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THE CAREER DOCTOR

AN UNFORTUNATE MOVE

Q: I joined a company as Manager / Director designate a few months ago. Immediately on joining, I was informed that the assistant in the department was dismissed, without my knowledge, during my notice period. The role, therefore, has become much more junior that I had expected. I am doing work that I last did some 15 years ago. I do not think it is an option to discuss the situation with management as the company will not be recruiting an assistant for some time due to lower than expected sales. Reluctantly (and with apprehension as its only a few months since I was last job searching) I think I will have to go back to the jobs market. Can you advise me generally about the situation and also how to deal with it at CV/Covering letter/ interview stages?


I would have to say that this sounds like a dim-witted company, making a less-than-brilliant move with you. To not inform you of the changes in your department prior to your arrival smacks of ‘seat of the pants’ management and to expect you to be happy to perform significantly below your level is just plain stupid. So, I concur with your intention to move on quickly (unless there is any way that you can significantly boost sales in a 3-6 month period and rebuild your department). The only meaningful discussion you can have with your new employer should centre around that: “If I produce X in Y months, then I get Z.” If your role does not enable you to directly affect the top line, I agree that it’s time to go.

Find out what the network is now saying about your current employer. How did you not hear about the declining sales line when you were jobhunting? Did the market know then, or does it know now? What is the bush telegraph saying …? This will help you in deciding your pitch to the market.

Addressing this on your CV is difficult and a quick-and-dirty move like this can worry a future potential employer as your judgment will be in question. If you are going the placement agency route, you need to ensure that you are dealing with someone senior and to agree a ‘positioning statement’ that he/she can use when talking to the market. If you are answering advertisements directly, then you need to highlight any and all contributions that you are making in your new role and keep updating your CV weekly/fortnightly/monthly while you are hunting.

Your cover letter is the appropriate place to address your motivation for moving on. “I’ve been sold a pup” is not an ideal opener, but it is the truth, so that is the optimal starting point. Having opened with that 'me' statement, you need to immediately follow with a glittering list of accomplishments and the benefits to having you on board.

What you need to stress throughout your hunt is that it is taking considerable courage for you to go back to the market and admit a mistake and that, having made that mistake, you have learnt your lesson and have sussed out this new potential employer with a microscope! (There’s a degree of flattery going on here in the subtext – “I am now working for a less than marvellous company, but I’ve researched the heck out of you and you are in a different league altogether, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation …”)

Rowan Manahan is MD of the career management firm Fortify Services and author of Where’s My Oasis? Visit www.fortifyservces.com or telephone 01 230 1313.

Irish Independent, Jobs & Careers supplement, August 11th 2005.

If you have any job problems you would like answered by our panel of Career Doctors, please email: careerdoctor@whitespace.ie or write to Jobs & Careers, Career Doctor, Whitespace Ltd., Top Floor, Block 43B Yeats Way, Park West Business Park, Nangor Road, Dublin 12.