Know what you are looking for

This past Tuesday afternoon I checked in with the VP, Rob, of the group I used to work in at eBay Motors. Over my tenure at eBay I have developed a great relationship with Rob who always has a steady hand and mind to guide a business or colleague through a challenging time period.

"Be sure to know what you are looking for before you begin your search. Don't just apply for jobs to get a string of interviews," be began. "You will waste your time. By the time you interview, they will be selling YOU on the opportunity as well...and you will lose perspective if this is a job you REALLY need to grow. Take some down time and think through what you want to do next...and what factors are most important to evaluate a position against."

Hmmm....what are the most important factors? Well...decent money is important!! He he. Factors may include: industry, size of company, money, scope of position, career path growth, title,geographic location.

"Whatever your criteria," he continued "be sure to rank them and give yourself a time period to find a position. If at the end of the time period there is nothing doin'...then re-scope. Let's say industry is really important to you...but if over 6 months there is no job, maybe reconsider that #1 factor."

Given the economic times I think it's important to jump on an opportunity that has cash in the bank and is in a "growing" (at least not declining) industry. These two attributes will enable me weather the storm for a few years. A third attribute is growth opportunity to expand my marketing and leadership abilities within the organization. The money...well there are salary ranges that I'm well aware of...but to what end of the spectrum is negotiable looking at base, bonus, stock (yeah right) etc. I do have a magic number though...don't we all?

Over the next three months my job search criteria will be...

1. Well funded organization (most likely a brand name)
2. Company is "growing" (or at least not expecting to downsize in the next six months)
3. Opportunity to grow in my role
4. Compensation (within ranges)
5. Title
6. Geographic location

Five years ago my list would have been different...many companies were well funded and growing. My how times have changed!

What's is your criteria?

Holding out for the right opportunity

I had coffee last week with an executive leader and mentor from a previous e-commerce company that I worked for in San Jose. We met at Peet's in Menlo Park at 8:00am...and WOW, there was a line leading out the door with people getting a cup on the way to work. The economy can't be THAT bad in the Bay Area! However, most of those people in line were knowledge workers...and not a part of the retail worker sector that financial reports on CNBC say make the largest contribution to the unemployment number.

My executive friend is very "human" and willing to share his "from the trenches of the business world" experience with me, a middle manager. I respect his advice a great deal because he's been around a while and has seen economic downturns several times...and knows what NOT to do to foster career growth.

"How badly do you need a job? If you don't have to work, wait for the opportunity that has most of it right. Don't settle for the first job that is offered just to get a job in this tough economy," he replied. He was responding to my question of how flexible I should be with title and compensation...specifically as it relates to my transition from being an individual contributor to a team manager/leader.

In my focus to "stop the financial bleeding" I had expressed to my mentor a possible interest in an individual contributor job at a company that is in a growing industry received Series C funding in late 2007. "Getting ANY job in this economy is a good thing," I mused.

"What you want to avoid is having to explain what happened in your interview for the job AFTER this next job," he began. "You had a nice run...with great career progress. You went from manager to senior manager when I met you. You left our company to become a director. If your next position is back to a senior manager (individual contributor) you will spend time in your next interview explaining what happened to your career. You need to keep progressing...even through tougher times."

Wow, how have economic times changed...even from a year ago. I've discussed my mentor's input with several other unemployed friends who are making the transition to middle management too. There are several individual contributor roles that I've come across...and very few team leader positions. Position title and compensation all depend on the organization, though, so it's hard to create a "rule" for the right position.

Can the unemployed in this downturn afford to hold out for the "right" opportunity? I re-connected with a previous coworker who cannot..he needs a job to make ends meet. Or, is it better to take hold true to career growth....and dig deeper into the network to find the "right" opportunity?

I think the decision will be made based on the level of savings in a person's account...and level of risk tolerance...or faith, that something "more right" will come along.

I'm taking a wait and see attitude. Good things will happen...they always do.

I feel "unemployed" today...and I kind of like it...for now

Wow…today I really felt unemployed this Tuesday after a long weekend.

