Some Thoughts on Brand, Career, and What Really Matters
I was chatting with a friend recently who said the following. It's part question, part observation:
βI have been weighing up a few job offers and keep going back and forth. One role offers the chance to influence the entire stack, while another is at a big name company that would look great on my CV. The smaller role seems more impactful, but I worry that passing on the big brand could hurt my long term career prospects.
I have made similar decisions before. Sometimes they have paid off, other times I have had βbuyerβs remorse.β It is hard to know which path will truly benefit my career.β
Career progression and brand are topics I have strong opinions about. That said, they are opinions in the truest sense of the word, so bear that in mind when you read what follows.
TED talk in coming π.
When Brand Beats Skill
There's a intrinsic link between career progression and brand. We've all seen situations where someone with "less skills" gets a role, position, or opportunity that seems a little... Unexpected shall we say.
I believe that's the instrinsic link manifesting itself!
Let's talk about brand for a bit. I reckon it occurs on 2 levels.
The Two Layers of Brand
The CV level. Traditionally this is what most of us experience and are used to. When you think about taking a role at Mega Co vs Tiny Inc and what this might do for your career, you're still thinking about brand.
- What influence can I have at Mega Co vs Tiny Inc?
- What impact can I make at Mega Co vs Tiny Inc?
- What opportunities will I have at Mega Co vs Tiny Inc?
- What do my responsibilities look like at Mega Co vs Tiny Inc?
- ...and how will all that affect future job prospects beyond Mega Co or Tiny Inc?
When I read what I just wrote, it feels like we could swap the word "Brand" for "Prospects".
The Market level. I'd say this is what that last bullet expands out to. I don't think this is anything weird. We're thinking at this level if/when we:
- Consider how an opportunity or role will impact future opportunities outside our current org.
- Attend local meetups, conferences, etc to meet new people.
- Taking a specifc role or learning a specific skill in order to set you up for the next (also specific) role.
- Share what we've been doing professionally online, whether that's in more formal or less formal places.
Or at least, you might be. For one thing, you could just as easily be doing any/all of these for the learning opportunity.
Regardless, that last bullet is where the trouble begins.
The Social Media Treadmill
With the rise of social media, that last bullet has taken on a life of its own. It feels like we have to be...
postingAllTheThings...
...AllTheTime...
...InAllThePlaces.
When it comes to our careers, I believe at this point, it's mandatory to have some kind of online presence. At some point in the process, hiring managers & recruiters will look you up online. What would you like them to find?
Sooo... How Much Should You Care?
Which creates a bit of a dilemma.
How much should you focus on "brand building" versus, you know, doingTheThing? There's only so much time/energy/resources available alongside everything else that's going on in our lives.
But this is getting a bit long, so I'll cover that in another post π