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About me (and I will answer any questions you have that don't put me in a weird spot): 15 years of medical device sales, three of them as a manager overseeing the sales force of the Northeastern US. I have done negotiations and deals with the government, major institutions (Health Care Systems, buying groups, Harvard, Sloan Kettering, Columbia, Duke, etc.), all the way down to single doctor practice. As a manager, one of my duties is interviewing for territories that need to be back-filled, so I am experienced on both sides of the table when it comes to interviewing. Negotiating is my life, so feel free to ask any questions if you like. One thing I noticed, and maybe because it is particular to sales: I ask anyone interviewing for a job with me how much they make, why they are leaving, etc. This job is about making money, and I want to know your backstory, and whether or not I can trust that you have the skill and work-ethic for me to offer you a job that pays well. As a matter of fact, one of my standard questions that I ask of all candidates is "If you got a $50k commission check for x month, what would you do with it?" Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 16:05
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Tots posted:Do you think it would be prudent to seek out offers now or wait until I'm closer to the year mark? Either way I'm likely going to wait until my first performance review for a raise. If I say "I got an offer for 10k more 6 months ago" will anyone give a poo poo? This will be a bit of a read, but hopefully it helps. I wouldn't jump to another company for a lateral move unless I knew there was advancement potential, and that the potential didn't exist at my current employer. I was offered jobs with massive increases in base salary and possibly more money in commission, but I knew that I was liked in the company, and that if I stuck with it, that my career path here would be solid. If you're good at what you do, have potential, and most importantly, the important people at your company see that potential and will eventually promote you, it's often prudent to stick it out. My GF jumped companies to another one because her friend worked there and her friend said there was room for advancement, but didn't know what she was talking about. My GF was well-liked at her previous employer, and there weren't any immediate routes to promotion, so she jumped ship against my advice. When she got to the next employer, she ended up clashing with other people there because she did her job too well, and was making them have to work harder, as she was spotting errors in their numbers (she's a risk analyst). Pretty soon, she was on a performance plan, even though she had just gotten commendations and awards for her work. She was then in a race to find a new job before they pulled the trigger on her and let her go over BS reasons. She found a new job and is basically making the same, but it isn't as good as her old job where everyone loved her and she enjoyed it. My career path looked like this: Graduated college Sold Yellow Pages for one year, then got into medical sales since it was an obvious advancement, and where I wanted to be Worked at medical device company for 2.5 years and then jumped to a different company because the opportunity to make good money wasn't there where I was Worked at next company for two years and made a poo poo ton of cash, but they hacked the pay plan so that I would only make half of what I was making Went to next company, which looked good, but ended up being shady as gently caress and left after 1.5 years Went to next company and made good bank, but our product was discontinued and we all got laid off (2 years) Luckily, had a good name in the industry and got picked up at current company after only five weeks of being unemployed. Have been here over six years, with two promotions. During the time I've been here, I had many great offers from other places, but I performed well, became a top player, and was tight with one of the VPs. I knew that he was going places and I hitched my wagon to his. Six years later, he's the CEO and I'm one of the "inner circle." I still get good offers from other companies to be VP of Sales, etc., but as this company continues to grow, I've been here for a long time, and I'm one of the people they don't want to lose, and I have a good position. I also know that as things grow, I will be on track to more promotions if I stick it out, as there is a loyalty that's been built over the years, and they know that I always deliver. Moral of the story for me was that I made moves when I knew I had hit a ceiling or I had to move, but I've always played the long game, and I knew when to stick it out. I'm willing to make less money now if I know, or at least have a good intuition, that there will be a bigger payoff later. I've never asked for a raise from my current employers, as I'm compensated well, and they actually give me raises and bonuses proactively to retain me. I've let my boss know in passing at times that other companies were angling for me, but never in a fashion that made it seem that I was gunning for a raise. I said it in a matter-of-fact way, and they reached out to me because I've established my value to the company. Ask for a raise if you're sure they want you or need you, but if you're easily replaceable, you're just telegraphing the fact that you're not content, and then I'd worry that they will start looking for someone else who will be happy to do your job at the current pay or less. There are certain reps of mine, who, if they came to me for a raise, I would have to let my boss know that we had an issue and that we had to make them happy because they're too important to lose. The other reps? I would assume that, mentally, they may already be checked out and looking, and I would start calling recruiters to have a back-fill at the ready. Of course, we don't do raises in sales, generally, as a good rep will be making good money any way, and they make what they're worth. For us, it's more about making sure that the pay plan is good enough that good reps won't want to leave, and doing fun contests like giving away a nice car or expensive watch, etc. The only people who generally leave here are under-performers, and really, I like when they leave as it saves me the tedious process of having to fire them. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 23:23
