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THE
CAREER DOCTOR
AN
UNFORTUNATE MOVE |
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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?
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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
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