Share Podcast
Job-Hopping
Dear HBR: answers your questions with the help of career coach Allison Rimm.
- Subscribe:
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- RSS
Are you worried about being seen as a job-hopper? In this episode of HBR’s advice podcast, Dear HBR:, cohosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn answer your with the help of Allison Rimm, a career coach and the author of The Joy of Strategy: A Business Plan for Life. They talk through how to leave after a brief time on the job, explain a series of short stints on your résumé, or know when to stick it out.
Listen to more episodes and find out how to subscribe on the Dear HBR: page. Email your questions about your workplace dilemmas to Dan and Alison at dearhbr@hbr.org.
From Alison and Dan’s reading list for this episode:
HBR: Managing Yourself: Job-Hopping to the Top and Other Career Fallacies by Monika Hamori — “The notion that you get ahead faster by switching companies is reinforced by career counselors, who advise people to keep a constant eye on outside opportunities. But the data show that footloose executives are not more upwardly mobile than their single-company colleagues.”
HBR: Setting the Record Straight on Switching Jobs by Amy Gallo — “In fact, people are most likely to leave their jobs after their first, second, or third work anniversaries. Millennials are especially prone to short stays at jobs. Sullivan’s research shows that 70% quit their jobs within two years. So the advice to stick it out at a job for the sake of your resume is just no longer valid.”
HBR: 10 Reasons to Stay in a Job for 10 Years by David K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott — “It’s easy to quit over perceived unfairness or serious challenges. But it shows much stronger character to persevere, to find and enact solutions to problems, repair damage, and to take an active role in turning a situation around.”
HBR: Managing Yourself: Five Ways to Bungle a Job Change by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams — “A hasty job change, made with insufficient information, is inherently compromised. When under time pressure, people tend to make certain predictable mistakes. They focus on readily available details like salary and job title instead of raising deeper questions, and they set their sights on the immediate future, either discounting or misreading the long term. Many also have an egocentric bias, thinking only of what affects them directly and ignoring the larger context.”
DAN MCGINN: Welcome to Dear HBR: from Harvard Business Review. I’m Dan McGinn.
ALISON BEARD: And I’m Alison Beard. Work can be frustrating. But it doesn’t have to be. We don’t need to let the conflicts get us down.
DAN MCGINN: That’s where Dear HBR: comes in. We take your questions, look at the research, talk to the experts and help you move forward. Today we’re talking about job hopping with Allison Rimm. She’s an independent consultant and career coach. Allison, thanks so much for coming on the show.
ALLISON RIMM: I’m delighted to be here. Thanks.
ALISON BEARD: So, Allison, is this worry about moving from one job to another very quickly a perennial problem or do you find it’s becoming more common?
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, I think it’s such a generational thing. So, it’s much more common to come out of school expecting to work for two, three, maybe four organizations over the course of an entire career, and then you would retire, get the gold watch and all would be well. But the reality is that kids coming out of college now are entering a very different work environment.
ALISON BEARD: How often do clients come to you because they really want to leave a job that they just started?
ALLISON RIMM: It’s not unusual. Generally, it’s one of two things. They got to a job and it’s not what they thought or expected or hoped it would be, and then they’re like wanting to go. The other extreme that I see, people get in, young people out of school get in, they work for about four months and start to think that they’re doing such a great job that they deserve a promotion or a raise or something. And when they don’t get it right away they start looking for something else. And either of those circumstances, leaving where they are isn’t necessarily scary, but there are issues that both situations create.
