Three questions employees should periodically ask themselves

David Beisel wrote two very popular blogs: "Seven Questions Employees Should Ask Before Joining a Startup" and "Seven Reasons To Become a Founding Entrepreneur". But undoubtedly before joining a startup or becoming a founder we all earn our experience as employees. I want to ask three questions everyone should be able to answer before starting seeking a new job and turning down or accepting an offer. Next to each question I give my thoughts but actually I'm still looking for answers too and invite you to help me to enrich the set of the options or even to add other questions. I'm talking only about positions growing from a technical trunk because my experience doesn’t allow me to speculate about other branches but if you can generalize the points you’re welcome to enhance. Here are the questions:

1. What is my dream position in 10 years?
Strategic direction is critical in understanding what next position may be or for making a decision to quit the current job. Not every step in a 10-year perspective can be foreseen and planned in advance. Even more – most of the steps are very luck-dependent. But without having a strategic point where you wish to be in 10 years any short-term planning doesn’t make sense. Since this projecting is strategic by the positions we mean reference points rather than locked courses. I see at least a few quite orthogonal directions (of course they don’t cover the entire job universe).

• Architect/Technology evangelist - very technical geek. No customer interactions, minimal business concerns, being on the edge and actual programming is all to dream about;
• CTO - looks on the business through a technical prism, knows how to compel technology to work for achieving business needs;
• CIO - technical background is preferable but not necessary, manages IT people, IT budget, programs but not IT technology;

There are many positions in between like a position in product definition, consulting, project/product management and many others. But to define a dream position for a 10 year time span it's sufficient to stick to one from the three.

2. What are the transition criteria?
It’s necessary to have a strategic direction but not less important to make tactical adjustments in order to drive to the target. How and when do you decide that you have to depart to a next position or job? First of all, the three big directions from above are very relative and your preferences may change as time goes by. You need to re-ask yourself this question and listen attentively to the answer you’re inclining to. Second of all, as you grow and become more experienced very attractive positions “in between” can arise – an analyst, an advisor, a consultant for not only technical things; you may get creative offers to join startups (where borders between positions are a kind of obscure) and corporations (where there are so many creative positions that you can be surprised). Third of all, the to-be-in-ten-year position should be projected on your decision making factors. I feel that CxO positions have lots of things in common that you can do before making split for technical or business management. There are some nice blogs (here and here) on how to plan your path to become a CTO or an architect and what skills/experience is required. My point here is one should periodically analyze what skills already are strenghthen and what are yet to be gained and then look for next position to supplement them.

3. Why do I want to work there?
Knowledge and experience, money, a formal position or future opportunities - are just few possilbe answers to this question. An ideal job may include positive answers to all the options but in real life it’s rarely the case. I think at least two questions of the four should have positive answers to explain for yourself why you work there.

• One of the most valuable attractions of a job is opportunities to learn and try new things. But the people factor is not less important. Next step to do after the job is exciting is to check the team you’ll work with. Your direct boss and the management of the company (it’s more relevant in case of a small company);
• Working for a brand, known company is a big advantage on any position. Later on people will treat the experience from the brand seeing your connection to the power and success of the company. Also usually a brand is a corporation and it’s never odd to get cultural experience of working in a big factory.
• Working for money is self-evident. Usually though if this point is the clincher to take the offer I would advise to turn it down. Money is never enough ever but if you work in an unknown company making boring staff with a team nothing to learn from you bring serious damage to your career.
• Future opportunities for me sound more like a reason to stay in a place you’re thinking over to leave. If you’re joining the company and from the opportunities perspective all it has is something for the future only why to join it? Though if you’re leaving and get a contra-offer to stay and do something exciting then it may make sense.

I’m sure I haven’t said anything new here and the points are almost trivial but I know so many colleagues and friends that take or don’t leave a place where they do very boring job, which doesn’t enrich their experience, work with people they never would like to have a drink with, have ridiculous salary and no sign on the horizon for change. No strategy, no tactic, no critical review of the situation.

To summarize the topic I want to say that your career path is a long-term project which importance can hardly be overestimated. Think strategically about your dream job, build a tactical plan, and make the right decision for every offer based on your plans.

Technorati tags: technology skills, career, CTO, architect
 

Comments

[Vinnie Mirchandani]

Roman, more than this blog, when I look at your profile - I see passion, love for the tech business, new locations etc. I think a new job has to align with your personality. It could be the most succesful IPO or rich comp package, but you would be miserable if the company values do not leverage your personality - not just your skills.

The other thing I would recommend is take a hard look at what the company thinks about its customers. Too many technology vendors and people in it think about Wall street (or VCs) and their tech partners more than their customers (they will not say it but their behavior shows it). Sounds corny but it all starts and ends with the customer

Finally, emerging opportunities are not just about new technology but also about new geographies and verticals. I do hope more 20 and 30 year olds spend time in Asia over the next few years. Or reshape our government or agriculture using technology. Applying innovation is often more rewarding than creating it...

[Maria Helm]

I would further Vinnie's comment about "align with your personality" by adding "align with your other personal goals". For instance, family, location, politics, or hobbies might be very important to your personal happiness. Be sure to align your 10 year plan, and every choice you make along the way, with whatever your life priorities are.

We all think it would be great to say we're the CEO of the next big thing. But what if you had to move cross-country away from everything and everyone you love? Or what if you were training for a triathalon, or undergoing chemotherapy, and suddenly had to work 60 hour weeks because you joined a company going into IPO? What if you love to garden and have lots of animals, but are offered a very attractive inner-city job with an impossible commute and long hours?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that success is more than the ending job title (unless that truly is your only priority in life). Success is finding a job that lines up with ALL of your personal goals, whatever they may be, and allows you to be (from every angle) the person you always wanted to be.

[Roman Rytov]

Maria,
I can't agree more with what you've said. Family, personal interests, individual preferences define the overall boundaries and the context of your decisions. And when you come down to the career spectrum on a more tactical level I believe the three questions help you make a right decision.