126Managing Yourself
• “How did you get into this line of work?”
• “What do you enjoy about it?”
• “What’s not so great about it?”
• “What’s changing in the sector?”
• “What kinds of people do well in this industry?”
CASE STUDY
When interviews yield off ers
Informational interviews within your company can help you form connec-
tions, but conversations with those outside your organization can also
help give you perspective. In either case, you need to prepare before tak-
ing the time of those who are helping you.
Two years ago, Matt McConnell, who lives in Southern California, wanted
to move from fi nance to marketing. He wasn’t entirely sure of his direc-
tion, so he began using informational interviews to learn about other peo-
ples’ careers in the hopes of narrowing his focus. “I was also using the
interviews to learn more about other organizations to see whether they
might be places I’d want to work,” he says.
His fi rst informational interview didn’t go very well, and Matt takes
full responsibility. “I didn’t prepare,” he recalls. “He could tell, and he
told me that I was wasting his time.”
Matt learned an important lesson. “I’ve never made that mistake
again. I now always overprepare,” he says.
To get ready, he reads people’s LinkedIn profi les, does a Google
search on their careers, and checks out their company’s website. He
tends to ask the same questions, usually in the realm of how the person
got started and how they ended up in their current role. “But I also make
Self-Development127
Respect your interviewee’s time: ask for no more than twenty minutes,
and honor the time limit. Thank them afterward with a handwritten note.
Step 3: Propose a job
Sometimes interviewing for an open job posting or having an informa-
tional interview leads to a new role that’s just what you want. But if it
doesn’t, don’t give up. Instead, propose the job you want to do. This takes
notes about particular questions I want to ask so that I have something to
reference if the conversation stalls,” he says.
Matt also has a postmeeting routine. “I ask for a business card and
immediately send a handwritten thank-you note. The thank-you is typi-
cally three lines long, and I always mention one specifi c thing from our
meeting that resonated with me so they know I was listening and found
their time valuable,” he says.
“Early on in my career I worried that I didn’t have anything to off er any-
one in return. [But] I learned that people enjoyed sharing their experiences
and off ering advice, so I make sure to communicate my sincere gratitude.”
Matt eventually had an informational interview with a marketing head
of a quick-service restaurant group that yielded results. “After our meet-
ing, the person called me and said her company was hiring for a role she
thought I’d be perfect for,” he says. “She’d given my name to the HR de-
partment, and they were planning on calling me within the next thirty
minutes to do a phone interview. That phone interview led to in-person
interviews and eventually a job off er at that company.”
He worked at the company for a few years before moving on. He’s now
the marketing manager for Astrophysics, a company that designs X-ray
scanners for security screenings.
Source: Rebecca Knight, “How to Get the Most Out of an Informational Interview,” HBR.org,
February 26, 2016.
128Managing Yourself
a lot of preparation, but can be highly effective in leveraging your skills
to the benefi t of your organization. You can start by researching unseen
opportunities within your organization. What customer or internal need
is unaddressed? Where could the organization grow? Try to imagine
your company as an outsider would see it and gather as much informa-
tion as you can from colleagues, company meetings, shareholder confer-
ence calls, and other venues. Here are some questions that can guide your
search:
•
Which departments or business areas have momentum? A de-
partment that’s growing rapidly may be eager to add someone who
is already familiar with the organization’s mission and culture.
• What opportunities exist for you in a diff erent market, location,
or country?
Relatively few people are willing to relocate for their
job, yet companies are hungry for workers who have experience
across multiple markets.
•
What entrenched problems does your organization face? How
could you get involved in helping solve them?
As an idea for your next role takes shape, consider how you’d imple-
ment this change. Who would do your current work? What skills could you
acquire to make this an easier sell to the company? Brainstorm about in-
house, off-site, or virtual seminars and workshops you could attend, and
fi gure out how participating in those programs would fi t in with your cur-
rent responsibilities.
When you’re ready to pitch, pick the person who has the best mix of
power and credibility to make your proposal a reality and with whom you
have the best relationship. Your direct manager, mentor, or sponsor is a
good target. Be clear about the benefi t of your expanded or new role to the
organization. Explain why you think you’re best suited for the work, with
detail about your competencies and your track record. Lay out how the
transition would work, including a timeline for handing off your current
role or subset of responsibilities and securing early wins in the new one.
Self-Development129
Step 4: Pursue incremental opportunities
Don’t be discouraged if the company doesn’t immediately embrace your
idea. You should be prepared to negotiate for an incremental, temporary,
or transitional career move, like:
• Growing in place. Can you make changes to your current role and
gradually add desired responsibilities or scope? If even this step
meets resistance, consider starting a small project on your own.
You might have better luck petitioning your company later if you
can bring concrete results to the table.
• A cross-functional team. Can you partner with workers from
different departments to bring your idea to fruition? This option
helps you expand your networks and gain insight on other career
paths.
• Job rotation. Does your company offer special assignments or
rota tional roles?
• In-house internship. Could you forge an agreement to intern
under a supervisor to learn a new role?
Step 5: Look elsewhere
If you don’t fi nd an opportunity at your organization, it might be time to
consider whether you need to look elsewhere. Searching for a position at a
new company makes sense when:
• Your core interests don’t match what your employer can offer.
• Market volatility has made your employment precarious.
• Your job is meant to be done for a short time and doesn’t have a
viable career path.
• Your organization isn’t a good cultural fi t for you and your
preferences.
130Managing Yourself
Use your network to research job opportunities, schedule informational
interviews with leaders in the industry, and connect with decision makers.
Reach out to mentors who are outside your workplace. And when you fi nd
an opportunity you want to pursue, enlist someone to introduce you (via
email or a phone call) to the relevant hiring manager. In some fi elds, jobs
posted online garner hundreds of résumés. A personal introduction and
note of recommendation can distinguish you as someone an organization
should interview. If you don’t have a connection, put the request out to your
network. See if someone you know can make an introduction to a person
within the organization you are interested in.
When looking for a job outside your organization, keep these tips in mind:
First, don’t be disrespectful when talking about your current company.
Second, don’t use company time to pursue other opportunities. Use vaca-
tion or after-hours time for your research and interviews. Third, plan to
provide suffi cient notice to your current employer and leave as graciously
as possible to avoid burning bridges.
Feedback from your boss and your team
The people who work with you directly can also play a role in your growth.
They know more about how you work than anyone else, and they have
unique perspectives on both your strengths and your weaknesses.
Receiving feedback can be inherently stressful, setting off your insecu-
rity, fear, and anxiety. This information is important to hear, but its emo-
tional impact can be overpowering. As research shows, that’s because we
listen more closely to negative information than to positive information,
and remember it more vividly. So it’s easy to become fi xated on our defi -
ciencies, while neglecting our strengths.
To learn from your immediate coworkers, you’ll need to practice hear-
ing and using criticism in positive ways. And you must also learn to spend
as much time considering your strengths as your weaknesses.
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