I was fired! But how can I tell you that?

One of the toughest situations people face in their career is being out of a job and having to explain the reason for that while they are looking for their next break.

The most common lines I hear from most people in such a situation is that they consciously decided to take a break to :

• write a book
• spend some quality time with family
• work with an NGO/ give back to society
• try something on their own

But very often, if they are not actually true, a good head-hunter or a recruiter can figure out that these are just euphemisms for being fired or being laid off from your last job! And the problem is that, if this is actually the case, these excuses sound more like lies or like you are trying to cover up something unpleasant. And that need not be the case!



Image source : http://ow.ly/mY0Cm

So how do you handle such a situation? Do you share the fact upfront that you were fired or laid off? Do you try hide it or brush it under the carpet, and pray that it never gets discovered?

I personally believe that you need not shout this from the roof-tops when you are applying for a job. But it is very important to share the facts at the appropriate time and not make it seem as if you were withholding sensitive information.

It is much easier to explain the fact that you were laid off than being fired, because people find it easier to understand and accept the fact that some companies tend to downsize businesses and let go of people. But when it comes to explaining the fact that you were fired, it is trickier.

Here are some tips to keep in mind on how you could handle such a situation :

• Answer honestly. That always works best. The worst thing that can happen is, the interviewer checking with a friend in your previous company and getting the real story. They then feel that you lied to them, and that's a sure way of getting knocked out of the process.
• Have an answer ready and rehearse it well before the meeting. Don't spend too much time on it, but don't try to avoid or brushing it aside either. Answer it precisely and try move the conversation to the next topic with a related question, if possible.
• Focus on what you learned from the experience and how you have moved on.
• Offer to provide some credible, senior references from the previous company which will give the hiring manager some comfort that you are not trying to hide anything, or that there is something that could come back to bite them later.
• As a rule, don't bad-mouth the previous employer or the supervisor. Hiring managers tend to view that negatively, and wonder if you are trying to blame others for your shortcomings.

Being in a situation where you have fired or laid off is an emotionally stressful experience. But the key is to remember that this situation is just a blip and that there is clear value that you bring to the table, then the hiring manager can clearly sense that. Smart hiring managers also know that if they give you a break, you would go the extra mile to make it up to them. And before you know it, you would have bounced back and come back stronger.

P.S. Do you have any questions on your job search? Write to me at ckguruprasad@gmail.com and I will either write back to you or cover it in one my my posts. Keep reading!

Asking the tough questions!

Image source : http://bit.ly/S4VfRq

The toughest questions are not the ones asked by the hiring managers. The tough questions are the ones that you should be asking of yourself before you take up a new job in a new company.

And I have noticed that very often, most people don't ask these questions. In fact, many times, they don't want to ask the questions that will rock the boat and jeopardise the process they are sailing through.

So you are being wooed by a company that you've always been fascinated about and have met with executives in the company who are reputed leaders in the industry. And the process has reached a stage where you have to now take a call on making the move.

All the critical check-boxes seem to be ticked :

• Good company; great brand
• Role and title adequately reflects your experience and is a step-up from your current role
• Great team of leaders and peers that you would be working with
• A good compensation package
• Your family is not going to get uprooted and they are also excited about this opportunity

But you still haven't asked some very important questions :

1. How is the new role going to be a step-up from your current one and how does it fit in with your overall career plan? Will there be a dilution in your growth as a professional?
2. How much head-room is available for growth in the new role and the new organisation? Do you have an opportunity to make an impact in the new role? Does the role challenge you adequately? Are the challenges the kind you are looking forward to?
3. And the most important questions : Is the culture of the new organisation something you are prepared for? Is it the kind of environment you can thrive in, and succeed? Will you be comfortable with the ethos and value system of the people and the place?

These questions and their answers can make all the difference between your being happy or miserable in the new role.

And there are innumerable examples of people who find the answers too late : soon after joining the company. And they realise that they cannot continue in this environment and then exit within 6-12 months of joining.

