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So you want to get ahead by moving on to another company, eh? They do more interesting work, have better promotion prospects, pay more, and are all round nice people. You know some people in jobs you lust after, and you are ready to go for it. Well, hold on for a moment! Ever heard of the phrase “The grass is greener on the other side of the fence”? That is especially true in the IT profession. Take the case of the CIO at a big company you know. (S)he has all the power and the perks you always wanted, right? Well, you are probably wrong. Many people shelter behind inflated job titles, and the reality is that they have nowhere near the clout you think they have. The CIO may just have influence over one Division; the corporate CIO may just have responsibility for corporate staff functions; many “Global CIOs” or “Enterprise CIOs” have few staff and fewer opportunities to influence the operating Divisions, who control the agenda and the budget. You would be surprised how many Global CIOs have no authority and simply advise on standards, make recommendations, and monitor from a distance. Despite all that, you still want to get to the top, and so here are some hints to help establish your plan of action:
1) Your contribution, recognition & reward are directly proportional to the perceived importance of technology to that business. Some businesses have a very low “technology intensity” factor (think Brewing) and so the IT staff are treated like mushrooms. Some businesses depend so heavily on technology (think Financial Services) that the IT people walk on water. Your career has a glass ceiling depending on the technology intensity of the company.
2) First, choose the right sector. A choice of sector towards the bottom of the league table will set a lower bound on your potential contribution (and potential reward) than a choice of sector at the higher end of the table. This choice will also be constrained by your skills, prior experience, and interests (for example, some people might not want to work in the “sin” businesses of tobacco, alcohol etc.). The point here is that you should not necessarily default to the sector you are currently working in, and you should not necessarily wait for random approaches by the retained search firms. Know what you want, and go after it.
3) Second, choose the right company in that sector. Some companies outsource most of their IT, and so the opportunities there may be limited to vendor management (think General Motors). Some companies put major emphasis on in-house development (Wal-Mart) and others put major emphasis on packaged solutions (Kraft). Know what you are getting in to.
4) Think through your key criteria – location, compensation, job security, seniority, stress levels etc. and use these to screen out opportunities that are on the fringes of acceptability. If you unexpectedly find yourself in transition, the temptation is to go for the “bird in the hand” rather than waiting for the right opportunity to come along. It takes guts to be patient, but it is usually the best approach in the long run.
5) Choose a strategy. Passive -- register with search firms and wait for the phone to ring; Semi-active -- low key networking and outreach; Proactive -- analysis of companies using the approach described above, doing solid research on databases from sites like Zoom; Aggressive -- sell yourself by writing to the Chairman or CEO and explain what you can do for his company. Call that CEO (a phone call is much more likely to succeed than a letter or e-mail. You can get a list of companies in your search area, and if you call after the assistant has gone home for the evening, you are more likely to get through.) Be ready with a pitch book if you get the chance for a meeting. Better still, sell your idea to a Venture Capital firm or a Private Equity firm. There is a lot of capital out there looking for a profitable home, and the VC firm might be swayed by your idea on how to help their early-stage investment pay off big time, whereas the PE firm might be interested in your help in restructuring or turnaround of an established business. Are you ready for a low salary / high upside opportunity?
6) Get some help. There are professional career coaches out there who can help you avoid a lot of the pitfalls. Consider working with an outplacement firm and get a phone number, receptionist service, floating office space (not dedicated), access to research and a counselor who would be available to answer questions as they come up. Or perhaps make an arrangement with an executive office space firm. You can get a phone number, receptionist service, calls to voice mail or forwarded to you, either a floating office or a dedicated office. With a floating office that you get when needed, the basic monthly cost is about $300 and with a dedicated office, the monthly cost is between $2,000 and $3,000 depending on the office having a window. Get business cards printed with your contact details.
7) Be patient. It will take at least three months from start to finish. The higher you are aiming, the longer it could take. As an extreme example, if you are seeking a Fortune 100 CIO role, then only about 30 of these will come vacant each year (given a CIO’s average tenure). However about half of them will be filled internally, and that means that only about one a month will come onto the market, nationwide. The leader of an executive search firm told me that it typically takes a year for a senior CIO to find a suitable new post.
8) Be ready to kiss a lot of frogs in order to find the princess (prince). And be prepared to make your job search a full time job. Two phone calls and a meeting for a dead end; up to 7 meetings for a hot prospect. Do the math – twenty leads, multiplied by an average of 5 sessions, equals 100 appointments. Expect 1-2 calls or meetings each weekday.
9) Follow through with contacts, not by reminding them about your prior request, but by asking their specific advice (do you know who the best contact in xyz company might be; could you help me find the e-mail address of the CEO of abc company, etc.) While they might react negatively if they feel you are chasing them, this approach allows them to feel good about helping you out without too much effort on their part, and of course it serves to remind them that you are still in the market.
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