Please help me figure out this snowflake-looking career pickle.
May 2, 2013 3:21 AM Subscribe
I'm a manager in my field who, in moving to a new city, got into. Things were looking great, but unexpectedly the company shut down two weeks in. Now I'm looking for a managerial job again, and I need to know how to explain this.
Coming from a senior management position in one city, I moved to another. The whole job search process took a grueling six months. At the last minute the offers started coming in. One of them was an offer for a management title -- with a way lower salary than my previous job -- albeit from the most recognizable company in the country.
The job that I did end up taking was a specialist position in the same department but a new field. The pay was higher than what I was earning in my last job. I loved my job and the people right away. But all of us got laid off when I was about to cap off my second week into the job.
Now, I'm looking for management positions again, but I don't know how to explain my career move by taking a specialist position in a way that will paint me better than just being "after the money". It just seems like a bad move to just settle back into a nonmanagerial position and for less pay: a one step forward, three steps backward situation that I don't think I'd be able to recover from. I can't move back into my old city, either; there's a reason I left.
TL;DR question: from senior manager to specialist and now looking for a management job again: how do I make it happen without looking unsuitable?
Coming from a senior management position in one city, I moved to another. The whole job search process took a grueling six months. At the last minute the offers started coming in. One of them was an offer for a management title -- with a way lower salary than my previous job -- albeit from the most recognizable company in the country.
The job that I did end up taking was a specialist position in the same department but a new field. The pay was higher than what I was earning in my last job. I loved my job and the people right away. But all of us got laid off when I was about to cap off my second week into the job.
Now, I'm looking for management positions again, but I don't know how to explain my career move by taking a specialist position in a way that will paint me better than just being "after the money". It just seems like a bad move to just settle back into a nonmanagerial position and for less pay: a one step forward, three steps backward situation that I don't think I'd be able to recover from. I can't move back into my old city, either; there's a reason I left.
TL;DR question: from senior manager to specialist and now looking for a management job again: how do I make it happen without looking unsuitable?
but I don't know how to explain my career move by taking a specialist position in a way that will paint me better than just being "after the money"
I don't get this. What is wrong with taking a particular job for no other reason than that it pays more? Companies are motivated by profit, why should not individual employees be equally motivated by salary?
- Why did you take that specialist job?
"It was offered to me and it seemed interesting and it paid a lot more than I had been making so I decided to give it a chance."
- Why are you taking a job that pays less money now?
"I only had that job for two weeks. I think I am more likely to find a stable position doing what I was doing before."
I would leave it off your CV in years to come, but for now it's a nice amusing anecdote for your interviews and you should use it as such.
(P.S. I have a neighbor who has had this happen twice in quick succession. She joked in her interviews that things never happen in threes.)
posted by three blind mice at 5:20 AM on May 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
I don't get this. What is wrong with taking a particular job for no other reason than that it pays more? Companies are motivated by profit, why should not individual employees be equally motivated by salary?
- Why did you take that specialist job?
"It was offered to me and it seemed interesting and it paid a lot more than I had been making so I decided to give it a chance."
- Why are you taking a job that pays less money now?
"I only had that job for two weeks. I think I am more likely to find a stable position doing what I was doing before."
I would leave it off your CV in years to come, but for now it's a nice amusing anecdote for your interviews and you should use it as such.
(P.S. I have a neighbor who has had this happen twice in quick succession. She joked in her interviews that things never happen in threes.)
posted by three blind mice at 5:20 AM on May 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's just two weeks. Your six month search + 2 weeks is like, 28 weeks instead of 26 weeks. Just roll the position into your existing search.
posted by colin_l at 5:25 AM on May 2, 2013
posted by colin_l at 5:25 AM on May 2, 2013
If it's a job with the most recognizable name, that's the best data point to stress. You took this unusual step to get into a position that was interesting for a recognizable company, and then you got laid off. It's a perfectly understandable scenario.
posted by xingcat at 6:46 AM on May 2, 2013
posted by xingcat at 6:46 AM on May 2, 2013
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Or just leave it off your CV entirely.
posted by inturnaround at 3:45 AM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]