Last year, I called “Annie” to talk about a job.  Annie was working at a local advertising agency, on a high-profile, fancy-name branded product.  The job I was representing was client-side – a senior marketing position at a company which was decidedly less cool. Annie could barely wait for me to finish my sentence, once she heard the company name.  “How can I go from working on (insert Nike-type brand name here) to working on (insert bland-seeming, under-the-radar-screen manufacturer here)?”  She was polite, but clearly thought I was crazy to even bring this job to her.

I neglected to mention, though, that Annie was openly unhappy in her job and just the week before had called asking me to keep an eye open for her next opportunity.  I knew her criteria:  she wanted better life-balance, a leadership role, and enough of a marketing budget to be influential in the market.   But senior jobs are few and far between, and now she’s overlaying “cool” into the mix.

This happens at all levels.  Our town does quite a bit of agricultural marketing communications work, and quite often over the past few years, I’ve gotten calls from agencies looking for people with 3-5 years of experience to work on ag business.  When I call candidates in town, they’re eager to talk, thrilled when they learn the name of the agency, and quick to back away when they hear they’ll be assigned to an account without cache.  On one level, I can understand this.  Who wants to spend the next 18 months working on crop yield issues? 

On the other hand, though, this line of thinking gets me crazy.  How many criteria are we going to load up before a job becomes perfect?  I think it’s reasonable to look for a great environment, strong, interesting co-workers, and the opportunity to grow and learn and practice your craft at a high level.  But every time we start adding other factors, particularly “cool,” the list of options gets tinier and tinier and soon we’re shutting ourselves out of the game. 

If you’re a true marketer, the issues you have to address for success in your field are exactly the same whether you’re selling upscale cars or industrial cleaners – you still have to figure out how to connect with target audience and make a compelling reason for them to buy.  Shouldn’t that intellectual and creative process still be interesting to you no matter what the product?   I’m not talking about candidates who have turned down opportunities to work on business they find morally objectionable; I completely understand that.  But please, keep your eyes open for jobs at good companies doing honorable work with good people.  What more could we ask for?

Status update:  It’s a year later and I’ve just heard from Annie.  Her environment has now gotten untenable and she ruefully admits she’d do anything to have an opportunity at that “downscale” company she snobbishly dismissed last year.  She’s terrific, so of course I’ll do my best to help.  But lesson learned!

I Want A Great Place, Nice People, Big Budgets. Oh, And It Has To Be A Really Hot Brand.