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:One thing you could do is arrange a quick chat with your boss regarding your performance - this wouldn't be for any compensation review, just genuine performance feedback. Ask about things like what's been working well, how you can improve, etc from their perspective. If everything is going genuinely well or above-and-beyond, you can be sure of that going forward into the proper yearly official review, and can cite it when you *do* talk about compensation later. If it isn't going as well as you think, you have something (hopefully) specific to improve at, and you can point out that improvement at the official review. I think it's a pretty good thing to do once in awhile even if your compensation is fine, especially at companies that only do reviews once per year. This is a good idea, and I would also mention that you want to make yourself the best that you can be, and ask what changes he/she would suggest for improvement because you like the company and want to grow with it. Let them know you plan on sticking around and you have the desire to move up through the ranks. If a person is too new and they're telling me they're gunning for management opportunity, that can be a turn-off if they haven't already proven themselves at their position. But, if a person is good, and they have made it clear that they want to stay here and move up through the ranks, and I think they have the potential, I will start them on that path. I have two reps that I have been delegating some semi-management duties to and I am grooming them for advancement. A little mantra that we have in our executive circle is "always be grooming your successor." This way it ensures my good talent stays with us, and if I get promoted, my back-fill, whom I've already groomed, is right there. It's good to show you have ambition; it's just a matter of timing it right and saying it in the right way. All of the people who've been here that I've reported to knew that I planned to keep moving up in the company, and I made sure that I became a valuable asset, if not a necessary asset, to them. If your boss is a decent one, they'll know what to do. And as they rise, you will, as well -- as long as you're playing your cards correctly. Tots posted:I talk at least every other week with the person who is responsible for my financial well-being, but it also happens that this person is completely disconnected from my day today work which is how most of the firm is organized. My performance review is based on feedback that I solicit year round and that he solicits come review time. I try to plant seeds regularly by way of communicating the projects that I am taking on that are above my current level, so I believe I'm hitting all the basic points here. Is this person the one who would be able to promote you? If not, find out who pulls the strings and discretely make sure that they know you are going above and beyond and exceeding expectations. If your direct superior is disconnected from you and they are the one who can move you up, then you should either look for a better opportunity, find the person in the company who will notice your value AND has the ability to help you move up, or build experience until you can get a better job. All of my promotions were through identifying those who I knew were destined to move up in the ranks and demonstrating my value to them. I became personal friends with them as well as being a colleague, but I know that you need to hitch your wagon to a rising star. Even if it's not your direct superior, connect with the power players and show them your value. If your direct superior doesn't recognize your value, hopefully, they will. I transferred between two divisions in the company, because when one of my bosses transferred, he knew that I would be a rockstar for him, and he took me with him. When he left to head up another division, one of my colleagues who was a manager in a different division became a VP and needed a backfill, which was me, because he knew I was crushing it in the other division AND we were friends. Ability to do the job is important, but promotions are also about politics. Surround yourself with powerful people or those who you think will be powerful. As cliche as it sounds, often times it really does matter "who you know." In companies I worked for where I knew my boss had no upward mobility and would be threatened by anyone who could possibly replace him, I knew to move on to better pastures. I avoided big companies and tended to work for "smaller" (meaning not $billion+) companies where I would be noticed and wasn't a cog in the machine. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 00:46
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I would then say, gauge what you're worth, and when you think the time is right, move on to a company that will pay you what you're worth. If your company's policy for promotion is based on some weird system based on tenure/arbitrary values, you may want to look around for opportunities where you will be promoted based on merit. This takes honest introspection and the ability to determine that you're not being paid what you're worth and that you can do better. If you're not ready yet and need to pay your dues, so be it. If promotion will only come around on some arbitrary event, or you are competing for a future position with 15 other people who nobody has really done research on, and they will just fill without really good reasons for picking a specific person, then find a better opportunity. Again, this is based on the idea that you ARE worth more than you are being paid, and the ability to move up will NOT be based on your merit, and/or the cards aren't stacked in your favor. If you are good at what you do, and you show drive and initiative, you will find a good job that suits you. I know all too many people that are in dead-end jobs waiting for promotions that may never come because they are under the impression that if you work for the company long enough and hard enough, you will get what's deserved. Unfortunately, they seem to refuse to realize that politics plays into it and time served is in no way a metric for guaranteed promotion. Hell, when I started here as a sales rep there was a woman who had been here for a while and was a senior rep. The first time she met me, she sat me down to have a talk on "how to be successful" at this company. Long story short, four years later I ended up being her boss and having to fire her. Often times, career advancement is not the standard linear path many people believe it to be. e: Also, as far as titles: they really don't mean poo poo except to the company bestowing it. My "title" to some larger companies wouldn't sound very impressive. In my company (about $500 million), my title is actually a very powerful position. Don't worry about the title; the value is in the responsibilities of the role. At a larger company, my title would be equivalent to Senior Vice President or something along those lines. It sounds much less impressive at mine, but I don't much give a gently caress about titles. I've hired people who've had better titles than I currently have. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 01:27
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