culpwrit

Q.  I started a new job two days ago, and already have grave concerns about my decision to move here from my former position.  I’m sure I made a mistake.  Do I have to stay for a minimum time?  Recommendations?

A.  When I moved to a new job several years ago, I also felt I made a mistake within hours of arriving at the new company.  However, I had moved across the country and realized that I needed to make the best of a job I didn’t really like.  While the job never clicked, I found aspects of it allowed me to feel that I was doing something interesting enough to stay for a few more days.  Days turned into months, and I remained two years before moving to another job.  Today, the 2-year rule for jobs no longer applies.

Don’t do anything drastic–like quit–before having a back up plan in place.  Unless you are independently wealthy or able to boomerang to your old job, you’re likely stuck in the new job until you can find another.   Your situation underscores the importance of not burning bridges with past employers.  Quietly loop back. In this short a time, your old job likely hasn’t been filled. 

If ethical concerns exist, then you might have to bite the bullet and quit without having a back up plan.  Don’t remain in a situation where you are miserable.  You can fill your time until the next job with volunteer projects or freelance/temp assignments. 

  Tom Nicholson 

When starting my career I was told to avoid working for a not-for-profit organization.  “Once there you will never escape the non-profit world and the experience doesn’t count in corporate America.”  That strong caution may have been appropriate at one time, but may be far too harsh today.

One of the best organizations I have worked with is the non-profit Arthur W. Page Society.  The experience of working with the top corporate communication professionals in the world, managing the budget, staff and programs has expanded my view of what’s possible on limited budgets.  When I joined three years ago the Society had negative cash flow for the previous four years.  It was producing two major meetings a year, plus regional meetings, teleconferences and publishing a member directory.  Its strongest asset was its membership base, comprised of more than 300 of the top communicators in the world.

With the active participation of more than 100 members, we were able to grow the Society’s programs, publications and value proposition.  Working with committee and task force chairs to create new ideas,  bring them to life and see them funded has been both exciting and gratifying.  In the last three years, we’ve had the opportunity to make our events bigger and more successful, have published two white papers, launched a new program to develop future leaders in the profession, started a public blog, created a private social networking site, improved our web site, streamlined our operations and systems, improved a monthly web newsletter and converted our directory to a more up to date on-line version.   Cash flow and net income is also now positive.

Many of these activities are exactly the kinds of things a corporate communication department or an agency would do and I had the benefit of the thinking of some of the best in the business as we revamped and improved the Society,

Our communication director, Anuneha Mewawalla, has also gained invaluable experience managing many of these new initiatives and writing many of the Society communications.  Her experience at the non-profit Page Society directly parallels the experience of my former colleagues in corporate communication roles.  And the variety of projects she is involved with is likely much broader than a corporate position and on par with agency peers.

While the non-profit world has a reputation for low pay, that too is changing.  The right talent can make a big difference to a non-profit organization and many are willing to recruit and pay for talented people.  The experience can be invaluable and the exposure to a wide variety of corporations and agencies provides a perspective that is hard to match when working for a corporate entity.

Volunteers, like the committee and task force members at the Page Society, are not only making a big difference in the success of the organization through their active participation, they are also sharing their expertise and perspective with staff members.  It’s that kind of information exchange that helps to make a non-profit experience even more valuable for hard-working staff members.
 
Most non-profits welcome the help of additional volunteers.  It can be a good way to network and broaden your own perspective.  It also can bring the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to advance a cause you believe in.

Whether as a volunteer or an employee, non-profits may be worth a serious look. 

(Tom Nicholson is Executive Director of the Arthur W. Page Society, the association of senior PR professionals.  Peviously, Tom has worked in corporations and agencies).

