Getting headhunted for a different head
March 4, 2010 10:15 AM Subscribe
I'd like to get headhunted, but for a position not reflected by my current official title. Loads and loads of detail inside.
A certain amount of paranoia is necessary as things could go totally off the rails for me if this became public, so for the sake of example I'll say I'm working for an architectural firm; I'm not, so forgive me if you're an architect and this example seems a bit screwy based on your knowledge of the profession. I'm transposing.
I work at a smallish firm in a smallish city; our client list, however, has some surprisingly large players on it. We don't work for anyone where we live, but rather clients in the nation's capital (flying in for meetings when necessary) and a 6-million-person city a two-hour drive away.
In essence, I was hired to (say) create floor plans; I excel at creating floor plans, and find it okay work, but over time have found that my interests (with education and training that largely qualify me for this) lie in dealing directly with clients and working through initial design issues with them. Thanks to some language issues (I am a native speaker of a different language than anyone else in the office, and many of our major clients work in that language), I've been given many opportunities to deal directly with clients. I've wound up being so good at this initial-design work that it's eclipsed me being just there as a mouthpiece to being a lead person on a number of big projects. This, in turn, has moved me sideways into a job that involves more interesting and elevated work than my title would suggest. I now divide my time between creating floor plans and working with clients on big-picture design planning.
I'm more interested in the big-picture design work, and am better at the design work than most of the accounts people that do it as part of their account-handling duties. There's no dedicated "work with the client on the big picture" position at the firm, as that's handled as part & parcel of the account managers' duties (the account managers, in theory, are the only people who deal with the clients; they work out big-picture stuff and then pass the requests down to the designers and floor-planners). Other, larger firms do have such a position -- our company should also, in my opinion -- and that's where I'd like to go with my career.
The two problems:
1. The company has grown around me (thanks in no small part to my involvement), to the point that I'm performing duties far outranking my title. As a result, I'm now kind of a catch-all for a whole range of things from floor plans through big-picture design, keeping me so busy that I don't really have time for more of the advanced work. That, as well as office politics (I'm considerably junior to a lot of people I'd suddenly be outranking if I were appropriately titled; the peace is kept right now because I'm doing these duties but not "officially") keep me from having a title equivalent to what I'd like to do exclusively. My current title, which I negotiated during the last contract go-round, is a nebulous "resolution analyst" kind of thing that is a huge step up from "floor plan designer," but nowhere close to "big-picture design specialist."
2. We're in a smaller city, two hours away from any major cities, and easily the biggest fish in this small pond; we're serving clients way out of the weight class you'd expect in such a small burg (due largely to being able to offer very reasonable rates for national-caliber work thanks to the location). I'd love to transition to a more suitable job in a larger city, but can't exactly do lunches and shop a CV around surreptitiously; if there was even a whiff I was thinking about changing horses, I'm fairly confident that things would get very, very uncomfortable where I am right now.
So I feel like I'm on a treadmill here: held back from doing what I want to do because I'm so good at what I'm doing (designing floor plans) right now, without volume to justify transitioning into what I want to do full-time, or back-up to free me up enough to prove that I can do it full-time.
I have no safety cushion with which to quit and just look for something else; I have a non-working spouse, a mortgage, etc. to worry about and not much money saved up. There are no firms close to me that I could transition into working for, and no way to (personally) shop around. If I were to lose my job without having something else in place, there's nowhere for me to go locally.
I know I'm good, really good, at the elevated role. Tons of positive feedback from clients, fantastic results whenever I'm put "at bat" for the firm. I've been told numerous times I'm invaluable to the firm, but have yet to see remuneration that really drives that point home. Then again, I can't issue any give-me-the-position-I-should-be-doing-or-I-quit ultimatums, because I've got no cards behind that bluff.
The best option, as near as I can figure, is to somehow get on the radar of people that headhunt for the kind of job I want to do and am, in part, doing. But I'm not in those circles, due to geography, and not on the appropriate radar screens because of this niche I'm stuck in at work.
I also like where I work, and would be happy staying if I could get the leverage necessary to convince them that they need to promote me and damn the torpedoes. Unfortunately -- since they're the only game in town -- they know I don't really have anywhere to jump to, and it's not to their benefit to promote the cow when they're getting the milk for free. I believe the only way to make them consider it is if I had an offer from somewhere else to make them reconsider what it's worth to keep me.
The big-picture work is very nebulous as well -- it's all about establishing what the client's actual needs are, how to best meet them, and how to proceed, with lots of context, regulations, etc. in the mix. It's not the sort of thing I can stuff in an envelope and say "here are examples of my work". On paper, it's not my work, but that of the account manager that has me deal with the client.
