Monday 27 May 2013

Breadth and depth in your career....








When I reflect on my career I feel like I have been very lucky. Luck that I have worked very hard for, but still lucky and grateful. You see, I have been offered varied roles across my career. Some have provided breadth or width in experience across an organisation. Others have had depth in a specialist or narrow field. When I look back I don't think the roles I sought out were a conscious strategy on my part, but it has meant that each role I have taken on has given me a new opportunity to learn and grow and move forward. I'm going to give you some examples of my career in Human Resources (HR) but I suspect the "breadth and depth" idea works across many functional and business areas.

1. Generalist Role: Breadth in a small to mid size National business (110 employees)
My first role in HR was for a National niche insurer. It was a great role because I was able to get involved across a huge range of tasks. I learnt how to put employee inductions together, how to write Board reports, how to influence Senior Male Managers (when I was young, female and inexperienced), how to recognise employee performance and lots more. I got to touch lots of different areas across that business. It was a perfect first professional job.

2. Generalist Role: Breadth in a very large Global business (28,000 employees)
Having had a little experience in a smallish business, I wanted to see how a large company "does" HR and work within a larger team. I landed a generalist role in a very large business. The skills I learnt in my previous role were immediately applicable and I also learnt a lot. My manager was located overseas so it was my first experience working across different time zones and learning to manage "up". I worked with many different cultures and got to travel all over the world. I learnt to be aware of and negotiate organisational politics and deal with conflict and team dynamics.

3. Specialist Role: Depth in an Australian Listed Company (2,000 employees)
The opportunity to concentrate in one particular area of HR gave me a chance to learn specific skills in a discipline that is more strategic. I focused on management and leadership development and employee engagement and gained invaluable skills in working with challenging personalities in quite a "blokey" industry. Most importantly I learnt that cultural fit is SO important in being able to do a good job and feel successful. I learnt lots of good skills and lots about myself in this role, including knowing what I don't want in my career.

4. Specialist Role: Depth in an Australian Listed Company (4,000 employees) Contract Role
A similar role to the previous company but a very different organisational culture. I got to work on some very specific projects, met and worked with some fantastic people and generally just had a great time. Doing a contract role was a great idea. It gave me a "taste" of working for an iconic company and improved my confidence for my next role.

5. Generalist Role: Breadth in the Australian Subsidiary of a US Listed Company (220 employees)
This role was my first role as part of a leadership team, instead of just being part of the HR function. I had the opportunity to contribute beyond HR issues and had a "seat at the table" with the other business areas; finance, marketing, sales, operations and customer service. I learnt to influence and coach my peers, have input over decisions that affect a complete business and support and improve a great organisational culture.

6. Generalist Role: Breadth in the Asia Pacific Region of a US Listed Company (550 employees)
Again a role as part of a leadership team but with the opportunity to expand my change management and business integration skills across a broader business with significant challenges and a larger team.

Overall, what have I learnt?

Size matters (keep it clean people!)
Unless you are in a fairly senior role, large organisations with lots of employees often means you will gain experience in a specific area or business unit - depth. Working in a smaller organisation may give you more opportunity to try your hand across a wide variety of areas and potentially gain valuable experiences that may not exist in larger organisations - breadth.

I have found that moving between larger and small organisations very helpful in building great work experiences throughout my career.

Brands look great on your resume
I have worked for 3 little known companies and 3 very well known companies. They were all good experiences. The little known companies I worked for provided fantastic career development, as did the well known companies. Having the well known company name and experience on my resume meant that I'm more likely to get an interview for the next job. I don't think the experience I gained at these companies was any more valuable, but as a candidate I am more marketable. Worth thinking about.

Be clear about what you want
Changing roles and companies is hard work. Usually it takes effort to find a new role in the market so make it worthwhile. Be clear about what you want to learn in your next role. Be clear about the kind of organisational culture you want to work in. Be clear about what kind of person or people you want to work directly with. This could be your manager or internal customer, for example. Interviews are a two way street.

Build variety
I'm not the best example of this but I suggest working in organisations with different business models. I have mainly worked in "Public" or "Listed" companies, with some experience in privately held organisations.  Some experience in "not-for-profits" and government organisations would round out my career. Variety could also be in the type of employment arrangement. I have mainly worked in permanent full-time roles but have also done some contract and temporary work. These were valuable in gaining specific experience in a short time.

 Do you have breadth and depth in your career? Do you want breadth and depth in your career? Would love to hear about it!

Lisa




Knowing what you don't want

It struck me recently that sometimes it's as important to know what you don't want to do in your career, as it is to know what you do want. Maybe that's obvious. Maybe not.

I had cause to think about this in more detail during a recent photography workshop weekend. A couple of year's ago Arran bought me a new Digital SLR camera and an introductory course, so I would learn how to use it properly. It was a great idea. When you have a decent camera you won't get the best out of it by leaving it on the auto setting.

SPW Intro to DSLR Photography
The workshop was with Sydney Photographic Workshops and it was great. I haven't put my camera back on the auto setting since the first night of the course. Since then I have made a conscious effort to improve both my technical photography skills such as knowing which settings I should have my camera on to the best results in each setting, and also improving my "eye". I have done some additional one day workshops with Sydney Photographic Workshops including People Photography and Travel and Documentary.

SPW People Photography Workshop
Of course the best way to learn is not to continually do workshops. You need to find ways to use your camera more often and practice. I have done this by participating in Instagram challenges like Photo A Day run by blogger Fat Mum Slim, the 7 Vignettes challenge run by Jen Bishop at Interiors Addict (mainly using my iPhone), asking if I can photograph events and generally just trying to remember to take my camera with me a bit more often.

7 Vignettes challenge

Why am I doing all this? I'm not looking to change careers and become a photographer, but I want to be able to take better shots to include in my blogs, use photos and videos in employee communication as part of my HR role and have better family shots. Plus it's a creative outlet.

When the special invite arrived in my inbox asking if I wanted to go away on a 3 day photography workshop with lots of different shoots it sounded really fun and a chance to improve my skills a little more. Sydney Photographic Workshops always provide a great experience so I booked in straight away. That was months ago. When the workshop weekend actually came around it was at the back of 3 weeks of constant travel with work. I was exhausted. I wanted to stay home.

It ended up being a great weekend and I'm sure that I improved my skills but the weekend reinforced to me that I didn't want to do photography full time. By the third day I was at photography saturation point. Living and breathing photography for 3 days straight was too much.  It reminded me of how important "work experience" is when selecting or changing your career.

When I was in grade 10 I got to do work experience at a recording studio. I had been thinking of studying music technology at the time. I had a great week and had lots of fun, but I couldn't imagine doing that job every week. It was a valuable experience.

Tell me about your career. What you have learned that you don't want to do?