Q.  I’ve been with my current agency for two years, and the pay freeze from last year was just lifted at the same time I’ve been offered a job by another firm.  The offer, however, is for only slightly more than I’m currently making.  What should I expect raise wise from my current employer?  Shouldn’t an offer to move elsewhere come with a bigger bump than I’m being offered?  Since nothing has been said about a raise, how can I determine what to expect?  -TG

A.  The tough economic climate of the past few years has wreaked havoc on salaries and increases.  

In the last couple of years, many companies and agencies froze salaries and some simply delayed raises and promotions.  Now that there are signs of economic recovery and companies are becoming increasingly concerned about keeping talent, raises will perk up this year.  Compensation experts suggest 2010 raises will range from 2 to 7 percent.  As companies attempt to attract key talent, job offer salaries also will go up.  But currently, the market is still driven by more available talent than jobs.  Therefore, don’t expect to see sizable increases for jumping to a new position. 

Normally, organizations have a pay raise routine tied to anniversary dates of your being hired or your last promotion.  You should simply ask your supervisor to explain the process.  This request alone may be sufficient to trigger action, especially if it’s been a year since your last increase.  If you feel you need to build a case for a salary increase, you might want to check out the free sample salary increase memo from Quintessential Careers.

Q.  I’ve been out of college and working for the past two years.  I was surprised when my prospective new boss asked me how much money I was currently making.  I didn’t expect such a direct question.  Since I need to make more money and am due for a salary adjustment and perhaps a promotion, I stretched the truth by 20 percent.  I haven’t heard if I got the job and am having second thoughts if I did the right thing.  Isn’t this common in job change situations?   -CB

A.  You took a significant risk that has a 50 percent chance of coming back to haunt you.  Some organizations check salary history with former employers, although a growing number no longer do so.  So, your gambling by stretching the truth. 

Here are the common questions prospective employers ask current/former employers prior to making a job offers: 

• job title, and sometimes, job responsibilities,
• final salary,
• dates of employment, and
• would you hire this person back (a confirmation of employer satisfaction with the employee)

There are other ways for you to make your case for a significant salary bump without being untruthful beginning with the probability that the new job has more responsibilities than the current one.  So, mention the difference in scope of work, while citing the pending salary increase and what increase range your employer normally offers (generally 4 to 6 percent unless a promotion, which amounts to more). 

Reminder:  Unless asked, don’t mention salary expectations in the initial interview.  (I’ve actually seen salary expectations mentioned in unsolicited cover letters with resumes–a definite faux pas.)  When asked about current salary, tell the truth and make your case for additional salary consideration.

Online job boards are cropping up like crocus in spring.  While we’ve  highlighted several U.S. job boards, there also are a growing number of sites covering jobs in the United Kingdom.

I looked at several  job boards over the weekend, and asked U.K. blogger Richard Bailey to weigh in on those I selected.  

Here are our picks for current U.K.-based sites.  Let me know if a favorite of yours is missing.

Readers of this blog might say “duh” when they see the ranking of career choices published this week by online job site CareerCast.com.  Bottom line:  PR tops other communication disciplines such as advertising and journalism in the listing of top 200 jobs. 

In the communications field, PR ranked 79th, newscaster came in 95th, advertising account executive was 105th, and newspaper reporter, 184.  Beginning with Department of Labor data, CareerCast developed its own algorithm that measured physical and emotional risk and stress along with outlook and salary. 

While advertising and PR were close in the rankings, PR won on both salary and job outlook.  Salary for PR Execs is listed as high as the top job (actuary) at $89,000.  No surprise that newspaper journalist came in at one of the lowest salary levels ($36,000), plus hiring prospects are listed as “very poor.” 

The Top 10 professions are:

1. Actuary
2. Software Engineer
3. Computer Systems Analyst
4. Biologist
5. Historian
6. Mathematician
7. Paralegal Assistant
8. Statistician
9. Accountant
10. Dental Hygienist

By the way, oil and pipeline roustabouts were ranked lowest due to low pay, long hours, and extreme exertion and bodily risk.  Click here to see the Top 200 Jobs. 

