My Jobs, Second Job a Winner

A few days ago I shared some of my career history by detailing my first job out of school. Today I want to continue this series by giving details on the second job I held after graduation.

The second job I held was again for a Fortune 500 company, another top one in its field, but with a company culture that was far less dog-eat-dog in nature than job #1. And instead of working 70 hours a week at the old place, I could get by with only 55 to 60 at the new one. Score! (FYI, I actually held several jobs at this company (within two different divisions) and I'll cover each job with a different post.)

I found the new job through an executive recruiter. I could see the writing on the wall at the last place, started working my network, and ended up with a couple of job opportunities. This one was the better of the two by far. It required me to move to another state (good thing too, as this is where I met my wife!), so I packed up (actually, they paid a moving company to pack me up -- it took them about 15 minutes) and I was off!

The initial job was both a promotion and a pay increase for me. I was at the next level of management and made roughly 15% more than in my previous position (plus some added benefits that made the total package +20% or so). I was part of a team responsible for marketing a large, national food brand, and while the work was demanding, I liked it a lot. I also made some great friends that allowed me to enjoy time outside of work as well. It was quite a refreshing change from job #1.

I learned several things while working in this job including:

• You can enjoy what you do as well as get paid for it. This was the first job I had where I had fun and didn't dread Mondays (at least as much). I also didn't have to work both days on the weekend (I worked a lot of Saturdays) which also made the job more lifestyle-friendly.

• You can get more accomplished in the right environment. Where the first job was a fight between people -- even those working on the same business -- to get ahead, this company focused more on teamwork. And the results were amazing. Not only did we get more done in less time, but it was a pleasurable experience along the way. This dynamic really impacted me and set the stage for how I'd run my teams in the future.

• Politics are everywhere. Don't get me wrong -- it wasn't Disney World. I had one General Manager that just didn't like me (for whatever reason -- ever have one of those?) and he was rude to me from day #1. Thankfully he was in another division and I didn't have to see him much (but oh how things were going to change -- yikes! You'll get more scoop on this in the next post in this series.)

• Hard work plus luck equals promotion. I worked hard at my job and had some major accomplishments that got noticed by those higher up in the company. That with a combination of being in the right place at the right time and making one lucky statement got me promoted to an even higher position. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll save that story for the next time.

That's it for this round. In a few days I'll tell you how I got promoted again and ended up working for a maniac. :-)

Comments

[Q]

This is a pretty uninformative series.

[FMF]

Q --

Really? I think it's interesting, but that's me.

What do the rest of you think? Should I stop the series or go on???

[Paul Williams @ Provident Planning]

I think given your career success, you should continue the series. Your experiences can help others see ways to improve what they're doing at work and get ahead or how to avoid possible pitfalls. I like these posts.

[Carrie]

I like it.

[Christy]

I like it too. Keep going!

[Aron]

Ouch, Q, wrong side of the bed today?

Please continue, FMF.

[Austin]

I also agree that you should continue the series. After all, a person's job can significantly influence his or her net worth.

As for the general manager, my best guess is that a person related to him didn't get hired because of you, especially since this started from day #1. Whatever the reason, he was still being very unprofessional.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you believe makes a good or great team, especially when dealing with creative work? In other words, how would you and do you run teams? Unfortunately, this stuff isn't usually taught at school.

[FMF]

Austin --

The first one's a HUGE question -- and depends on the business situation, department, goals of the organization, etc. In general, clear direction on the objectives, good leaders and sub-leaders, and a willingness to cooperate and do what it takes to get the job done are essential. But like with personal finance, so much depends on the uniqueness of the situation, so I can't give any more meaningful details than those.

As far as how I like to lead, that's easier. A summary:

1. Hire great people.

2. Give people the objectives of their projects -- what needs to be done, by when, with what resources, any constraints, etc.

3. Give them freedom to get the job done.

4. Help clear their way (with my peers, my boss, committees -- people and groups that maybe they need to help but can't influence like I can) when problems arise.

5. Congratulate them on a job well done (assuming it goes well) and make sure their accomplishments are recognized within the organization.

There's a lot more to it than that (of course), but that's a quick run-through of what I at least try to do.

[Mneiae]

I love this series; I really don't know what Q is talking about.

And I like your list :)

[Jimmy]

It's funny. As I was reading this post I kept thinking how good it was and how I can't wait for the other installments. My vote is to keep it going FMF.

Great job!

[NothingSpecial]

I love it FMF. I am still in the on-set of my career (5-years into it) and much like you, I started at an extremely competitive company… Big 4 accounting. However, unlike you, I am still there. For some reason I strive in this environment, however I really love to read about the path other’s careers have taken them down. Keep it up!

[Mike Hunt]

You know my vote- keep it up!

Good stuff.

-Mike

[Eric]

I can't get enough of this! Don't let one bad opinion spoil the whole thing. I think Q may be disappointed because you can't go into the specifics of the company and projects so it may seem like general talk. Either way, this is one of the most enjoyable series I've read in a long time.

Keep it up!

[Cory]

I like the career posts FMF. Quick question out of curiosity. How did you justify working on Sundays early in your career as a Christian?

[Concojones]

I have to admit that I thought like Q when this series started (conclusions seem kind of obvious once you're past that stage), but I can tell it's getting really interesting from this post on (coincidentally, FMF is now past the point where I am in my career).

So FMF started to really like your job - that's excellent!! And 60-70h/week... that really seems like a lot, given that it a Fortune 500, not management consulting. Would that be typical for ambitious youths in the US? In Europe we work much less...

Any young people care to reply?

[FMF]

Cory --

I wasn't a Christian then...

[FMF]

Concojones --

I can't speak for everyone, but it was certainly common for the group of friends/co-workers I had.