Career Night Talk

Back in January I gave a talk to the local ND alumni group and current ND seniors on career management and success. Below is a recollection of my remarks.

For the current seniors, how many of you have no idea what you want to do after graduation, haven’t written a resume (or have a clue how to write one), and haven’t gone to any on campus interviews yet? Hopefully, no one. Well, that was the situation I found myself in back in January 1987. I was woefully unprepared for my job search because I had assumed that I would spend at least the first four years of my life in the military. I was on an ROTC scholarship and expected to pay back my scholarship with 4 years of service of active duty. Suddenly in December ’86, due to military budget cuts, my class was given the option to opt-out of active duty service and instead go into the Reserve. After some consideration over the Christmas break, I decided the Reserve option was a good one (I had more control over my future) and chose it. However, this decision left me in a very poor situation for finding a non-military post-graduation job.

Lesson One: Take advantage of unexpected opportunities

That’s the first lesson learned I have to share – as much as you think you have your future figured out, things can unexpectantly change and new opportunities arise. Expect that to happen and be prepared to act –it may lead your career into a new direction (which could be a good thing). Unexpected changes and opportunities have happened more than once in my career. I’ve been fairly successful by not trying to plan my career too far into the future, evaluating new opportunities as they arise, and sometimes choosing a career move that was unexpected but ultimately paid off.

Lesson Two: Utilize all of the resources available to you

Take advantage all of the career/job resources that available to you – some which are not immediately obvious. Going back to my story, early 1987 was not the best time to be looking for a job and the interview opportunities were far and few between. I ended up graduating without a job. My folks lived in FL but I had a couple of prospects in the northeast. So, I moved to DC and slept on a friend’s couch for a few months while I searched. I sent cover letters and resumes to companies that sounded interesting, responded to help wanted ads (i.e., the 1987 version of Monster.com), and went to job fairs. It was getting me nowhere. I soon was almost 3 months after graduation, had virtually no money, and was getting desperate. I bumped into a classmate of mine and told him about my situation. Rather than being sympathetic, he asked me whether I had spoken with the local alumni club yet. Either I had been too clueless or too stubborn to ask for help. I told him “no I hadn’t”. I believed I could find a job on my own and didn’t need help. Obviously, I was wrong. So, the next Monday, I got in contact with the club, found out about the jobs committee, met with the jobs committee head, and by the end of the day had 2-3 immediate job prospects. By the end of the week, I had an interview and a job offer from the DC office of a small engineering consulting firm headed by a fellow ND alum. I happily took the job and my career was off and running. I was amazed how quickly things started happening once I took advantage of the resources my alumni network afforded me.

Lesson Three: Persistence – don’t accept defeat

After I had worked at that first job a few years, I realized I wanted to get into IT consulting and was able to get an interview with Andersen Consulting (pre-cursor to Accenture). I really wanted the job and prepared very hard for the interview. The day of the interview, things started off well and near the end of the day, I thought I had the job in the bag. But the last interview of the day was with the managing partner. I didn’t realize the importance of this last interview. I guess I took the interview too casually and didn’t use the opportunity to really sell myself. Anyway, he must not have been impressed because I received a rejection letter in the mail a few days later. I was devastated. I really wanted that job. My devastation turned into anger (mostly at myself) and eventually became my motivation. I called up the head of recruiting and told her that they had made a mistake. I told her how much I wanted the job and how perfect I was for the job (basically what I should have told the managing partner). And I told her that I wanted a second chance – I wanted another interview to prove myself, prove that they made a mistake, and convince them to hire me. She told me that no candidate had ever done what I had just done – asking them to reconsider – but that I had made a compelling case (at least to her). She said she would see what she could do. To my surprise, she called me back and said that I would be given another shot – a second interview, this time with the # 2 partner in the office (and apparently someone who was notoriously tough on job candidates). Well, I went in extremely focused, nailed the interview, and got the job. So, my third lesson is don’t always accept defeat, be persistent and you can often get what you want.

Lesson Four: Be patient but don’t sit still

I’ll jump ahead to 2002 when I was departing my position as VP of software development at a financial start-up. I assumed that my next position would be a step up to CTO or CIO of another start-up or a tech-savvy firm, but instead I ended up making a lateral move. I can blame the poor job market for why I wasn’t able to land that type of job but on reflection, the real reason was that I wasn’t ready. I was able to get interviews for those senior executive positions, but I couldn’t close the deal.

I could have gotten frustrated but instead was patient. However, that did not mean sitting still and waiting for the perfect job to land in my lap. I read more, networked more, and got in better physical shape. Then, I decided to go back to school - grad school. I realized that what got me to this place in my career was not necessarily what would allow me to get to and succeed at the next level. So I went and got a master’s in IT management. The program emphasized the importance of learning and speaking the language of business and focused on the business value of IT. The next time a CTO/CIO opportunity came along, I would be much better prepared.

Lesson Five: Build your reputation, integrity, and network (over time)

After being fortunate to have survived the dot-com meltdown earlier this decade and despite a couple of sideways career steps, I have now ended up in a very good position as the CTO of a great company. There is a long explanation of how I got here but it boils down to this - my reputation, integrity, and personal network. At all stages of your career, but especially later in your career, your reputation, integrity, and network will be what will open up opportunities for you (at least the good opportunities). In my case, the company ‘discovered’ me through its and my network. We had a mutual contact – a former company employee who still spoke with the CEO on periodic basis. This mutual contact also had worked with me, knew me, my work, and my reputation, and spoke highly of me to the CEO. The CEO then reached out to me, I interviewed, and I got the job. Obviously my interviews with the company were important, but I was in a great position with them to begin with based on the person who recommended me – a person that the CEO knew and trusted. And, as the company checked my references (both ones I provided and ones they found on their own), they presumably heard a similar story about me from them. So, the last lesson is that your reputation, integrity, and network will reflect the work that you’ve done and the relationships you’ve developed. Pay attention to these. These things take time to develop, so be patient, but there will be a pay off in the long run.

These lessons - take advantage of unexpected opportunities, use all resources available to you, be persistent, be patient but don’t sit still, and build your reputation and network over time - have worked out well for me. I wish the same good fortune for you. Good luck on your own careers.