ALISON BEARD: Dear HBR: I graduated from college a year and a half ago and got a paralegal job. The work was monotonous and the office was too small for me to develop professionally. So, I sought work elsewhere after ten months. I landed another paralegal position, but at a firm that promised an interesting assignment that I could spearhead. But shortly after I started, the project was terminated for budgetary reasons. Now, I work as a floater between departments, helping colleagues on an as needed basis. Ordinarily, I’d welcome the opportunity to become familiar with new material, but I’m often given tasks like stapling papers, or making copies. Other times there’s no work to do. I’ve asked for more responsibility. I was told I need to wait until something opens up. Several people have left the company since. Their assignments were given to others already in the department. I’ve been waiting patiently, but I feel as if I’m losing momentum and not utilizing my skills. So, I’ve been researching other jobs and industries. But since I’ve only been with my current firm for six months, I’m hesitant to apply. I understand hiring managers might see me as a job hopper. I’m just not sure that staying stagnant here is any better. Should I start interviewing for other positions so soon?
ALLISON RIMM: Well, I think there are a lot of layers to this particular question. The first question is what can you do there to take on more interesting tasks? Since you’re in a job already you might as well do everything possible to make your day to day life where you currently are as pleasant and productive as you can make it. Maybe if you play your cards right not only could you staple papers, but you could paper clip them too. [LAUGHTER] But seriously, look around. Are some people seeming kind of overloaded and they might appreciate some assistance and then you could get your hands on some more interesting tasks that would use your skills? And then on the question though, should she start interviewing elsewhere, why not ask? Then if she is fortunate enough to be invited for an interview, then that communication comes to play. She could explain very carefully that she came in all excited to do her job and through nobody’s fault of their own, it was a budgetary decision, her tasks or her project was eliminated, and she would like to put her skills to constructive good use in an organization that could make good use of them.
DAN MCGINN: So, it sounds like part of what you’re saying is the fact that she joined to do this project that got canceled, that gives her a great story, a great framing device, and kind of an excuse to move on rather quickly. Is that what you’re suggesting?
ALLISON RIMM: Well, she doesn’t have to say anything negative about her employer which is never a good idea. Because she’s got a very objective reason for not wanting to stay there. They eliminated her project and she’s tried to get assigned to others and that hasn’t happened yet.
ALISON BEARD: Yeah, I respected this letter writer because she seems very intent on learning and we’ve published research that talks about sort of all the reasons that you should leave a job and the very top is that you’re not growing and you’re not learning. So, I fully back her up on that. I do worry that she’s going to struggle with the framing because her letter to us seems very focused on what she wants to get out of the organization as opposed to what she can give to the organization. So, how would you encourage her to shift her mindset in that way?
ALLISON RIMM: I would ask her a series of questions. What is it that you really want to get out of your work experience? And then once you know what you want to get out of it then you need to think about what are you going to contribute to a place so that they’re going to want to actually pay you to do what it is that you want to do. You want to be able to get into the head of the person on the other side of the table with whom you’re trying to negotiate a win/win situation. So, you’ve got to figure out what that win/win is and then present it as such.
DAN MCGINN: Yeah, I wondered a little bit along the same lines as you Alison. I don’t know a lot about paralegal work, but I suspect that some of it is going to be monotonous and that’s kind of the rules of the game. And while copying and stapling are not a core function of paralegals, I think absolutely you need to expect to be doing a little bit of that. You and I copy and staple a little bit at our jobs every once and a while. So, I did see some of those same phrases that made me a little bit concerned, not whether these organizations are the right fit for this woman. But whether this career path may or may not be a good long-term fit.
ALLISON RIMM: It’s such an interesting point that you raise Dan because I didn’t actually read it that way, but I can absolutely see why you would have looked at it that way. I was kind of wondering if she a really ambitious person, or is she a little bit entitled in not wanting to do everything it takes to get a job done. It’s really hard to know.
ALISON BEARD: She does talk about looking at other jobs and industries which is probably a good sign. She’s realizing that this might not be the field for her. I do wonder whether when she’s going out to those other fields, whether that might be difficult to explain. I studied to do this one thing. I did it in two different jobs and now, I’m having a complete switch. Will that be explained away by her youth, or will she have to think carefully about her story?