So, no matter how uncomfortable they make you, ask yourself these questions. You'll thank yourself for doing so.

(And how do you get the answers to these questions? We'll try answer this question in the next post.)

Shipwrecked and lost at sea!

This is one of the worst possible things that can happen to you in your career.

Imagine the scenario...

You have had a fairly stable and successful career. You have been in a leadership position for several years now, and you still have another decade or so to look forward to in your career.


Image source : http://bit.ly/SMEnMy

You recently came across a great job opportunity which scored on all fronts : company credentials, scope of the role, designation, growth prospects, learning opportunity, compensation, etc. The leadership team is a great set of professionals who you vibe very well with; and your chemistry with the manager, you would be reporting into, has also been great.

After discussing the opportunity with the important people in your life and after some serious introspection, you decide to take up the offer and move into the new role. You are very excited about the new chapter in your professional life.

And before you know what hit you, you are out of a job!!!

Within a short period of your joining the company (weeks or months), the company is acquired by another organisation (and these days, the acquiring company doesn't necessarily have to be a larger organisation) and in the reorganisation exercise, your role has been eliminated.

So what do you do when you find yourself in such a situation? Here are a few things you could do :

1. First and foremost, try find out as much as possible about the company you are joining, to avoid being caught in such a situation. Reading all about the company through news items on the internet, analysts' reports, etc. would give you some idea about the possibility of the company being a take-over target in the near horizon.

2. As far as possible, ensure that a severance clause is included in your appointment letter/ contract, so that if such a situation were to arise, you would have bought yourself some time (paid for by the company) while you found an alternate job.

3. Go back to your previous employer and have a conversation about the possibility of moving back into your previous role or a related role. This could be the quickest way of getting back into a job. (But the assumption here is that you have not burned bridges and had exited the previous organisation gracefully.)

4. Speak to the manager who hired you in the acquired company to identify possible alternate roles in the acquiring entity. It might make sense to take up a different role, even if it is not the ideal role, since it buys you time to plan your next career move.

5. Work your network to connect with the key leaders in the acquiring company to have informal conversations wherever possible. This would give you some idea into the acquiring company's working style and its plans. At the least, it helps you build some brand equity with the new leadership team, which could count when roles are being defined.

6. Connect with the search consultants you know and let them know about the situation so that they can reach out to you if they are working on any relevant assignments. Also connect with the leaders in the industry, especially the key competitors of the acquiring company, to explore possible roles.

Most importantly, be mentally prepared for a 4 to 6 month horizon before you can come up with relevant options for yourself.

And before long, your career should be back on the fast-track!

Who had the last laugh?

I recently interviewed a senior leader for a client assignment that I was running. I am not sure if the client will hire this individual, but I am definitely going to present this individual as a very good candidate for the role.

This is one person that stands out among many of the people I have met over the last few months. And I asked myself what was it about this person that made him stand out? There were other candidates who had better experience, better pedigree, and various other credentials.

But the one aspect that seemed to make a difference is humour, or rather his sense of humour.

I remember distinctly that this individual had high energy, was not cagey nor over-enthusiastic, was not condescending nor apologetic. He was pleasant, sure of himself and had a crisp and clear way of presenting his responses. And most importantly, he a good sense of humour.

I have had interactions with candidates in the past who come across as cynical and sarcastic. And the sarcasm is directed towards their employers, colleagues or even head-hunters! And it was clear that the cynicism was dragging the individual into a vicious downward spiral.

But, I digress! Coming back to the individual I was talking about.

He clearly used his positivity and his fine sense of humour to great advantage.

Is humour a good idea, especially in formal situations like job interviews? Does it always work?

• Humour works if, and only if, you are able to carry it off well, and it is not a forced effort. If you are not feeling comfortable enough to use humour, any forced effort would only back-fire.
• Humour works if the people you are interacting with, are able to appreciate the humour. The last thing you would want is to give some stiff-upper-lip executives the impression that you find the whole exercise 'a laugh'.
• Humour works once you have established your credibility and have developed a connection/ rapport with the individual(s) you are meeting. Trying to tickle their funny bone too early in the interactions would leave them wondering what you found so funny!

