Frequently, I need a refresher dose of reality to pull me away from going into automatic mode when explaining career issues with clients and students. What I mean is that experiences in my own life remind me what it's like to face the same issues my clients and students face. It's frequently humbling, and more often illuminating.
Sometimes, I learn, all over again, what clients go through--dealing with rejection, the lack of concrete feedback, not quite knowing if things are working right--when they're interviewing for jobs, or building a consulting practice, or just figuring out what their next moves should be.
Recently, I was reminded how building a consulting practice could be executed beautifully.
I had decided to hire a public relations professional to help with marketing The Fun Forever Job: Career Strategies that Work, as well as to help me secure more speaking engagements that would match this marketing. While my indie publisher and I (she, a relatively new publisher, and me, a completely novice book writer) had done well (way beyond our expectations--more than 15,000 books moved in the first three months), we wanted to take things to the next level. Reach a wider audience.
Through a little networking, I found a couple of well-recommended PR professionals. Again, I was in a novice position, never having had to work personally with someone in this arena before. For clients, yes--but for myself, no.
I set up phone meetings with both. Unfortunately, they both used cell phones--something I encourage my clients and students to avoid because it’s bad business. The sound quality is almost always poor, especially if hands-free or speaker is used. Why make your potential customer strain to hear?
Even so, the first publicist was terrific on the phone. Her background was impressive. She knew what she was talking about. We clicked immediately. However, she had not done much due diligence on me or my book or my professional background. In fact, she was only first checking things out while we spoke. I told her what I was looking for, and she said she would send me a proposal, with pricing in a week or two--which was fine with me.
While I enjoyed the conversation, and felt comfortable with her, her lack of preparation gave me the impression she wasn’t particularly interested in the project. She may very well be, but she certainly didn't show much enterprise in how she approached me.
And I didn’t hear from her afterward--there have been no follow-ups, no questions. Although I do expect to get the proposal within the time frame she mentioned, I already know she’s not going to get the assignment. A prospective employer needs to feel that the applicant is excited, has done her homework, and follows up.
The second publicist made a great first impression; she immediately told me she had read the entire book the night before. Yeah, of course, that was flattering, but she immediately explained how the book would lend itself to a campaign and how easy it would be to develop talking points and other materials. She was off and running. She had carefully vetted my personal website and the book website and had comments about both. In a first conversation, of course, she was complimentary about most of it, and made a few very minor, inoffensive suggestions. She was proving her value almost immediately.
I just wish the phone connection had been better.
She, too was going to send a proposal within a couple of weeks.
But! She wrote immediately afterward to thank me for the time, and to ask a few clarifying questions. We have been back and forth several times in the past week.
The kicker was that yesterday she wrote and told me that if I would write a brief blog piece on a specific topic, she thought she would be able to get it onto a major website that is significant in my field.
One hour after I submitted it, she wrote back and said it had been accepted.
My decision has been made. I don't know about financial parameters of the proposal yet, but, assuming they're reasonable, I will work with this professional. And I do mean professional.
Her approach could not have been better. Well prepared, homework done, enthusiasm, follow- up, and a demonstration of what she could do.
The choice will be easy.
Does this real-life personal story apply to most career transition scenarios? I definitely think so.
How to Create the Optimal Salary Negotiation
The most important part of salary negotiations ISN'T the actual face-to-face part.
It's the setup - with a specific state of mind. Nearly everyone thinks of a salary negotiation as that point in an offer process when you get to hammer out all the details, starting with salary, moving on to bonus and benefits and cars and cell phones, etc. That order is wrong, but I’ll leave that for a discussion on figuring out the final strategy. By the way, that's the easiest part.
The Setup
The setup is not only the most important part of a negotiation, it’s also the aspect most people find uncomfortable, in what already is usually an uncomfortable situation.
When I ask many of my clients and students if they have negotiated much in previous salary discussions, the answer is usually "no." There is something about "making the ask" that creates an urge to say yes to everything and just be done with it. Or there's a fear that if the person receiving the offer doesn't agree right away, the offer will be rescinded. (Whenever that actually does happen, it's almost always a signal that something's wrong with the position and/or the organization.)