ALLISON RIMM: Well, both. Again, you have to think about to whom you’re telling your story and how it might be received. If you go and you apply your skills one place and you need to grow and change, that’s going to be expected over time. But we’re still in that area of transition where that’s not so well understood maybe by some of the older generations.
DAN MCGINN: She’s been in her current job for six months. She held her previous job for 10 months. Is there some magic number when it comes to tenure at which any concerns about job hopping would go away?
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, it’s really hard to know. I kind of find one size fits one in these situations. If she gets to job three and job four, I would certainly see the flags raised.
DAN MCGINN: There’s a case to be made, hang in there because that will give you more leeway if job number three doesn’t work out, you can jump a little faster. If she doesn’t do that, when she goes to job three, after very short stints at job one and job two, she really has to stay at job three and make it work for a while.
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, absolutely Dan and that’s why I started out this conversation by saying she really ought to look at everything she can do to make a go of the job she has before she goes an jumps ships. There are two reasons for that. You’re there, but number two, you don’t know how long it’s going to take to find something else.
ALISON BEARD: What happens if she does start interviewing and gets an offer really quickly?
ALLISON RIMM: It’s possible if she likes this organization and they like her that she could go back and tell her supervisor that’s she got another offer and she’d really like to stay there if she could get a meaningful project and see what happens. I think staying longer would look better over the long haul, and it would probably be a really good skill developer for her to figure out how to navigate around a culture, in an organization, and find a way to make a good, meaningful contribution.
ALISON BEARD: And show her commitment by asking for a project, not a promotion.
ALLISON RIMM: Exactly.
DAN MCGINN: One last thing I wanted to ask about. She talks about being worried about losing momentum and stagnating. Do you see people too focused on this idea of momentum and that careers and jobs should have this sort of constant rate of acceleration? Alison and I watch each other’s careers unfold and things ebb and flow. It’s like driving on the Mass Pike [highway]. You’re going 80 [miles per hour] and then you’re going 20, and then you’re kind of not going anywhere.
ALISON BEARD: And especially early in your career doing monotonous tasks was sort of paying our dues, right?
MCGINN: Right. And if this organization didn’t think that there was a chance that they were going to find a project for her to work on, they probably would have laid her off. So, I wonder if she needs to give the organization a little bit of credit for recognizing that they’re going to find something, otherwise they would have cut her loose by that point.
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, again I think it comes down to communication and if she’s concerned about that she could be talking to them very directly and understand that. And I think your take on that is absolutely legitimate for a lot of people. I looked at that and thought, so is she worried about the equity of her skill set, or is she worried about being bored and working really beneath her license and what she thinks she’s capable of. So, hard to know.
DAN MCGINN: All right, Alison. What are we saying?
ALISON BEARD: So, first we should think about what she can do to make herself feel more fulfilled in her current role. Can she volunteer, not for a new position, but for different tasks and assignments where she sees a need? We do think that she should start looking particularly in different fields and paralegal work might come with a bit of monotony, and start applying? When interviewing she should explain her story all the way through. She was promised a project that she was very excited about that was going to offer her a chance to make a meaningful contribution. Through no fault of her own it was canceled and now she’s looking for just that chance somewhere else. She should focus on what she can give to her new employer rather than what the employer can give her. Job hopping is expected in today’s economy. So, she probably won’t be dinged for that automatically once she gets through the door, but she should think very carefully about her next step because she doesn’t want a serious of three short stints on the resume.