I'd like to explore my options, but I'm stuck as to how. Concrete advice on how to get "noticed" would be welcome; other advice is welcome as well.
A certain amount of paranoia is necessary as things could go totally off the rails for me if this became public, so for the sake of example I'll say I'm working for an architectural firm; I'm not, so forgive me if you're an architect and this example seems a bit screwy based on your knowledge of the profession. I'm transposing.
I work at a smallish firm in a smallish city; our client list, however, has some surprisingly large players on it. We don't work for anyone where we live, but rather clients in the nation's capital (flying in for meetings when necessary) and a 6-million-person city a two-hour drive away.
In essence, I was hired to (say) create floor plans; I excel at creating floor plans, and find it okay work, but over time have found that my interests (with education and training that largely qualify me for this) lie in dealing directly with clients and working through initial design issues with them. Thanks to some language issues (I am a native speaker of a different language than anyone else in the office, and many of our major clients work in that language), I've been given many opportunities to deal directly with clients. I've wound up being so good at this initial-design work that it's eclipsed me being just there as a mouthpiece to being a lead person on a number of big projects. This, in turn, has moved me sideways into a job that involves more interesting and elevated work than my title would suggest. I now divide my time between creating floor plans and working with clients on big-picture design planning.
I'm more interested in the big-picture design work, and am better at the design work than most of the accounts people that do it as part of their account-handling duties. There's no dedicated "work with the client on the big picture" position at the firm, as that's handled as part & parcel of the account managers' duties (the account managers, in theory, are the only people who deal with the clients; they work out big-picture stuff and then pass the requests down to the designers and floor-planners). Other, larger firms do have such a position -- our company should also, in my opinion -- and that's where I'd like to go with my career.
The two problems:
1. The company has grown around me (thanks in no small part to my involvement), to the point that I'm performing duties far outranking my title. As a result, I'm now kind of a catch-all for a whole range of things from floor plans through big-picture design, keeping me so busy that I don't really have time for more of the advanced work. That, as well as office politics (I'm considerably junior to a lot of people I'd suddenly be outranking if I were appropriately titled; the peace is kept right now because I'm doing these duties but not "officially") keep me from having a title equivalent to what I'd like to do exclusively. My current title, which I negotiated during the last contract go-round, is a nebulous "resolution analyst" kind of thing that is a huge step up from "floor plan designer," but nowhere close to "big-picture design specialist."
2. We're in a smaller city, two hours away from any major cities, and easily the biggest fish in this small pond; we're serving clients way out of the weight class you'd expect in such a small burg (due largely to being able to offer very reasonable rates for national-caliber work thanks to the location). I'd love to transition to a more suitable job in a larger city, but can't exactly do lunches and shop a CV around surreptitiously; if there was even a whiff I was thinking about changing horses, I'm fairly confident that things would get very, very uncomfortable where I am right now.
So I feel like I'm on a treadmill here: held back from doing what I want to do because I'm so good at what I'm doing (designing floor plans) right now, without volume to justify transitioning into what I want to do full-time, or back-up to free me up enough to prove that I can do it full-time.
I have no safety cushion with which to quit and just look for something else; I have a non-working spouse, a mortgage, etc. to worry about and not much money saved up. There are no firms close to me that I could transition into working for, and no way to (personally) shop around. If I were to lose my job without having something else in place, there's nowhere for me to go locally.
I know I'm good, really good, at the elevated role. Tons of positive feedback from clients, fantastic results whenever I'm put "at bat" for the firm. I've been told numerous times I'm invaluable to the firm, but have yet to see remuneration that really drives that point home. Then again, I can't issue any give-me-the-position-I-should-be-doing-or-I-quit ultimatums, because I've got no cards behind that bluff.
The best option, as near as I can figure, is to somehow get on the radar of people that headhunt for the kind of job I want to do and am, in part, doing. But I'm not in those circles, due to geography, and not on the appropriate radar screens because of this niche I'm stuck in at work.
I also like where I work, and would be happy staying if I could get the leverage necessary to convince them that they need to promote me and damn the torpedoes. Unfortunately -- since they're the only game in town -- they know I don't really have anywhere to jump to, and it's not to their benefit to promote the cow when they're getting the milk for free. I believe the only way to make them consider it is if I had an offer from somewhere else to make them reconsider what it's worth to keep me.
The big-picture work is very nebulous as well -- it's all about establishing what the client's actual needs are, how to best meet them, and how to proceed, with lots of context, regulations, etc. in the mix. It's not the sort of thing I can stuff in an envelope and say "here are examples of my work". On paper, it's not my work, but that of the account manager that has me deal with the client.