Positive Mindset
It's important to go into any interview situation, including a phone screen, with a positive mindset -- you feel like you've earned it, you have the background and skills, and you're qualified to not only get the offer, but also to be paid accordingly. You're prepared.
At Columbia Business School's EMBA program, where I've consulted for many years, we call it the "EMBA mantra: sunshine, light, and success." An attitude.
Talking About Money
Whenever the subject of money is brought up, at any point in an interviewing process, the negotiation has started. That includes a five-minute phone screen. Even if you haven’t had an interview or yet been considered a serious candidate.
Here's the hard part mentioned earlier: You must try to avoid the subject of money for as long as you can. The longer you defer the better. The longer you defer, the more opportunity you have to build value. The longer you build value? The more money you will get offered. Isn't that what this is all about?
If you don't set up an optimal situation for making the best deal you can, then you may get stuck later on during reviews with those COLA raises or some other bureaucratic organizational limitation.
How to Avoid Talking About Money
There are many ways to avoid the topic.
- For example: "Money is very important to me, of course. But, if it's ok with you, could we defer this discussion until we figure out if there's a good fit? I'd hate to knock myself out of contention because I'm coming in too high or too low this early in our conversation. I'm confident we'd be able to work it out."
- Or, if that doesn't work, how about, "Could you give me an idea of your range?" If the interviewer does respond with a range, and it's anywhere near where you think it should be, you just say there will be no problem working it out if you get to that point.
- Or, if you find the interviewer getting impatient, you say you'll be looking for an "all in" (including benefits, bonus, 401K match, everything) of __________. That, of course, is if you're looking to bump your total comp up significantly. If you're seeking to keep it lower for any of a wide range of reasons, then you say you'll be looking for a base of ____________, which is close to what you're currently earning.
- Or, if the interviewer is insistent, you'll have to give in and tell the real numbers. You cannot fabricate your history; it's easy to verify. All the interviewer has to do is ask you for a previous W-2.
Even if you have to give in, you've at least set a precedent where the interviewer will know you're not going to be a pushover in any subsequent salary discussions. That's a great precedent.
This pushback, of course, will be continued in the actual face to face negotiations later on. Collegial and friendly, but still a pushback.
The Exceptions
One note: Working with HR professionals or recruiters makes this much tougher. They're there to screen. It's why I encourage clients and students to do their best to get to decision makers, who will be far more amenable to the approach described here.
© Kovaleff | Dreamstime.com
Why You Can't Avoid Self-Marketing Even if You Want To
I recently answered a question from a consultant who was having a tough time with self-marketing (Ask Ellis). The writer he asked if he could just skip it. My answer more or less was: Sure you can skip it . . . if you don’t care about being successful.
I understand his reluctance -- most of us aren’t born salesmen. Selling yourself makes an awful lot of people very uncomfortable. Social media was supposed to fix all that. You don’t have to sell yourself in person any more. Except now that we all find ourselves under a steady barrage of sales pitches from friends and strangers, using social media to promote yourself is starting to feel a little uncomfortable as well.
I know the feeling. Now that I’m faced with trying to let job seekers know about my book, In Search of the Fun-Forever Job, I’m trying to find the right balance between alerting readers and being obnoxious about it. But self-marketing -- whether you’re an author or in business for yourself -- is a fact of life these days. There are only so many people I can reach in person.
So, once again my publisher, Bacon Press Books, is going to offer the Kindle edition of In Search of the Fun-Forever Job: Career Strategies that Work for free, July 24th - 26th.
I want to thank all of you who helped me get the word out last time. And, yes, ask if you’ll do it again. Tell anyone you know who’s looking for work or ready to change careers. At the moment, we don’t have any plans to do this again. So, in my humble opinion, it’s a great opportunity to get some good advice for free. And just in case you don’t know this already, you don’t need a Kindle device, there really is an app for that
© Bretwalda | Dreamstime.com