DAN MCGINN: All right, second letter. Dear HBR: Let me first say that I take full responsibility for my choices which is why I’m writing this. When I finished my Master’s degree at age 50, I was hoping to use it in international business management. Now, I believe the odds of that happening in some meaningful way are slim at best. I took a job at one of the largest consulting companies on the planet. It was a very entry level position. I wanted to get my foot in the door and move up. The division was spun off after a year and the door to advancement seemed closed. So, I went to work for a small boutique software firm as their inside sales manager. It turns out I was their ninth sales rep in two years. Soon after I started they let all their outside sales reps go. A few months later they demoted me and brought in a VP of Sales with 10 years of experience. After four months I was able to secure a sales development rep job at another software company. I had hopes of moving up. However, after 10 months I saw the hot mess they were in and realized I had no shot of moving up due to the toxic political environment. So, I moved onto a job where they said they were looking for a sales rep who could stir the pot. After six months when they refused to implement my sales plan they let me go. I had to take a job as a list broker. I feel like a failure. And I’ve started to lose hope for anything meaningful in my work life. Where am I misjudging these career choices? How can I avoid hopping to a new job again?
ALLISON RIMM: So, I’m glad that this guy’s taking full responsibility for his situation. That actually shows a level of maturity. But his letter raises a few really important concerns. So, first of all, as somebody who wrote a book on this topic, it’s called The Joy of Strategy: A Business Plan for Life. This guy could really use a business plan for his life. What does he want out of his career? It’s very hard to read an email and understand what’s going on in his head, but he got a graduate degree in international business management. And after one stint at a consulting company, he’s off into the sales world. So, I’m not sure what’s driving his decision making about the substance of the job he’s taking in the first place, but also he’s showing a real lack of ability to read a culture and an environment before he takes the job. So, he really needs to learn how to do some better due diligence.
ALISON BEARD: Yeah, I absolutely agree. I think he needs to do more research. But how does he get accurate information about what a company’s going to be like before he’s in it?
ALLISON RIMM: Well, now that he’s had some experience, he can learn to add why is this job vacant? What’s the history with this position and how does it function, for example. And that, if they’re honest they’re going to tell him there’s been a parade of people and then he can ask follow-up questions as to why that was the case. He, then later in another job’s talking about a toxic political environment and he could spend some time meeting other potential co-workers. Some people I know actually ask if they can work for a week onsite just really kind of soak up the atmosphere before they commit to it. So, there are whole lots of different ways that he could get better information.
DAN MCGINN: I would break this down into two separate questions. Number one, there’s the retrospect of analysis of what went wrong, but then I think there’s a big question here of the branding. This guy is a job hopper and there’s nothing we can say that’s going to change that reality. It becomes how does he put the best spin on that? How does he minimize the damage that’s going to come with having that label very clearly attached to him?
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, I think the good news in this story is that he’s been successful in getting job after job. So, that’s a good piece of data. But he might want to spend a little bit of time just doing an inventory of what are his skills and interests and what job possibilities would be a better alignment with that than these sales jobs?
DAN MCGINN: More so than most of the letters we get, I feel like this is somebody who would really benefit from some outside help. I don’t know where the line is between career coaching and therapy, but it might even actually cross that line at some point too, in terms of how he’s relating to people, in terms of emotional intelligence.
ALISON BEARD: Yeah, I do think that this man sort of is at risk for getting sucked into this sort of spiral of negativity and sticking with this job that he really hates now. I was thinking that one of the best ways for him to break out of that cycle of negativity would be to connect with people, former colleagues, his Master’s degree cohorts, to help him do that soul searching, but then also to give him contacts for the right kind of roles that he would want to get him job leads, to open doors for him.
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, I think that’s a great idea. That’s interesting that you raise that because one of the biggest red flags for me was that at age 50, with a Master’s degree he took a very entry level job. So, I was wondering what that was all about. But sure, most graduate programs have some sort of career services office that can help him with networking. If he developed any relationships with any of his professors, he could go back and talk to them.
ALISON BEARD: So, could the fact that he’s had all of these short stints in sales jobs, some maybe within a calendar year, be an asset for him, in that he can completely omit them from his resume? Not list these employers as references and really just focus on the international business job that he first had and then maybe one of the more prestigious sales roles that he played.
ALLISON RIMM: That can be a very good strategy. He might want to consider rather than putting them on, so the year on to pick one job and then the year that he worked there and if people dig more deeply and ask him questions he’ll have to explain it honestly of course, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be shown on his resume.
