Back Seat Marketers

When I was getting ready for my career search coming out of college in what was at the time a pretty bad economy, my father told me that I should look at my job search in a couple different ways than just the starting salary. Not making any kind of salary made money important to me, but I listened anyway.

In a job search, he guided me to think about the industry that a company plays in, and then the company’s position in it. Lastly, he said to look at the job and how important it is to the company’s plans.

OK, so in a bad economy you take what you can get and Montgomery Ward was it for me. Not the biggest, fastest growing or the best, it was a middling retailer fighting against its big brother Sears (no lie, the CEO’s brother was the CEO of Sears) in a world that was just about to see WalMart change everything for both retailers.

With my recent job change underway, I’m happy to say that I am heading to a role doing what I enjoy doing and a company that has the right to play in a growing field. The job will be a fun one, but the fact that the company is in a strong position in an industry that has more change ahead of it than behind it, I am excited to get started soon.

You know when fatherly advice is sound when you can tell it to others, and it sticks. In passing along my Dad’s advice, I have been told how wise the advice is, and it definitely is knowing it’s source.