Episode 67 – Marc and Elizabeth answer career questions about age-appropriate jobs, flying side gigs under the radar, and managing multiple job offers.
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In this episode, Marc answers questions with his trusty sidekick, Elizabeth Rabaey. You can learn about her career pivots in Episode 020. Listen in to this episode for insight on targeting a job appropriate to your age, dealing with your employer finding your side gigs, and ethical treatment of multiple employers competing for your services.
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[1:36] The next week, Kelsey and Matt Moore, owners of Coolworks, which is basically the Mecca of seasonal jobs, at places like the U.S. National Park Service and other cool places. Marc is working on a couple of interviews with travel bloggers and other interesting and exciting interviews.
[1:56] Marc introduces ‘trusty sidekick,’ Elizabeth Rabaey. Marc interviewed Elizabeth on Episode 20. Elizabeth encourages you to listen to her episode for details.
[2:59] Q1: I am pursuing a position as a third-party recruiter in a specialized market of which I have intimate knowledge. The hiring company has a 12-week training program for all new hires. The base pay is very low, but the commission structure can be lucrative. I submitted my resume but have not heard back. What should I do?
[3:27] A1: This is a typical ‘churn and burn’ position for young people who are not expected to stick around for long. You are not their target hire. Marc relates this to when he applied to teach high school math as a teacher over age 40. They wanted a younger person. Marc suggests moving on to something else.
[5:06] Look up Marc’s post, “Are You Discouraged Pursuing Millennial Job Opportunities.” Pursue something else.
[5:42] Q2: I am working on a consulting side gig to move to in a year. I do not want my current employer to find out. Should I put it on my LinkedIn profile?
[5:50] A2: First, determine the risk. If you put it on LinkedIn and your employer finds it, are they going to fire you? Are they going to be unhappy? Are they going to be OK with it? As long as you’re not competing, they may not be happy, but… First determine if they will fire you for doing this, then don’t put it on LinkedIn.
[6:35] Second, before you put it on your LinkedIn profile, figure out what’s the story you are going to tell them when they do find it. Marc tells about some side gigs he did when he worked at IBM. When he was discovered, IBM was not happy and told him to stop.
[7:17] Third, if you do put it on your LinkedIn profile in current jobs, make sure it is second or possibly third on your list of current jobs. The default is the first item, but immediately move it below your full-time job. Marc just moved Repurpose Your Career podcast host to his third current job. That way, it doesn’t come up in the header.
[8:59] The key piece here is to make sure you have ‘a story’ to tell your employer when they discover your side job.
[10:12] Marc was talking to an employee of a large technology company recently who wanted to retire in a year and move into real estate investing — and wanted to put that on LinkedIn but didn’t want the company to know he was retiring in a year. Honesty is the best policy. Make sure you have your story straight.
[11:07] Elizabeth points out that you’d better be ready to make the jump financially if your employer decides they don’t want to keep you around because of your side gig. Marc says that side gigs are becoming more common. All you have to do is figure out if it competes with your current position. It is especially common for older workers.
[11:47] Q3: I have interviewed with several companies and I’m about to get an offer for a pretty good position but I’m also interviewing with another company next week that I think I want more. How should I handle this?
[12:01] A3: These are good times! Marc gives a case study of navigating two potential positions. First, say nothing until you have a formal offer. Second, with the formal offer in hand, find out how long they will give you to respond.
[13:00] Third, go to the second company and tell them you have a really good offer in-hand. Ask if they can speed up the interview process; if you are ‘attractive enough,’ they will. Don’t do anything until you have the first offer in-hand on paper or DocuSign. There is still room to negotiate the offer if it is not just what you want.
[13:46] Marc returns to the case study. The second potential employer sped up the process to one week. They did not, in the end, make an offer, but as they were prompt, the interviews did not interfere with his accepting the position of the first company. The applicant renegotiated the original offer with the first company.
[14:09] The key piece is that no one’s working for you. A headhunter is being paid by the employer, not by you. Be careful with them. As you draw out the first offer, make sure you treat them fairly and don’t drag them along. Make sure no one is deceived. Once you have that first offer, others will speed it up if you are an attractive candidate.
[15:06] Marc says we live in good times. He has had, in the last year, multiple clients who’ve gotten multiple offers. It’s kind of nice, being loved! Marc has also had several clients who’ve gotten five-figure signing bonuses, in their 50s!
[16:10] It’s all about making sure you have that first offer in-hand and it is official. You don’t do anything until you have it in-hand.
[16:22] Marc says those were good questions. If anyone in the audience has a question for Marc and Elizabeth, please go to the contact form on CareerPivot.com or send a question to Podcast@CareerPivot.com, and Marc will get back and add it to the queue, or respond to the email if you are subscribed to the podcast or the CareerPivot blog.