This week’s post about green and sustainability jobs brought a question from someone who recently landed a CSR position with a major corporation.  He asked for advice on how to incorporate green points of view in his CSR recommendations to management. 

Fortunately, friend and PR counselor Bruce Harrison has given this question a lot of thought so I enlisted him to offer up the following suggestions that will help anyone charged with green responsibilities at corporations or agencies.  Bruce runs EnviroComm Inteternational and he writes and lectures frequently on green subjects.  Here’s his recommended game plan for 2010:

Corporate greening moves up on corporate agendas as the economy strengthens and government pushes for private sector action.  Here are 10 points, or reminders, for PR professionals that will help them in all things green in 2010…and beyond.

1.         Educate yourself.  Get briefed on how the company is handling all environmental, health and safety matters. Insist on specifics.  Your key question:  How do our green and carbon credentials stack up against competitors’?

2.         Think 3 bases.  Shape your greening strategy to cover financial, social and government accountabilities. Your point:  These three must work together to define the company’s sustainability.

3.         Manage perception. On the web, in executive speeches, wherever you’re perceived, make green messages consistent and aligned.  Your question:  How does this advance our investor, social and political interests?  

4.         Get validated.  Put your greenness to the test of respected third parties.  Key move:  Among your external evaluators, include the Carbon Disclosure Project.

5.         Buddy up.  Find common ground with other influentials and work through them. Involve top executives as appropriate. Your point:  Let’s improve our options through groups like Business Roundtable, industry associations and green activists.

6.         Qualify stakeholders.  Focus first on stakeholders with high-impact perceptions.  Your questions:   Who cares about our greenness?  Why?  Who can we count on? Who do we need to work on?  How do we neutralize detractors?

7.         Think as they do.  Find ways—research, feedback systems—to get your head around each stakeholder’s value point.  Think:  What’s in it for this stakeholder?  What must we deliver to get his or her approval?

8.         Size up Uncle Sam.  Sit down with business unit and government relations managers to see what they need, plan to seek, are willing to accept in terms of government help.  Your contribution:  Engage with them on a strategic PR plan that balances sustainability factors.

9.         Stay online.  Assign responsibilities to engage in social media.  Your checkup question:  Are we on top of conversations that affect our green perception?

10.      Forearm.  Get pre-crisis intelligence.  Use search engines, competitive research, internal grapevines—whatever it takes to constantly plug in to what could become reputation risk.  Your goal:  Your people bring you red flags before executives and others tell you about them. 

Q.  I got more job help than I needed this Christmas as relatives told me about job openings ranging from pharmaceutical sales to community organizer, none of which meets my goal of landing an PR agency job.  When do I throw in the towel and bow to pressure from home and wallet?  -BL

A.  Job experts, including Crootpad, indicate most job searches average three to six months, although nearly 12% run significantly longer.  Entry-level positions in public relations run as high as nine months and longer, although there are signs of improvement as we enter 2010. 

If the jobs your relatives mentioned are real, you might want to pursue them even though doing so would be a detour from your original career goal.  In this economy, you are better off taking a job from which you can gain experience, and then network towards a position you really want.  There’s no shame in brief career detours during this recession.  Plus, you’ll undoubtedly gain relevant experience that strengthens your resume. 

If you decide to take a momentary detour, find ways to stay engaged in your preferred profession.  Part-time jobs, pro-bono PR with local charities or other volunteer activities become important additions to your resume.  Recently, I met an impressive Indiana University grad who is working full-time in liquor distribution sales, and he is working part-time as a weekend producer for a radio station.  He’s making a good salary and is confident the combination of current jobs will lead to bigger and better opportunities. 

A young friend decided to enroll in graduate school this month as a way to wait out the lackluster job market.  Since he always had planned to get a master’s degree, I couldn’t debate the decision.  However, I encourage everyone to make sure they’re pursuing advanced degrees for the right reasons. 