Today most of my friends braved the commute up and down the peninsula in the rain…and have to motivate to get through emails to uncover the weekly tasks. Hopefully they can take CalTrain and get a strong coffee in the morning! I have to admit I’m not jealous of them making the commute…but I can feel a “strain” in me that wants to get back to work.

However, nothing beats sitting at my computer all day in sweatpants and my vintage UCLA Athletics t-shirt. I have not shaved and my “bed head” is in full flair. I’m debating if showering is really necessary. After all, I showered on Monday…and was in-doors all day to escape the rain. Today will be more of the same…only I will be exercising my fingers as I browse job listings and respond to emails from LinkedIn contacts and friends.

I feel the need to remain disciplined so I plan to keep a regimen of getting started each day by no later than 7:30am. I start each morning by pouring my first cup of coffee from my French press (a perfect gift from my mom this past Christmas) and turning on “Squawk on the Street” on CNBC…to then switch over the Internet radio through iTunes by 9:00am…having the TV on post 9:00am makes me depressed.

I had an interesting phone call with a friend from my days at eBay, Elmer. Elmer now runs a division of Facebook and shared some interesting advice to guide the beginning of my job search. He said before I begin, I must be clear on three things...

1. What am I looking for in the next job…down to the job functional, type of industry/company, work environment, etc.
2. What value can I bring to the next company
3. Be genuine in my contact with people…leverage the network of friends and colleagues that I already have…don’t be the guy who reaches out only when something is needed.

Wow, Elmer….great advice and something we should all keep in mind.

What to do when you get canned from your job...in 7 easy steps!

Going through the process of getting laid off sucks...to say the least. The process is really disruptive to the daily routine, the bank account and the psyche. Now that I've been through it, I've realized a few must-do steps to ease any transition out of company...when you only have a few hours to collect your stuff and get out of there.

Please feel free to add steps that I may have missed. Your input will be appreciated.

Step 1: Verify final payment, severance and 401K distribution

Be sure you have received the following info from HR before you leave the office. These items are typically covered during the "your job has been eliminated" conversation, but the HR team at my company is far less organized and I had to cover these myself...

• When is your last "official" day of work when you are on the payroll? When will you get your final check? Will the check be a hard copy or will it be direct deposited?
• If you get severance pay, and thankfully I did, how much is the severance and when will you be sent payment?
• What is the process to handle 401K roll over? Do you need to reach out to the provider or will the provider reach out to you with process details?
  

Step 2: Save your personal docs and contacts to a thumb drive
Before you turn in your laptop, be sure you save the following to a thumb drive or email the following to your POP account.

• All personal files,pics
• Export into a .csv or .xls file your Outlook Contacts
  

Step 3: Talk to IT about turning off your PDA account without deleting contacts

Ask the IT team how to handle turning off network access to your iPhone or Blackberry..without deleting all of your stored contacts. Doh! I deleted my employers account from the iPhone...and thus deleted all emails, calendar invites and contacts. Luckily I had saved my Outlook Contacts before hand!

Step 4: Pack up your cube

• Pack your memorabilia into the boxes HR provided...even that hula girl you brought back from Hawaii
• Ask the most senior person left in your team what hard copy files he/she would like saved. Go through the remaining files and place all papers in the tall recycle box that we all have in our cubes.
  

Step 5: Say goodbye...quickly

• Saying goodbye just after a lay off sucks...is awkward..and is no fun for anyone. I recommend just saying goodbye to your close office "posse" who probably already know your personal email address.
• Find the person that laid you off and give them a kiss and a pat on the ass.* I so wanted to do this to the person who let me go...I would have been killed instantly, but my name would have lived in infamy.
  

*exercise this option with extreme caution. I would not really do this :-)

Step 6: Get the hell out of the office

• Jump into your car and drive to the nearest bar to compare notes with your fellow victims.

Step 7: Sign up for Unemployment benefits

• Sign up for unemployment benefits as soon as you get home. You qualify to receive the government checks the last day that you are on the company payroll. The application process is all online and takes a few minutes to complete...but it takes a few weeks to start receiving the checks.