Humour, if it flows naturally, and is well used, could be a great way of engaging with the people across the table and taking the discussion up a few notches. It clearly helps you make a favorable impact and stand out vis-a-vis the competition.

Use humour well, and you could well have the last laugh!

Are you a lifer?

Recently most of you in India would have come across this article about the near zero-attrition among the senior management in companies like ITC and HUL (Zero attrition at senior management since 15 years; remuneration & reward strategy cited as main reasons - bit.ly/xTuQ1a). The article went on to enumerate the reasons for these exceptions in today's corporate environment.



Photo credit : http://bit.ly/zAbxRQ

 Most organisations spend a huge amount of time, money and effort in reducing attrition, especially at leadership levels. High churn at these levels creates instability within the organisation, uncertainty in the ranks and ultimately below-par returns for all stake-holders of the organisation.

But is zero-attrition practical? And more importantly, is it desirable in today's context?

It definitely seems to be a desirable attribute for the organisation, but is it desirable for you and your career?

Senior leaders with relatively stable career graphs are viewed in a positive light by hiring managers or board members of companies. But what about leaders who have spent their entire career lives in a single organisation? Here are a few thoughts :

• If an organisation is able to provide growth, stability and reward to an individual, there is no reason for the person to move. (Remember our parents who spent their entire career in single organisations/government jobs and retired with all the benefits? They couldn't bring themselves to think of moving out of those jobs.)
• But in today's context, you do not come across too many organisations where you can bet your entire career on. You still have the government jobs and some rare companies like ITC & HUL, but these are exceptions.
• Professionals have far more risk-appetite today and are willing to move companies for professional growth. And, unlike in the past, there are various options available out there. And such jumps are no longer viewed negatively.
• What this trend has given rise to is an entirely different perspective of 'lifers', or people who have spent a lifetime in an organisation. (People who have spent 12-15 years or more in an organisation tend to be viewed as lifers by hiring managers!) Lifers actually get looked upon with a pinch of suspicion!!!
• Has this person stayed on in this organisation because she didn't get head-hunted by anyone else?
• Is this person too risk-averse and not willing to move out of her comfort-zone?
• Is this person too used to working in a certain environment? Will she fail if she is put into a different setting?
• This person has not demonstrated the ability to move into a new organisation and deliver in a completely new setting.
• Did this person grow in the organisation by virtue of being the only person left behind? Have all the good people left leaving behind only the average performers?

So zero-attrition and lifers would be great indicators for organisations, but may not necessarily be good for you and your career.

And the worst thing that can happen to a lifer is suddenly finding yourself being let go by your organisation and feeling like a deer staring at the headlights of a speeding truck on the corporate highway!

Don't let this happen to you!

Look ma, I have super-powers!

Gone are the days when companies hired specialists. Those were the days when, as an experienced leader, you knew what was expected of you in your area of specialisation. You were considered an expert in your specific domain and companies sought you out for your expertise.

Image courtesy : http://bit.ly/uZHQgi

But times, they are a-changing... and how!

Job descriptions for senior leadership roles are beginning to sound more like descriptions of caped super-heroes who handle multiple emergencies while flying around in colorful underwear!

Let me explain. I recently was helping a client identify a global IT services delivery head. In the days of yore, a delivery head was just that, a person whose responsibility was to oversee quality delivery of IT services projects for the clients and ensure that people and processes were in place. But the client wanted someone who could handle this role effectively as well as help with identifying new service lines, defining go-to-market strategies, provide sales teams with compelling pitches, make client presentations and establish credibility to swing deals. The only requirement missing in the job description was the person having to wear tights and colorful underwear!

