Should I Stay or Should I Go?

A thirty six year old knockemdead.com visitor from the Southwest, is unhappy with her current job, but was not planning a move until vested in her pension plan at the end of the year. Now unexpectedly, an opportunity at another company has been presented to her by a friend, who is already working there in a position of responsibility. What should she do? Wait until vested, move now, send a resume and maybe interview just to get on their radar? Should I stay or should I go? That great old Clash song is banging around in her head and won't let go. What would you do? Here's my solution to her conundrum:

Realities of the situation

1. You are not happy where you are, and are tempted by a way out. It's a chance opportunity that came knocking, but is it the best opportunity for your future?
2. Your target company has over 50,000 employees and you have the means of personal introduction, so this ain't the only job at the corporation with your name on it ;-)
3. If you send a resume, then interview, get offered the job and then turn it down it could make the interviewer who sought approvals for the hire look bad. So to avoid this you'd have to say, "I'm looking, but I'm not really looking till the end of the year." If you are not really looking till the end of the year, you have eight months to look even better than you do now. Bear with this thought.
4. A career is a long time, and to have a lock on any kind of pension at 36 is a thing greatly to be desired by anyone dealing with a full deck. You are in your prime now but the wrinklies of age are sneaking up on you even as we speak. Its another conversation, but fourteen years from now you are going to be staring the realities of age discrimination full in the face. Insure future security whenever you can.

Strategies

You are not even half way through what will likely be a half-century work life. Rather than thinking of this as just a new job that solves a current dissatisfaction a few months earlier than you had planned, put it in the context of a strategic move in the larger context of a fifty-year work life. Therefore,

1. Do not jump out of the frying pan and into (perhaps) the fire, just because something came by your door. You should be making a considered strategic career move, based on the widest possible selection of opportunities.
2. Get a clear focus on the next job you want and in which you can succeed, prosper and grow professionally.
3. Research desirable employers in your target geography, via visiting the relevant job banks. You can create an anonymous profile with wide parameters for your needs, and request email notification of matching jobs. For personal security, set up a separate email for this (see the online job search section in your copy of Knock 'em Dead 2006.)
4. From this work, build a database of companies in your area who hire people like you. Check the skills, accreditations and experiences they seek.
5. Cross reference these skills/accreditations etc, to see which are in the widest demand, and so could increase your marketability. Then depending on the time commitment involved, set about developing one or more of the skills that will further enhance your desirability with potential employers.
6. Get connected to your profession, get to know and be known by all the players in your profession, your industry/target industries and your geography. I want you to go back to the knockemdead.com site and invest 40 minutes in the networking workshop (its free right now), where you will learn how to achieve this. As a result you will get to know all the best people in your profession, without hanging a "for sale" sign around your neck. They will know you as a colleague and will gladly make personal introductions for you when the time comes.
7. Talk to your network contacts about who succeeds and why at the next levels in your professional track, and also who fails and why. This will help your professional growth, resume focus, and interview performance. It will also tell you what employers will be looking for when the interviews start.
8. In the meanwhile commit yourself to doing the very best job you can this year for your current team, really strive to make a difference with your presence as an individual contributor and as a team player. Become the best you can be today and everyday.
9. Then in the following months you can upgrade your resume, focusing the content of that new resume on the demands of the jobs for which you will be applying.
10. When the time comes to move you will have a target list employers to contact and the means of personal introduction with many of them. Consequently, you can hit a selection of employers in a short time frame and get your presentation skills up-to-speed very quickly. When this time comes you will want to study Chapter 24 in Knock 'em Dead 2006, for techniques to turn one offer into many. BTW, don't try to make any super-desirable employers your first interviews. Hit Broadway shows usually open first for previews outside of Manhattan, while they work out the kinks. With the same reasoning, you want your interviewing skills to be up to speed when you hit the big ones.

If you do all these things, you will have real choices, rather than letting chance make your decisions for you. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said "Order marches with weighty and measured strides; disorder is always in a hurry." Be patient and move your career forward with order and intent. All I am talking about is an investment of about 30 minutes a week over the year: the sacrifice of one dumb sitcom a week for your survival and prosperity ;-), then when the time comes to make a move, you will have

• Gained the most you can from this current employer, for your career and future economic security.
• Knowledge of all the companies in your target geography who look for people like you.
• An updated resume that reflects the in-demand skills for your target job.
• An expanded network for personal introductions at your target companies.
• The beginnings of a career management database which you can use for years to come.
• A better understanding of where you want to go in life.
• The widest possible choice of opportunities to help you reach your goals.

I think you really know what you need to do this year, but are just a little tempted and flattered by the unexpected opportunity. If your current job and company are secure (and if they are not for any reason this could affect my answer dramatically), the next eight months can be gainfully employed pursuing these strategies, and you'll be in great shape to launch your job search just as all of next year's hiring budgets are opening up. Finally, when you do launch your next phase plan of attack you'll be loaded for bear!