I enlisted Syracuse University professor Bill Coplin to weigh in on the grad school quandary.  Bill has written extensively on the subject and I, coincidentally, agree with his approach to graduate school. 

   Bill Coplin 

Graduate school has always been appealing to people in their 20’s. With the economy going south, the appeal has increased. Like all investments, the decision needs to be based on sound reasoning; not because it delays dealing with adulthood, the loss of freedom in working 40 hours a week, student loan payments or the current tough job market.

In advising college seniors and young alums over the past 40 years at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, I have found that too many students go to graduate school for the wrong reasons.  The vast majority of my 1,500 undergraduate majors over the past 40 years have had wonderful careers without going to graduate school. Less than 5% have gone right after graduations and about another 10% have gone at a later date. Many of those went part-time while holding down a full time job.

Deciding to go to graduate school should be a business decision where the risks, costs and rewards of this significant investment in time and money are carefully considered.

In some cases, the advanced degree is absolutely necessary but there are still some things to consider. Some professions like law and medicine require graduate school so you need to go but don’t do it unless you have had some relevant real world experiences like an internship in a law office or working as a volunteer EMT. Some businesses, government (especially teaching) and non-profits want you to have an advanced degree but do it part time and as easily and cheaply as possible.  

In other cases, an advanced degree is a matter of choice.  The decision should be made only after thorough investigation. Going to graduate full time is like deciding on whether or not you want to do surgery on a bad back.  Try all other options first.

You can reduce the risks and costs and increase the rewards in the following ways:

1. Work for at least two years after you have graduated college even if it is in a low-end job. Why?  The better graduate programs want students with work experience.  The work experience may to a rewarding career in a way you never expected.  You will have a better idea on what you want to do. If you can’t get a job because of the poor job market, go to a staffing firm and get a temp job. If you have had several relevant jobs and internships in our college year, you may find it useful to go to graduate school right out of college.  Otherwise, don’t do it.
2. Go part-time if you have a job.  The primary value of a graduate program is the application you can make to the real world of the theoretical material taught in class. If you have no work experience, you have not basis for application. In addition, the network of alumni and student graduate schools provide is the biggest payoff so whatever educational benefit you get from full time attendance is secondary. In addition, if you find the graduate program is not what you thought it was, dropping out is not such a big deal.
3. Investigate the publicity material provided by the school by interviewing current students and alumni. Ask for a list of graduates that you can call.  Carefully review any job placement material provided. “Buyer beware” applies to graduate school sales pitches as much as it does to TV advertisements about automobiles or bathroom cleaners.
4. Don’t be enticed by rankings.  The top ranked schools have an edge in job placement if you want to look nationally for a job. However, if you want to work in the location of the graduate school, the less prestigious might be a more direct path to a valued career.
5. Cost savings should be a key consideration especially if you are incurring debt or if you have debt from undergraduate school.  Debt burdens may require you to share an apartment with 3 roommates, live at home, have no car or even take a job that pays more than a more interesting job in a place you don’t want to be.  All of this can counteract the benefits hoped for in going to graduate school.
6. Don’t go into a Ph.D. program unless you want to be a professor or a professional researcher and understand that the average time to graduation is 9 years and jobs in almost all fields are scarce.

Check out Chapter 21 in my book 25 Ways to Make College Pay Off for a more complete discussion on how to think about graduate school.

Bill Coplin is a professor of public policy at the Maxwell School and The College of Arts and Sciences of Syracuse University, and author of “Ten Things Employers Want You to Learn in College” (Ten Speed Press, 2003) and “25 Ways to Make College Pay Off: Advice for Anxious Parents from a Professor Who’s Seen it All” (AMACON, 2007). Readers may  e-mail him at wdcoplin@syr.edu.

The Great Recession caused a dip in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs as companies cut budgets in order to remain profitable.  As the economy improves in 2010, many predict increased growth in CSR activities since “doing good” builds brand reputations and increases sales. 

