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