I'd like to explore my options, but I'm stuck as to how. Concrete advice on how to get "noticed" would be welcome; other advice is welcome as well.
Maybe you need to be working on house for one of your clients?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2010
on = in
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2010
It sounds to me like you need to network like crazy. Go to conventions, join industry organizations, find online communities related to your field and contribute within them, maybe even start a blog about your industry (keep it general of course, so you don't jeopardize confidentiality agreements). People aren't going to throw a job offer your way out of the blue if they have no idea who you are, so you need to get known.
if there was even a whiff I was thinking about changing horses, I'm fairly confident that things would get very, very uncomfortable where I am right now.
I believe the only way to make them consider it is if I had an offer from somewhere else to make them reconsider what it's worth to keep me.
These two statements seem contradictory to me, and I've seen the whole "they'll beg me to stay once I have another offer" plan go really well and REALLY poorly in varying circumstances. Make sure you're being brutally honest with yourself about how much you bring to the table, and whether they could make due just fine without you. Are there clients that would leave if you weren't around? Would they have to charge less if they couldn't offer your services to clients? Even if you make the home-designing process soooo much smoother and more comfortable and the clients really seem happier because of your efforts, a lot of companies won't care if the profit numbers aren't obviously tied to that.
In any case, if you do end up getting an offer elsewhere and using it to try to leverage a better job at your existing firm - state it as a personal growth issue, not an ultimatum or accusation. "I've really enjoyed doing this [bigger and better] work here as part of my job, and I want to do that kind of thing full time. If you guys could match the offer I've received to be an [awesome job title] full time, I would love to stay with this firm. I think I could contribute a lot in that role. But if that's not possible, I owe it to myself and my career to take this other position." That way you're not burning bridges if you leave, and you're not making them feel blackmailed if you stay with a promotion.
posted by vytae at 1:43 PM on March 4, 2010
if there was even a whiff I was thinking about changing horses, I'm fairly confident that things would get very, very uncomfortable where I am right now.
I believe the only way to make them consider it is if I had an offer from somewhere else to make them reconsider what it's worth to keep me.
These two statements seem contradictory to me, and I've seen the whole "they'll beg me to stay once I have another offer" plan go really well and REALLY poorly in varying circumstances. Make sure you're being brutally honest with yourself about how much you bring to the table, and whether they could make due just fine without you. Are there clients that would leave if you weren't around? Would they have to charge less if they couldn't offer your services to clients? Even if you make the home-designing process soooo much smoother and more comfortable and the clients really seem happier because of your efforts, a lot of companies won't care if the profit numbers aren't obviously tied to that.
In any case, if you do end up getting an offer elsewhere and using it to try to leverage a better job at your existing firm - state it as a personal growth issue, not an ultimatum or accusation. "I've really enjoyed doing this [bigger and better] work here as part of my job, and I want to do that kind of thing full time. If you guys could match the offer I've received to be an [awesome job title] full time, I would love to stay with this firm. I think I could contribute a lot in that role. But if that's not possible, I owe it to myself and my career to take this other position." That way you're not burning bridges if you leave, and you're not making them feel blackmailed if you stay with a promotion.
posted by vytae at 1:43 PM on March 4, 2010
Here's something concrete.
1) Create a professional profile on LinkedIn.com
2) Use linkedin.com to create connections with everyone you worked with.
3) Periodically update your linkedin.com profile to report work done, responsibilities, or anything professionally interesting.
4) Periodically add new connections.
Doing the above will create a professional online presence that is targeted to headhunters/recruiters.
Good luck! :)
posted by jchaw at 1:58 PM on March 4, 2010
1) Create a professional profile on LinkedIn.com
2) Use linkedin.com to create connections with everyone you worked with.
3) Periodically update your linkedin.com profile to report work done, responsibilities, or anything professionally interesting.
4) Periodically add new connections.
Doing the above will create a professional online presence that is targeted to headhunters/recruiters.
Good luck! :)
posted by jchaw at 1:58 PM on March 4, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
There is never going to be a perfect situation involving having steady income while looking for a perfect job. You have to work around your limitations and right now that would mean you need to do your job hunting in your spare time and with your own personal computer.
People I know who have been headhunted have posted resumes on job sites and applied for jobs related to theri fields. Most used industry specific job sites rather than a general job site like career builder. If there exists a job site for "architechure firms" being a presence on them would be a good way to be sniffed out. Also, try to join any national professional organizations in your industry, to show your interest and comitment to the field and have another credential for the old resume. If you attend any meetings or conferences in your industry, network and bring a lot of business cards. Get business cards.
posted by WeekendJen at 10:36 AM on March 4, 2010