Innovative CSR guru Rob Densen shares my point of view, predicting that integrated marketing programs that include CSR will grow in 2010.  I asked Rob to start off the new year of Culpwrit with this guest post focusing on CSR.

   Rob Densen 

Astruggling economy notwithstanding, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs maintained critical momentum in 2009. Maybe there is hope for my treatment for a TV show called CSR that integrates the cast and plot-lines of CSI and ER. So what if they’re on different networks?  Ridiculous, yeah, I know. Clearly, I need to stick to my day job at Tiller, LLC.

At Tiller, we have a slightly different take on CSR.  We believe it is corporately responsible to grow the bottom line. But we also believe that CSR programs can – and, ideally, should – help companies build both brand and business while meaningfully advancing customer concerns and needs. We call this Cause Commerce.™

Since we opened our doors seven years ago, we’ve experienced overwhelming interest in our approach among new and recent college graduates.  Young people understand business needs to act in customer-aligned sorts of ways.  They want to work in Corporate America and they want to make a difference in society; they’re just looking for an opportunity. 

To me, the challenge for those of us who want to work in this space  – almost-Social-Security-eligible-script-writing-CSR consultants or recent college graduates alike – is growing the pie.  We need to educate, encourage, and embolden Corporate America, demonstrating the power of a CSR program conceived and executed at the intersection of corporate expertise and social need.   As long as CSR programs are viewed as slight, unessential, at the periphery, job opportunities will be too few and too far between – for all of us.  So how do we grow the pie? 

I’m a big believer in the power of an irresistible idea.  It’s a mistake to think of CSR as a PR off-shoot. It’s not. PR is just the public-facing communications piece. CSR programs rise and fall on the quality of the underlying idea.  And the more that idea speaks directly to a core corporate competency while addressing a critical social need, the better. And that idea can come from anyone, anywhere and anytime.  It may seem apocryphal but it’s not: Teach For America had its origins in founder Wendy Kopp’s senior thesis.  If you’re really interested in transformational change, then what are you waiting for?

This may come as disappointing news, but I don’ have tons of links and references for you. To be sure, social media are incredibly useful and there are a handful of websites with CSR/CSR-like job postings: causemarketingforum.com comes most immediately to mind. But it’s not like there are hundreds of job posting at these sites.  My advice is don’t look for a job; create one.
 
• Think about your current employer. Is there an overlooked opportunity or need? When I was at OppenheimerFunds, we built the first nationwide advocacy program designed to empower women with their money, encouraging millions of women into the markets during a six-year stretch when, believe it or not, the market had a compound annual growth rate of 25%. Great for women, great for OppenheimerFunds  Obvious cause, yet no one had taken it on before.
.
• Is there a corporate/non-profit relationship that makes particular sense? One of our clients, Comfort Zone Camp, the nation’s leading bereavement camp for kids, and New York Life, one of the nation’s largest and best-regarded life insurers, have created a very logical and mutually beneficial relationship that will raise national awareness of childhood loss while burnishing the New York Life brand.  Bring the company to the non-profit or the non-profit to the company.

• What about a cause that is particularly meaningful to you?  Come up with an idea and a logical corporate sponsor, and then go sell it in. There are tons of examples of great corporate/cause relationships across a wide range of issues – Pedigree/Pet Adoption, Olay/Skin Cancer, Scholastic/Border’s/Child Literacy.  These ideas originated somewhere. In my experience, the people at non-profits and in Corporate America responsible for these sorts of partnerships are generally willing to listen to a great idea.

• Stay alert, consume media –social and otherwise – critically.  There are a million great CSR platforms just waiting to be discovered. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots.

I know the prospect of creating a CSR platform must seem daunting.  Ambitious, sure. Doable? With energy and conviction and imagination, you bet.  Let me end with the words of someone, Michelangelo, who aimed – and worked – high: “The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and miss it; it’s that we aim to low and make it.”