This is a trend I am noticing across industries as well as across roles within organisations. In the continuous effort to reduce costs, create significant differentiation and deliver higher value, companies are looking for the core leadership team across functions to have a holistic view of the markets, clients and the business.

So what does this mean for you and your career? How do you address this requirement, especially when you do not have super-powers?

Companies may not be looking for Superman, but they definitely expect you to have super-powers like each member of the Fantastic Four! For many of us, it is more of a case of having the powers within us, but not knowing it yet. Remember Darth Vader telling Luke "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet."

The trick is to, as Mufasa grandly announced to a confused Simba, "Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of (corporate) Life."

Here are a few pointers that could help you break through some of these walls :

• Remember, while companies are looking for super-heroes, there are not too many people out there who meet all the criteria.
• While companies are looking for super-heroes, they want the ideal candidate to be specialised/ experienced in the specific function they are expected to lead.
• Take every opportunity in your current role and organisation to go beyond your comfort zone and are of specialisation so that you build a range of skills.
• Work on your resume/profile to highlight the multiple skills that you have gained over time, even if these skills are not as strong as your core functional skills.
• Work on gaining knowledge in these unrelated areas. Network and interact with colleagues and friends in unrelated areas; read as much as you can about these areas; use opportunities to participate in training programs to hone these skills.

So go forth. Remember, the force is with you!

Is it about the money, honey? No, don't be funny!

Image courtesy : http://bit.ly/vUqZcS

Recently the CEO of Heidrick & Struggles, Kevin Kelly, was in India and during his interactions with the media he mentioned that CEOs don't always get motivated to move for higher compensation. And that at this level the bigger motivation is the challenge and the ability to make an impact.

Sonal Agarwal, CEO of Accord Group, in her recent article in the Mint, also elaborately discussed this topic of compensation and what you should bear in mind while negotiating an offer, especially if you are changing industry or country (It's not always about the money!).

I wanted to share a few thoughts based on my recent interactions with a few people on this topic. (Well, this happens to be a topic which most people want to discuss with us folks! :) )

• Compensation is a very important reason why you are staying in a particular company or why you want to move to another company. It might not be the most important or the only reason, but it surely plays a big role.
• As you move higher up in an organisation, or as you spend time in your career, compensation tends to move lower down in your list of reasons for making career move decisions. (If this is not true in your case, then that's ok too. But you might like to ask yourself, why this is the case!)
• I have also noticed that, all things being equal, people who have moved jobs frequently, especially after 12-15 years of their overall experience, tend to draw lower compensation packages than the ones who have not.
• Sometimes it doesn't seem fair that some companies or headhunters do not consider you for a role because your compensation is lower than that of the other candidates they are considering, despite your experience. But compensation does tend to be a proxy barometer of your competencies and achievements. And many hiring officials tend to have misgivings about you if your compensation is lower than the average drawn by your peers in the industry.
• As a corollary, getting a job-offer which pays you far higher than your current compensation and much higher than the average compensation for the industry could lead to a tricky situation. This usually happens when a company is starting operations in the country and does not have a benchmark to go with, or is using internal parity with a country with much higher PPP, or is trying to start a new business and assumes that you will be able to deliver.
  This situation could create problems at multiple levels :
• The company might realise that they are over-paying and want to scale back later, which leaves you in a difficult situation.
• Or worse still, they might decide to eliminate the role and bring in someone at a lower level.
• The company might expect you to deliver impractical numbers and results and you inadvertently end up becoming a non-performer.
• Moving to another company also has its own challenges since you are over-priced. And any attempt by you to peg your compensation back to reasonable market-levels also tends to create misgivings in the headhunter or company officials.

If you are looking to make a change it is important for you to have a clear plan on how you would address the compensation related discussions - what you expect, what is non-negotiable, what does the company pay other leaders, etc.

Compensation might not be the biggest reason for business leaders in making their career move choices, but it is definitely a big reason for many conversations breaking down between companies and people they are trying to bring on board.

So its not all about the money... but then its also about the money, honey!