By Richard Triggs
Having been a recruiter for more than 20 years, I have met thousands of professionals to discuss their career goals. Typically, they are looking for advice in three areas – how to get a promotion or pay rise with their current employer, how to change employers or industries, and how to move to a “portfolio” career (ie consulting to multiple companies).
If you’re trying to work your way up the career ladder, let’s take a look at what it takes to reached your full potential.
Many professionals expect to be rewarded if they just work hard.
Getting a promotion or pay rise with your current employer
Many professionals expect that if they just work hard, they will be recognised and rewarded accordingly. Often, they come to me upset that the rewards haven’t arrived, and as a result they start looking for a new job. Most of the time, the disgruntled employee has never directly asked their boss for what they want. Perhaps there’s been some loose conversation about it at the annual performance review, but in an ad hoc manner.
“Ask and thou shalt receive.” Here’s a great question to ask your boss. “Mary, in 12 months’ time, I would like to be promoted to a more senior role (or a $20,000 pay rise – whatever your goal is). What specifically do I need to achieve for you to make this happen?” Your boss should respect and appreciate you for being direct. After all, they want to retain high achievers. Get them to give you at least a few specific, quantifiable key deliverables. Document them and then most importantly, achieve them. Refer to them regularly in your meetings and keep your boss updated on your progress.
Of course, if your boss can’t commit to what you want or the goals they want you to achieve are simply unrealistic, either negotiate for a different outcome or start looking for a new job. At least you know that you have tried your best by being open about your desires.
Changing employers or industries
It’s a commonly held belief that at least 80 per cent of the best jobs are never advertised or recruited in the open job market. They are recruited through the hidden job market. What does this mean? Employers identify someone who can solve their problems or take away their pain and they hire them, whether they have a vacancy or not.
If you limit your job search to applying only for advertised roles or speaking with recruiters, you are missing out on the bulk of employment opportunities. Also, recruiters generally only prioritise candidates with direct relevant experience. If you are looking to change industries and/or role families, you are highly unlikely to do this via a recruiter (internal or external).
How do you access the hidden job market? You need to get in front of your preferred employers of choice before they know they need you. Research the companies to identify who your role would most likely report through to. Connect with them on LinkedIn (most will have a profile) and send them an email asking for a 15-minute introductory meeting.
Try connecting with your preferred employer on LinkedIn rather than wait for a job vacancy.
Don’t reach out to human resources (unless you are an HR professional); instead make sure you target your anticipated direct line manager. HR typically are dealing with existing vacancies plus myriad other tasks. The line manager will have a more strategic view of their business and human capital requirements and will be more likely to want to meet.
As long as your background is relevant, and you have a LinkedIn profile that clearly articulates your key achievements and transferable skills, these hiring managers will want to meet you. If they can hire you without paying a recruitment fee, all the better for them. I have coached more than 1000 executives through their job search, and when people apply this methodology consistently and proactively, they are typically amazed at how quickly they find a new job.
Moving to a portfolio career
Similar to point two, when you are ready to step up into consulting, note that many consulting or short-term project roles are rarely advertised. If you are looking for these opportunities, go directly to the organisations you want to work with.
Following these simple strategies will significantly improve your ability to achieve your dream job and have a rich and fulfilling career. Yes, it does require you to get out of your comfort zone but like most things in life, fortune favours the brave.
Richard Triggs, author of Winning the War for Talent, is founder and CEO of Arete Executive, an executive search and recruitment company.
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