months…asking if she could have “another shot” at a great job she turned down.
Here’s how she turned down a great – and I mean – great offer we presented from a company you all know – and a company that is unaccustomed to people turning down job offers.
“I know this is better deal for me – more salary – and benefits that could help my family – but my boss has begged me to stay because the company is struggling and without me, they would not have a chance of getting through this FDA audit. My company is like family – and I know they’ll take care of me if things get difficult. I just can’t let them down…”
Sadly, this outstanding Quality Assurance Engineer literally went down with the ship and has been unemployed for 4 months as her company filed bankruptcy several months back. And the Fortune 50 company – the one with record earnings that I had positioned her for – will not reconsider her because they feel that her analysis process was flawed and a reflection of being unduly influenced by personal relationships rather than facts….
All those comments – while true – are – well – conflicted – from where I sit. So, as much as I would like to give you hard and fast rules, I’d rather give you something to think about…
In the meantime, let me give you some things that YOU may have thought about saying – which could derail a great future in an A+ company as you’re in the contemplative stages of looking at a company…
What is really important to you? In this – shall we say – uncertain- economy we are in- should you accept – or reject an offer based on a criteria you’ve been told is important?
This one is hard topic for me to really nail down because of the levels of people we place. Let’s put it in context to see what may fit for you and your situation. I have candidates that are insistent that they would never accept a roll back title – even if the responsibility, company size, or pay – much less the potential – is greater. I think this comes from well meaning friends and colleagues planting seeds that there is an entitlement issue relative to “earning” that title.
I would encourage you to do an analysis of a potential title in light of the overall strength of the company and opportunity. It would be awesome if I could give you an algebraic formula to neatly calculate the relative value of the position, but it should include several factors:
1. Company size in both employees or direct reports & revenue
2. Revenue, P&L, or other quantifiable number. For engineers or non commercial positions, this could be SKUs, projects. Market size from an R&D standpoint, Supply chain units, or some operational number tied to what your MBO – or management by objective goals would be. For sales and marketing people, the number is fairly easy to calculate,
3. For those in a managerial function, you should include a value for both your direct – and indirect – contribution potential. If the number of people you’d be managing isn’t bigger – but the overall level of the staff is – that should be a factor.
4. Salary, overall compensation and company potential is a major value and should be weighted based on COL – or cost of living data should you be relocating. Keep in mind that the quick and dirty calculations on sites like Salary.com are just a starting point. You should compute in factors like fuel costs, state income tax, real estate valuation and even personal factors like private schools, costs and availability of hobbies and interests important to you – and travel costs to your family, if that is a concern. I had a brilliant candidate not to long ago who planned his possible career locations based on a desire to provide an adopted child from another country an opportunity to have access to a cultural community that would help her relate to her heritage.
This is starting to sound complicated – and I’d be foolish to suggest you can reduce your career to a numerical equation. But here’s an exercise you can do tangibly see what affect this potential.
Ready?
First, grab your current resume. I’ll wait….
Ok… this is a really cool exercise I’ll bet you’ve never done before…
If you don’t have a current resume – and if you don’t – WHACK… you need to so need to review our other posts… but in any case… here’s what you should do – today – if you’re looking at a career opportunity and are trying to decide if it’s the next best move for you.
Listen to me – whether you are a CEO or a junior product manager, sales rep – or someone that is ambitious but hasn’t landed the “next great job.”
I want you to stop for 5 minutes and add onto your resume the job you are considering… Literally – how does it look compared to the aspirations – the dreams – the goals – you’ve laid out for yourself…
And – more importantly, I want you to put your “dates of service” on the resume for the job you are considering…. It may seem a bit opportunistic – or even a bit morbid – but play Monday morning quarterback 5 years from now… and tell me the title, the responsibility – the successes – you’ll have in this potential role…like a crystal ball… and if the future looks really good – then –go for it – but if you see a one or two year run – then reconsider…
One last issue – lets say you’re a top candidate… you have a thousand options and people are beating at your door.
It’s a tough job market… but you KNOW that you can make a difference. Are you settling? Compromising? Is this the job you want? Are meant to do?
This is a rather unusual post – but I would SO encourage you to be deliberate in your career. As ambiguous as this message seems – I love finding and developing people that are talented – and passionate about their careers…
So never settle. Grab the brass ring