DAN MCGINN: If he decides to leave some of these jobs off of his resumes, which ones would you make disappear?
ALLISON RIMM: Maybe the question is which one would he choose to leave on? And I would maybe counsel him to choose the job where he felt that he had the most successes that he could point to and where he had somebody, a colleague or somebody in that organization that would be willing to give him a positive reference.
DAN MCGINN: So, it’s not as simple as just drop the shortest ones. Do you need to think about it a little bit holistically?
ALLISON RIMM: If he’s going to leave a job on his resume, then he needs to be prepared to have an employer ask to speak to somebody there and it would behoove him to have somebody who could say something positive about his time there.
DAN MCGINN: Can a reference play any part in that, if basically his story for at least one or two of these places is, look: this place turned into a toxic mess. That’s a difficult thing to say because you’re not supposed to say negative things about an employer. But if there’s some reference out there who will not only say positive things about him but also say yeah, that place was a toxic mess, he’s right. He was smart to get out of there. Is that at all helpful in this case?
ALLISON RIMM: That’s a tricky one because it’s really, it’s hard when you’re talking to people you don’t know about a situation that involves other people that they don’t know, to win them over. And the people on the other side of that argument might say he’s a toxic fellow. We just don’t have enough background to answer that. But one positive thing he could do on his LinkedIn profile is to solicit a lot of people who will write positive recommendations for him, just about any kind of interaction they had with him in any setting. And that will only look positive.
ALISON BEARD: So, how does he explain leaving all these different jobs in a way that’s positive about the employer, positive about him? It seems like a difficult problem to me.
ALLISON RIMM: Well, I agree with that. I think that he could share if he wants to be really transparent about things. That he’s learned his lesson and he didn’t do enough due diligence. And now he’s asking much more detailed questions which the hiring employer will see him doing so that he can make a better choice about where to go next.
ALISON BEARD: Yeah. We published a great piece a while back by Boris Groysberg at HBS talking about doing this due diligence. He’d interviewed HR chiefs and executive search consultants about the mistakes that job hoppers make. And he focused on four areas that you need to do that research. A, looking at the job market realities for the industry, or function. Is this a place, a field I want to be in? The financial stability and market position of the company. The cultural fit which you’ve talked about and then also, will I really have the job that I’m promised? And I think sort of breaking it into that, those buckets in terms of the questions he’s asking would be really useful and then also, as you say, show the employer that he is a thinker and strategist and someone who is being more careful about decision making in the future.
ALLISON RIMM: That’s very well said and one thing that discerning employers often look for is they understand people make mistakes. So, the question is if you do that, how do you recover from that and what do you learn from it so you don’t repeat it in the future? And that’s his opportunity here.
ALISON BEARD: Great. So, Dan, what are we telling this man?
DAN MCGINN: Well, so the good news here is that clearly, he is very ambitious. Going back to graduate school at midlife takes commitment. And the good news is despite the really bumpy couple of years he’s had here, he continually finds people who want to employ him. Something that not a lot of people can say. So, he clearly has that going for him. On the other hand, as he recognizes he’s made some poor choices in terms of moving between these companies, we think he needs to think about why this happened. What is it about his due diligence process that is lacking? Why isn’t he asking better questions, recognizing red flags? Getting a better handle on the culture, getting a better handle on who his supervisor might be, whether they’re going to be receptive to his ideas or not. We also think there’s a branding question here going forward. How is he going to spin this? What’s he going to put on his resume? What’s he going to leave off of his resume? Some of these questions he might benefit from engaging with a professional to talk about them. Probably a career coach, maybe even a therapist. In terms of the nuts and bolts and logistics of finding his next job, we think going back to the university where he got his graduate degree, engaging with their career center would be a good idea. We think thinking about references and who might say something positive about some of his experiences here, either on his LinkedIn page or as a reference. We wish him good luck. We recognize that it’s a tough situation and the fact that he’s taking responsibility for it is a good thing. And now it’s time to learn from it.
