This is certainly a very difficult time for every economy, industry, organisations, families and people. This pressure invariably impacts all customers who help build products and the employees who help build the brands.
In this post, I have outlined the process I adhered to in order to secure my next role.
Having recently been a victim of the layoffs, I can wholly sympathise with every single person who has also been a victim.
It’s my hope that this would help motivate, reassure and the very least offer useful tips to others who are in the process of securing their next challenge.
Change is inevitable, like the seasons, we don’t ever throw away our winter clothes when the season is over do we?
This is because as humans, we’ve come to expect that winter will return and therefore we anticipate and prepare for it.
For this reason, we should expect change, anticipate and adapt to change
Not long after this post My Experience With Change as a Sales Professional, I had a drastic change in my role, and I mean very spontaneous and sudden.
Whether it was an act of serendipitous post that I published or perhaps a gift of foresight, here I was scratching my head thinking wow, I need to live the words I shared in the post!
Nevertheless, during every crisis or a change, we have control over two things, what we do and how we feel.
How we feel:
It’s scientifically proven that our emotions leads us to act in a constructive or destructive way. I’m by no means a Psychologist but I would like to think if we think in a constructive way, it consequently leads us to felling better about ourselves and therefore translates into positives actions. In Napoleon’s Hills book entitled “Think and Grow Rich”, this statement always resonates in my head;
The ether is a great cosmic mass of external forces of vibration. It is made up of both destructive and constructive vibrations. It carries, at all times, vibrations of Fear, Poverty, Disease, Failure, Misery: and vibrations of Prosperity, Health,Success and Happiness. It does this just as surely as it carries the sound of hundreds of orchestration of music and human voices, all of which maintain their individuality.
The human mind is constantly attracting vibrations that harmonise with that which dominates the mind. The human mind attracts these vibrations of the ether and grows until It becomes the dominating master of the mind.
Notice the key word in the last paragraph, master!
Essentially, we ought to be mindful and aware of what we allow to enter our minds which consequently creates thoughts. I must admit, this does take some practice however, upon mastery of this technique you have conquered the first step to controlling how you feel in a constructive and positive way.
Even for the uber sceptic, this statement would seem profound and cannot be ignored.
In summary, we have the power to choose how we feel which determines what we do.
What we do:
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “control your controllable’s”, this is profoundly true when our circumstances change. Stephen R Covey’s book “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” is a book I very much love.
The first habit says “ Be Proactive”, this habit undoubtedly should be exhibited by every individual at all times. Therefore, when it becomes a habit, during times of crisis, our minds are wired in a proactive way which then allows us to spot opportunities.
My journey moving to my new role was carefully planned and executed. Of course, there were hurdles and mountains along the way, but I’ve always maintained my focus and always ensured my journey is well calibrated.
Change brings about critical thinking, without change some of us can stay within our comfort zone and yet believe we are being challenged. Truth be told, the first few hours after I found out I was out of a job was quite unsettling and frustrating, but I could have allowed these feelings to simmer and marinate, but I quickly decided to adjust my mindset into thinking “Perhaps this was meant to be in order to elevate and advance”.
Perhaps, I needed this pressure or stimulus in order to develop, after all, even a mineral such as a diamond undergoes change through the application of rigorous pressure before it becomes refined into the shiny diamond which we ( I means the ladies ) desire for ( make your own assumptions here, you can call me a diamond 🙂 ).
That same hour I got to work on my CV, by ensuring it was up to date with all my achievements and key responsibilities. Fundamentally, I wanted to ensure my personality was visible through my CV, this meant I had to give this careful thought, since it had to be short and simple. Ofcourse Linkedin is always updated, the next steps was to compile a shortlist of organisations. Before this exercise, I committed sometime to research the market and offering I’d love to sell to customers. Without question, it was always going to be a SaaS offering, and my decision criteria was;
- Is it a growing market
- Is it an innovative offering
- What quantifiable value does it bring to customers
Besides Linkedin, I also leveraged a number of other research sites such as the one’s explored in this post “Research – The Bowtie & Diamond Effect“. My decision was to connect with recruiters within my network and in parallel, apply to some direct roles which I felt met my criteria. Having my criteria made life easy as I was able to qualify out opportunities quickly.
My personal story was the next task, we all have a story to tell, my story came in two parts – my life story and and my career. For me, I fused this into one story. I feel this is one area most applicants overlook, rather they focus on their career and numbers etc and not much on who there are and their “WHY“. Recruiters would tell you, with a compelling story, you stand apart from the rest, besides, one of the attributes of a good sales person is his/her ability to tell stories right?
As a little tip to help with creating your story, list all your past successes, failures ( fertile ground for learning) and learnings, weaknesses and strengths. This will offer you confidence and also understand what you need to work on. The good old question of what are your weaknesses would crop up, and do not google responses for this!
Having the pleasure of working for some reputable SaaS organisations offered me a slight advantage, I progressed onto subsequent stages on a number of opportunities, qualified out some of them, and the rest I was’t the right fit. In hindsight, I’m so glad of the fact that my self aware made me realise that this was another sales process, and therefore I needed to treat this the same way I would an opportunity.
Firstly thinking of win/win for myself and the organisation, understanding their vision, values, their why. Secondly, asking who the budget holder is, their decision making criteria and decision making process. And finally, why this role has become available, find a coach and a champion, and understand their timelines for filing the position.
For the company I decided to pursue, it was as if it was a match made in heaven. When I look back at my very first criteria I drafted, the company and the role ticked all the boxes, but the question was would I tick their boxes?
From the very first call I set an agenda, since this is a pre requisite to all my meetings. I made sure I kept it authentic and most importantly I was myself!
Leveraging video conferencing wasn’t at all new to me, with the current crisis, we all have to be resourceful and therefore ensured I had the correct set up at home.
There were a number of things I loved about my new employer. There is a saying that you can assess a company through your engagement with their staff. For me, the recruitment process was second to none from the very first email contact. The values of the company was truly lived by every single rep I spoke with, of course I followed up with a thank you email detailing next steps and timelines.
Every job seeker during this time would have a question which would be niggling in the back of their minds, this is question is “ What if the company decides to downsize, would this be a on a last in first out basis?
Well, thanks to my inquisitive nature, I dug into the blogs, podcast, newsletters and every single source of research channel. What I found was overly reassuring and that for me was the final confirmation that this is a company I would love to be part of.
After several calls and meetings, I was successful and was offered the roles as a Sales Director. To say I was excited would be an understatement, given the current job market and the amount of available pool talent employers can choose from.
No doubt the champagne was chilled and I enjoyed a lovely glass with my supportive wife.
Below are some of my leanings and tips for anyone who is searching for new roles:
- Control your mindset and your feelings
- Know what you want
- Trust your gut
- Know your story
- Be prepared with questions
- Treat the process as an opportunity
- Keep away from negativity news – e.g employees being let go etc and trust your process – remember, in every disappointment, there is an equivalent opportunity
- Set daily routines
- Don’t ever lose faith that you will prevail
I will be posting an article on my first month, stay tuned for this post.
I hope you found this useful, if you need any advice or support, do feel free to get in touch here.
To Our Growth
Mike