Building Your Career in Communications: The Three-Year Rule
Written by Elizabeth C. Castro, vice president, O’Malley Hansen Communications, Chicago, IL
One of the greatest things about the field of communications is that the opportunities are vast. You can go in any direction: corporate, consumer, non-profit, marketing, public relations, public affairs – the list goes on. Even in a tough economy like the one we’re experiencing now, I’ve continued to see friends and former colleagues change jobs and find new opportunities. Change is good, especially if you’re looking to grow your young career. I’m a big believer that unless your employer can provide you with growth opportunities as a young pro, you should look at your first few job experiences as stepping stones to bigger and better things.
As a young pro I historically changed my place of employment approximately every three years. Now I’m not saying that staying with one employer long term is a bad thing, especially if they allow you to grow at your own pace. If you’re lucky to find an employer that can provide you with an amazing career path, by all means take advantage of it. But by and large, I learned that changing my place of employment provided some incredible opportunities I would never have experienced if I didn’t step outside of my comfort zone.
Here are the benefits to moving on and how to tell when it’s time:
Culture Fit – Your place of employment has to offer a culture that is aligned with your values. If it’s not, you could find yourself frustrated and distracted from performing at your highest levels. But it’s actually good to experience working for an organization that isn’t a good fit. It shows you what you don’t want. And if you decide to work on the agency side, it can expand your understanding of your future clients. For example, I worked for an organization where most of the employees were 20+ year veterans and weren’t accustomed to change. Later in my career I had the opportunity to advise a client on employee engagement and change management issues that shared a similar culture. It was incredibly valuable for me to have had that experience first-hand because I understood the communicators’ challenges.
Professional Growth – I can vividly recall working for an organization where the focus was on the bottom line rather than the quality of work or new ideas. I thought to myself, “If I stay here, I won’t learn anything new.” Really, my biggest fear was that the world of communications was changing and my employer wasn’t changing with it. I worried about becoming a relic in the industry. If you find yourself working for an employer where you’re encouraged not to try new things, after you’ve learned what you can, move on.
What’s Your Management Style? – One of the hardest questions for a professional to answer is, “What is your leadership style?” Great leaders have had the opportunity to work under different managers who showed them effective leadership qualities, or even poor leadership. By working for a variety of other professionals you have the opportunity to gather leadership qualities you think are effective and apply them to your own style as you grow and move up. This is especially important in communications as implementing robust public relations, marketing and social media campaigns rely on team work. To be successful, you’ll need to effectively inspire and delegate.
Move Up – This is a big one for me. Have you ever had a job and thought, “I’m bored and I know I can do more.” Unless your employer can provide you with greater opportunity for advancement, after a few years you’ve probably mastered your job and it might be time to move on and hopefully up. But just making a change alone isn’t necessarily the right approach. If you want to continue to advance, apply for positions that have incrementally more responsibility. In your existing career, be strategic. For example, if you don’t have staff that report directly to you, volunteer for projects that put you in the lead so that you can show your ability to manage others to future employers.
Time for a Raise – Money is pretty important and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. One of the best ways to grow your salary at a faster rate is to change jobs. One of my job changes about mid-career nearly doubled my salary, which totally changed my perspective on my earning potential. There is no way that I would have ever made that kind of leap at the previous job. Of course be realistic about what you’re worth. But your salary level directly connects to the idea of professional growth. If you truly believe that it’s time to move up, your salary will move up with it. You just need to decide if that’s what you truly want.
Elizabeth Castro is a vice president at O’Malley Hansen Communications (OHC) in Chicago (www.omalleyhansen.com) and the editor of TheCommunicationsBlog.com. OHC has developed award winning public relations and social media campaigns for national brands. You can follow her on Twitter at @Eliz_Castro and @thecommsblog.