ALISON BEARD: Onto the last question. Dear HBR: I’m a young professional working for a nonprofit publisher. Last year the organization began discovery for a major half million-dollar website project. I volunteered to lead it and did everything I could to rise to the occasion. I’ve been loving the work over the last six-plus months. But I’ve been hitting serious roadblocks in formalizing my promotion in title and salary. At our organization promotions and reviews only occur once a year. The review period itself can take months, even for a simple standard cost of living salary increase. My boss had originally assured me that we would secure an out of cycle promotion. Each promised timeline has been broken and is only being pushed off further. Despite my best efforts to advocate for myself, now it seems my best chance of formalizing the promotion is eight months from now. In the meantime, our CFO refuses to approve any overtime. I work plenty and that could have helped supplement my income before my new salaries in place. But he says it’s against policy. I fear I may no longer be able to afford to live where I do on my original entry-level salary. My work is demanding. I don’t have time to work a second job anymore. I’ve received nothing but sincere praise internally and externally for my work. But I feel that I’m being treated unfairly due to severe disorganization and poor communication at the highest level. That leads me to my question. Is it ethical for me to list my current role as project manager on my resume? That’s my functional role and the title I’ve been promised. And are the reasons for potentially leaving my job justifiable? Or, am I just impatient? Allison, what do you think?
ALLISON RIMM: Well, this one’s loaded as well. But the first thing to note is that she’s doing work that she loves. And she’s being recognized and praised for it. That is big. And she talks about this being an entry-level job, fresh out of school. So, she needs to recognize that there is a value to the investment that she’s making in working there.
ALISON BEARD: And that doesn’t happen at all, organizations for entry-level people.
ALLISON RIMM: Absolutely not. The fact that she got her hands on this really big project is a pretty big feather in her cap. On the flip side, I’d be very concerned about an organization that’s made all sorts of promises to her and has yet to come through with any of them. One way she could go about this is to go to her boss and say, I love my job. I’m really committed to this nonprofit organization. But I’m really having a hard time making ends meet. How can we make this financially viable with, for me, without breaking policy for the organization? Can we think outside of the box and make this something that I can stick with? Also, while we’re at it, is it OK with you if I use the title Project Manager even if it’s not formally approved so far because functionally I’m doing that. That costs the organization nothing. Can I use the title?
DAN MCGINN: The thing I ceased on is the same thing you did Allison. I’ve been loving my work. That’s a really good place to be and it makes the situation less acute. And she can maybe hang in there a little bit longer than she might otherwise. But I agree. Long-term promises are being broken. They have a very tight budget. They do not sound like they want to be particularly generous with her. So, I see short term this is something she can be pretty choosy about what her next job is because she’s learning a lot. She really likes the job. Long term, I wonder if this is the right organization for her. In terms of the functional question whether she can list herself as a project manager, even if she doesn’t use that title in the skill section of her resume, she can clearly emphasize as project management skills and when she gets into the face to face she can say look, I’m doing the project manager role. They just haven’t officially put it on my job thing yet because it’s stuck in the bureaucracy. And that’s the truth which is always the best thing to use.
ALISON BEARD: I feel like you all took the words right out of my mouth. I felt exactly the same way. She’s in a really good position. She’s learning. She’s taking responsibility. But she’s at a really bureaucratic organization and maybe that’s not the best fit for her going forward. So, I would encourage her to yes, keep working really hard, but also in the very little extra time that she does have, to start exploring other opportunities and find the perfect job out there in the world for her should this one not turn into the perfect job.
