It’s always sad, but I see it frequently. I’ll get a resume’ from a job candidate (or one of my clients will) that has an all-too-familiar career pattern. A veteran sales professional is applying for a position, and taking a look at his resume’, I see that his career was once tied to the proverbial rocket. He had a list of progressively higher positions (usually with some promotions involved), and great accomplishments. But then….something happened.
“What” exactly happened isn’t always apparent. What is apparent is that something happened to knock the pins out from under the person, because after the progression mentioned previously is a regression, from job to job to job, usually with less income, shorter tenure, and less achievement at every stop. You can even envision the people hiring him for that job thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe I was able to hire someone this accomplished!” and then thinking six months later, “Okay, I get it now.” Usually, my writings are geared at helping the hiring managers to avoid hiring this person. Today, I’m going to take a different tack and help YOU avoid BEING that person.
You might think that my first piece of advice would be, “Don’t get fired.” That’s obvious, and many times, the event that knocked the pins out from under the person was a firing. Sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t give that advice. Getting fired can happen for any number of reasons; some of those reasons might be your fault and some of those reasons might be completely beyond your control. Ask me how I know.
Long term career success isn’t necessarily about avoiding mistakes and unfortunate events; it’s about how you recover from those events. Or, as they say, “It isn’t about avoiding the fall; it’s about getting up and keeping going.” Too many of the people that I referenced in the opening paragraph kept going in name only. In reality, they never recovered. Here’s how to recover.
Assess the situation honestly. Why did something bad really happen? If you got fired, did you deserve it? I know, I know, none of us have ever deserved it, right? Sometimes you didn’t – but sometimes you did. Again, ask me how I know. It’s easy to blame ‘corporate politics’ or ‘downsizing’ when things go bad – but were there certain behaviors you exhibited that caused you to be shown the exit? Now is the time for an honest self-assessment to see if there are behaviors that you must change to succeed. Now is the time to make those changes.
Rediscover your love of the game. Do you enjoy what you do? I mean, do you really enjoy it, or is it something that you just ended up doing? To succeed in sales, you must enjoy the activities involved – the sales calls, the conversations, etc. – or you will not succeed. Virtually every other management and professional level discipline is the same.One great way to trash your career is to keep doing something that you don’t like and that you’ve failed at because it’s “the appropriate level of your career.” For instance, if you’ve been fired as a sales manager, maybe now is the time to rethink whether you should be a manager or perhaps it’s time to be a salesperson again.
Market your abilities, not your experience. You’re going to go job-hunting again. That’s perfectly natural. When you do, there’s a crucial change in mindset that can make all the difference in the world in your success going forward – and that is to market your abilities and skills, not your experience. Marketing your experience is about resting on your laurels and your contact base, and it’s the cause of more failed hires than anything I’ve seen. “I can bring this size of Rolodex and these contacts” means that you’re living in the past. “I succeeded before because of these abilities, skills, actions, and activities” means that you’re ready to repeat your successes of the past – if not surpass them. The way you market yourself as a job candidate sets the tone for the expectations of your new company, as well as your own expectations of yourself.
Adapt your methods, but do what made you successful in the first place. In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, there’s a scene that’s both poignant and pathetic. It’s the scene where Shelly (played by Jack Lemmon) is yelling at the unsympathetic sales manager (played by Kevin Spacey) that, although he’s failing now, he’ll succeed again because he’s been the top guy in the past. “And do you know how I did it?” he asks Spacey’s character. “COLD CALLING!” Then he begs for the “good leads.” I can never watch that movie without thinking, “If that’s the way you succeeded then, why not do it again now?” We all have to adapt and change with the times, but never forget the grit, determination, drive, and utter love for the chase that made you successful. Don’t just refer to past successes – relive them.
Finally, Make up your mind to succeed. This, quite frankly, is a step that applies to any career stage. Sometimes things get tough on jobs – and too many people these days cut and run when they do. Whether you’re a veteran who’s suddenly having to fight and claw as hard as you did when you were just starting out, or whether you’re just starting out, the key difference between success and failure is that successful people make up their mind that they are going to succeed – unsuccessful people don’t.
Even the best long term careers can have hiccups, and it’s how you react to hiccups that make the difference between having the kind of career you can be proud of, or working at the big box store just to pay the bills and reminiscing about the six figure success you had years ago.
