My good friend and <gulp> dare I say one of my mentors at AT&T is in an awesome, must-read article in this week's BusinessWeek called Time Out Well Spent. The article basically profiles what Vance did and how she positioned herself in between leaving her job as PNC Bank's CMO and her new current job as VP of Sales, Service and Marketing at Sirius Radio. The entire article is so Vance and even if you don't know her or don't care about AT&T, you must read this article if you are in Corporate America and facing a job change - forced or not (this means you E*Trade employees who I know read this blog). In a nutshell here are:
VANCE'S TIPS FOR SURVIVING YOUR IN BETWEEN JOB TIME
- Imagine what you'd like to do if you had no constraints - Vance started her own marketing consulting firm and then looked at trying something new like dog training. Yes, dog training.
- Create an elevator pitch - Seems like a no-brainer, but how many of you have one? Personally, I always focused on making my elevator pitch something that my wife could explain to people when asked what I do for a living. Back in the day it was "oh he sells wireless service" (not really I marketed it) and then at Harrisdirect it was "oh he is a managing director at a brokerage firm". Now it is "we (notice the we) run online advertising for political campaigns like John McCain for President and other clients"
- Hit the phones and the e-mail list - All about networking and that's probably one of the most important factors in getting hired now a days. Funny quote in the article is that an old boss of LaVelle's said to her "Build relationships before you need them...", I wonder who that old boss was.
- Just Do It - Vance focused on other things on her list of to dos while being in between jobs. According the article she enrolled in a course to become proficient in new media trends, such as RSS feeds and blogging. I have it on good authority that I was the reference to the new media trends, but I got described as a course <sigh>. Vance was trying to get me a free plug for this blog, but I guess I ended up on the cutting room floor.
- Make a Decision - Basically figure out which new job you want and make a decision. Vance had two job offers one from GE and one from Sirius and obviously went with the Sirius one. I also remember one other job she was thinking about too (not at that time) and I have to admit I was pulling for the one she didn't mention because getting a job there for an outsider is almost impossible.
I met Vance back in 1994 when I transferred into her Consumer Card group from a job tip from my friends Sheryl R. and Grace B who shared an office (side note: Back when AT&T was focused on MOI as a financial measurement, they stole an office sign from someone else in the building whose name spelled out Watchin Moi and hung it on their ceiling). The district manager who I worked for at the time who reported into Vance was shall we say a little different from other managers. However, even though he probably hated it, he did allow me to have more than my share of exposure with my Division Manager Vance. Many times I had to go around him to work directly with Vance.
Vance used to keep a binder filled with key facts that she needed to know in meetings. If you've known me since 1995, you've noticed that I kept a binder too and I religiously kept it updated because as Vance once told me, if you get asked a question in a meeting you need to have an answer right there. My binder has been replaced by a laptop.
During AT&T's response to MCI's Friends and Family 2, I was locked (not physically) in a conference room for a week working on the response by putting together a multi-million dollar campaign that included direct mail, TV, budget, as well as forecast with a cast of other marketing folks. Vance surprised me with 5 American Express gift certificates as a thank you; I bought Amazing Spider-man (need the hyphen) comic books with them.
Anyway, I'm out of steam and the YouTube debate tonight kind of ruined my train of thought. So I'll stop here with the Vance love-fest.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
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