ALLISON RIMM: Well, I completely agree and I think there are a few reasons to look for a job. Number one, she loves the web building work. And that is a skill she could use in any number of organizations. She asks the question, is she just being impatient about getting this raise that she was promised and the title? And it’s hard to know whether they’ll really come through. But one way she might be able to find out is if she gets an offer someplace else, and goes back and says to them, hey I love my job here, but I can’t afford to work on this salary and you promised me this. So, can you give that to me now with back pay or whatever it is that she wants to feel fully appreciated and valued in her current organization? Or, then maybe she takes this new job if they’re not going to come through.
ALISON BEARD: Yeah, my take was that eight months didn’t sound that long, but she’s already been waiting a very long time. So, spend those months while you’re waiting to see if they do come through, finding another opportunity.
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, eight months could be a very long time.
ALISON BEARD: Right. That’s true.
MCGINN: We get a lot of letters in which there’s this good cop, bad cop dynamic. My boss promised X, Y, and Z, but then HR got involved. What can she do when she’s in this situation where her boss has promised and is trying, but has hit this bureaucratic roadblock? Is there any real recourse?
ALLISON RIMM: It’s really hard to know what’s actually going on in that situation. But if she can line up support with her boss and potentially her bosses’ boss, maybe they can build more of a case to get them to wave their policies in this one particular case. If she went and said, here’s my functional issue. I’m having a hard time paying my bills. How can we get me the pay and the title that I need to really make ends meet, even while we wait for this cycle to go through? It might give them some incentive to help her find some sort of creative solution to her situation.
ALISON BEARD: On the resume, I agree that there was no way she should put the title on if she didn’t really have it. But I do wonder again, how she can get past that sort of initial resume scam if she’s applying for project manager jobs, and she’s never been a project manager before, how can she get them to read the description that she lists beneath that title, whatever she said in her cover letter and get to the interview stage where she can talk about all the work she’s been doing.
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, I think the cover letter is key. Hopefully, if you can write a very short, but powerful and compelling letter, maybe even one paragraph that might get them to look at the resume.
DAN MCGINN: The other nice thing about project management is there are certificates. It’s a certifiable kind of profession. So, even if her organization doesn’t give her that title, there’s a way that she can get some certifications that would give her credit for these skills, even if it’s not quite in her job title yet.
ALISON BEARD: Also, the fact that she’s getting the external praise, suggests to me that she has an opportunity to arrange for warm introductions at lots of different places that would get her past that initial resume scam.
ALLISON RIMM: Yeah, great point.
DAN MCGINN: So, Alison. What’s our advice?
ALISON BEARD: The good news is that she loves her job and she’s getting lots of praise which is terrific in an entry-level position. She might just want to view this as a continuation of her education, an opportunity to learn as much as possible. At the same time, we do think there are red flags because her employer has made promises that they haven’t kept. As a first step to figure out why that’s happening, she should have a frank conversation with her boss just about all the work that she’s doing, how excited she is about it, but then also how difficult it is for her financially, and asking upfront whether there are any workarounds that he or she could orchestrate such as a bonus, or even getting the project manager title before the official promotion and pay increase. At the same time, we think she should also explore other opportunities while she’s waiting. A nonprofit might not be the best fit for her if she wants quick promotions and high pay increases. When she’s putting herself out there, for new jobs, she should definitely emphasize her project manager role in her cover letter and her interviews, but until she has the title, she shouldn’t put it on her resume. One other thing she might do is consider professional certification so that she can get that project management credential. She can also leverage her network. All those people that are praising her externally to get warm introductions and help her find the next terrific opportunity.
DAN MCGINN: Allison, thanks so much for coming in.
ALLISON RIMM: It’s been my pleasure.
DAN MCGINN: That’s Allison Rimm. She’s an independent consultant and career coach. Thanks to the listeners who wrote us with their questions. Now we want to know your questions. Send us an email with your workplace challenge and how we can help. The email address is DearHBR@HBR.org.
ALISON BEARD: On our next episode we answer your questions about.
DAN MCGINN: To get that episode automatically, please subscribe. I’m Dan McGinn.
ALISON BEARD: And I’m Alison Beard. Thanks for listening to Dear HBR:.