photo by llawiet via flickr

The first 30 days in a new job is stressful and it’s hard to be able to think quick and act even quicker.  I recently talked about some myths I always believed about corporate strategy jobs and ways to think about selecting a job.  What follows are thoughts on starting a new job off right:

The Fine Line Between Smart and Annoying

I always want to sound smart in initial meetings, however..I don’t want to be the guy who talks just to hear the sound of his own voice.  Here’s what has worked for me:

• Culture of Meetings  - Does the most senior person talk first?  If you’re concerned about something, do you ask a question… or make a statement?  Wait for Q&A… or chime in when needed?  
• 15 minute rule – I once received advice that said if you don’t speak within the first 15 minutes of a meeting, people have already forgotten about you.

Try for Personal Introductions

If your to-do list says, “Ask Greg about ___”, it’s tempting to want to send Greg an email.  You’ll probably save a lot of time… but is it worth it?  I’ve always respected someone who talks to me in person or phone before an email.  Seems much more real.

Read Everything You Can

It’s hard reading what you don’t “have” to read.  But I’ve found great nuggets by absorbing as much as I could find.

Internal Materials – There are going to be a lot of “decks” forwarded to you to “bring you up to speed.”  However, I’m always amazed at what you can discover by clicking on every link on your corporate internet.  It’s a great way to learn the initiatives and acronyms of other functions and how those all fit together.

External Materials – Over-subscribing to content and then weeding it down to the best seems to work here.  Here’s what I try to do:

• Subscribe to every blog covering your space.  Don’t know where to start?  Try AllTop for a directory
• Listen to what your customers are saying through a Twitter Search for your company and competitors
• Google News Alert works really well for keyword searches.  My  ”content strategy” search has turned up great stuff
• Forward the best your team – nothing beats being the first person to the link!

Photo by llawiet via Flickr

Do You Feel Like This Guy? Then read on...

In my last post, I covered some of the myths about working in corporate strategy.  Here, I’ll share what worked for me when I was last searching for a job.  Step One is to do a quick self-assessment to make sure you would be comfortable with the job.  Then I’ll talk about what you can be doing now to prepare yourself.  After that, I’ll cover tips for networking and surfacing the right opportunity.  In my next post, I’ll talk in more detail about the interview process as I’ve experienced it with various companies.

Check Your Gut – Do You Really Want This?

Great strategists can listen and rely on their gut instincts to a decision.  Ask yourself these 3 questions and listen really hard to your first reaction.

• “Am I comfortable with ambiguity?”  – This is the big one, if you’re the type of person who sees things as either black or white, right or wrong, then start looking for a more analytical job.  In strategy, you will never have the right answer, your goal is to get to the best reasoned answer.
• “Can I tolerate office politics?”  – Politics exist everywhere, and a key part of your job is using influence to change people’s hearts and minds.  If politics didn’t serve a purpose in large organizations, the market would have forced firms with political environments out of business.
• “Do I like creating and telling stories?” – The easiest and most effective way to deliver a message is to engage your audience with an interesting story related to your idea. If you stop at the “thought”, then people won’t internalize the story and be able to spread its message.

Start Preparing For a Strategy Job

• Strategic Thought Library – Start bookmarking, saving, and filing every framework, powerpoint model, and thought-piece you can.  While completing my MBA at Chicago Booth I did not do a good job capturing and organizing all the frameworks we used to analyze strategic decisions.    I wish I had because having a library makes your job easier.  You don’t have to spend valuable time recreating ways to approach a problem.
• Join Every Cross-Functional Team You Can – Try to become the representative from your function on as many projects as you can find the time for.  This does two important things for you:

1. Teaches you about how different functions operate and work together
2. Gives you powerful network connections which will one day end up benefitting you

Finding and screening available positions

• Exert Exhaustive Effort in your Search – Some of the best positions are more readily available than you think, you just need to be in the right place at the right time.  have to be in a position to find them.  Executive recruiters LOVE to crawl LinkedIn for good people, make sure your profile is up to date and contains keywords like “strategy”, “business development”, and “strategic” somewhere in your profile.
• Read the Job Description Carefully – The first few descriptions you read will sound very generic with words that consultants typically speak.  But as you view more opportunities, you can gain an advantage over other candidates by understanding the details.  Examples of what to look for are as follows:
  • How Strategy Aligns in the Organization
    
  • What the Time-Frame of Projects Typically Are
    
  • How Centralized is the Control of the Group
    

Be Selective In Companies You Choose

Of course, this is easier said than done, and I understand that a paycheck is better than no paycheck at all.  However, having to craft, explain, and defend a strategy that you don’t believe in will doom your career.  In other words, if you’re a vegan, you probably shouldn’t take a strategy job at a fast-food retailer.  Be patient…finding a position where you can argue effectively a strategy that reflects your passion will be rewarded.

Photo by Y via Flickr

Shortly after taking a Social Media position, I realized 1- How many of us there are and 2-Titles are ubiquitous.  At the recent TechCocktail 10 in Chicago, I overheard someone yell  ”What the f_ck does being a Social Media Expert even mean?”

Certainly there are more people building knowledge in the field…but it’s not as many as you think…we’re a growing community that ALL USE THE SAME METHOD OF COMMUNICATION. However, with any large technology change (think internet and/or  e-commerce), corporations want to maximize profit and prevent being beat by the competition.

This fun + profit equation is why you are seeing so many Social Media Experts; it’s not necessarily a a bad ting.

1 – Your network isn’t as diverse as you think

Look, I know you think you have a diverse network, but given the low level of adoption, anyone you have connected with is really into social media.  It’s not that everyone is a social media expert, it’s that your network is more insular than you thought.  You are exposed to all of them(us).

2 – Social Media Is Fun

Sharing ideas with other people is pleasurable.  This natural enjoyment causes the “groundwell” that you are perceiving as a large number of “experts”.  With layoffs and a down economy, people are craving professional assignments that are both interesting and in-demand.

3 – Easier to Use Technology

Connecting to people over the internet is not new.  Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) were around before most self-proclaimed Social Media Experts were born…but they were very hard to use.  Recent technology is not only making it easier to publish, but easier to have your content reach others (how many of us now have Aunts/Uncles on Facebook?)

4 – Businesses Like Making Money

Never underestimate this classic economic point.  In fact, most major technological change has been made mainstream by businesses seeking to adopt it.  It still makes me uncomfortable seeing businesses on facebook, but it’s good for the technology, and good for users(us) in the long run.

5 – Businesses Don’t Possess the Necessary Skills

It’s much more efficient for a business to purchase skills than to try and build them internally.  It is time consuming, risky, and less effective than hiring someone with the requisite skills and experience.  This is why consulting is an industry in the 100s of billions of dollars.

6 – Experts Make More Money

The demand for Expert Services, the inability for anyone to truly define what a Social Media Expert is, and the crap economy that is forcing everyone to find work is what is driving this trend to Social Media Experts.

Again, this isn’t a bad thing.  Technologies generally get better when there is an economic incentive for businesses to pay for the brain-power to make them better.  So, as your Social (Media) Life improves, you can bank on thousands more newly-minted Social Media experts ready to receive your Thank You.