A corporate communications professional asks: I have been working for the past six years on a part-time consultant basis and want to get back into full-time. How do I land that 6-figure job? I have the experience for sure: newspaper reporting, financial writing, sales, 5 years off to have children, then consulting and teaching at a university and now 6 years in marketing/public relations as a part-time consultant. I have a Master’s Degree in Corporate Communications. Where do I start?
A corporate communications professional asks:
I have been working for the past six years on a part-time consultant basis and want to get back into full-time. How do I land that 6-figure job? I have the experience for sure: newspaper reporting, financial writing, sales, 5 years off to have children, then consulting and teaching at a university and now 6 years in marketing/public relations as a part-time consultant. I have a Master’s Degree in Corporate Communications. Where do I start?
There are two questions here: how do you go from part-time to full-time; and how do you get the salary commensurate with your role and experience?
Regarding the full-time shift, given your relevant work experience and advanced degree, this should just be a matter of getting in front of the decision-makers at your target firms. Ones that have progressive childcare policies will be most empathetic to your time off, but given that you’ve been back for six years, don’t limit yourself to family-friendly places. Focus on your extensive and varied experience. Highlight your advanced degree. Have specific projects that you can talk about in a compelling and engaging manner that demonstrate your expertise and seniority.
As for the salary, this is trickier, only because past salary is a very strong anchor for the hiring employer. Even though you’ve been working part-time and this is completely different than full-time, the employer may factor your part-time salary into determining your value. Some people take less money than the full-time equivalent to work part-time so your salary may be artificially lower. Part-time roles may require less management responsibility so your salary may not adequately reflect your seniority. Therefore you need to take the focus off of what you were making and put it back on what you should be making based on the new role.
Know what the market pays for people in the full-time role you are seeking. Know what people with your years of experience and educational training typically make. Make a detailed case for the value you will bring. Keep the emphasis on the current role and keep the discussion focused on the business. This is not about what you need. This isn’t even about what you deserve. This is about what is best for the business. As much as employers use past salary as an anchor, they also want what they want and are willing to pay market rates (and even more sometimes) to hire who they want.
Is Your Job Search Flexible or Just Unfocused?
As a recruiter, I’ve seen lack of flexibility on the recruiting side with employers clinging to every last detail in their ideal spec while perfectly good candidates get overlooked. As a career coach, I see jobseekers prematurely dismissing possible targets waiting for that perfect job. It’s true that you want to be focused in your job search (otherwise you dilute your efforts and come across as scattered and possibly desperate).
5 Questions to Test If Your Resume Is Recruiter-Proof
After recruiting in search and in-house for over ten years, I have read thousands of resumes. Due to sheer volume of resumes received and all the other things that vie for the recruiter’s attention in the hiring process – scheduling, interviewing, networking, reference checks, client debriefs, and more – the resume review process is ruthlessly quick.
Why Conventional Wisdom On Work Flexibility Is Always Wrong
In a previous post, I wrote about why employment statistics are always wrong. In a similar way, conventional wisdom on work flexibility is always wrong. It is impossible to generalize something that is inherently case-by-individual case. Therefore, any boilerplate advice or conventional wisdom is bound to omit a key consideration, underweight or overemphasize other considerations, or take too long-term or short-term of a view.
