Own your Job Search — Step by step process to finding your ideal next role

(Example — NYC, Ad Tech 100–1000 Employees, Post A)

Part I: Searching for the right company — My recommended process for how to think about your next career move.

I’m thinking about my next job.

Where do you think I should work next?

Which companies do you think are interesting?

I think it’s time for me to consider the next phase in my career.

I’ve heard the above statements a lot over the years. With so many factors involved in making a career move, it’s hard to know where to start or know what decision is the right one. As I’ve gotten further along in my career, I’ve become better and better at helping people navigate this challenge.

Reverse Engineering your Next Right Move

I’ve found that this thought experiment creates a lot of focus.

Imagine your resume 3–5 years from now, after you’ve taken this next role. What do you want it to show? Specifically, when you think of applying to your ideal future job, say VP of [Sales, Customer Success, BD, Product, Eng, etc.], what are the minimum requirements for that role that you want to have completed in this role, so you’re qualified to apply for that next-level job?

Even if you’re at the very beginning of your next-move exploration, you already have a list of goals you want to achieve in your head. It might look something like:

• I want to get paid more
• I want to work on a smaller team where I have a larger impact
• I want to improve my core sales skills
• I want to manage a team, and at a company headquartered in the city I live in

When you start from the future and work backward, you get clear on what you need to achieve work-wise at this next job. So I encourage you to go through the thought experiment. Keep at it until you can clearly articulate 2–3 distinct requirements to add to your list. What do you need in terms of management experience, experience negotiating large deals, recruiting a team, working internal, presenting to a board, reporting to a CEO or VP, etc. to successfully make a move after…