Every now and then I run across a candidate unique in his skills and abilities. He might feel he was ready for a leap that belied his on-paper background. He’d make his case, telling me what he’s been doing, different opportunities he’s had, and why he was ready to take a big leap. In that case, I’d council him to be direct in the interview. When asked about salary, take a deep breadth and, state his number clearly, smile and let the interviewer know he’s aware it’s outside the norm, but that he is, too. Here are two examples:

 

Melanie

When I interviewed “Melanie,” I couldn’t quite believe it. She was a business development person, and embodied the whole package – confident, smart, articulate and, in her short career, extremely successful. Her sales instincts were great (adding further support to my theory that sometimes the right job is just in your DNA), and she had been working for a company she wanted to leave. She was also 23 years old, and less than a year out of college. My client interviewed her and practically hired her on the spot. The only sticking point was salary negotiations.

 

Melanie wanted to double her income. She was currently in a large company with plenty of salespeople and she was running circles around all of them. But a commission structure there rewarded older, more experienced salespeople and Melanie was on the short end of that stick. She’d only leave, she said, for an opportunity to influence her own compensation. My client agreed, paid her an average base salary but allowed her to earn a sizable bonus for the work she was able to bring in.

 

Within a month, she started bringing in new business. And within six months she out-earned the company president (which made him crazy, as you might imagine, but he stuck to the agreement). Here was a situation where the candidate was clear about her interest in leaving for money, found a job where she had the opportunity to meet her financial goals, and performed as promised. Everyone won.

 

(Sad status update: On her third anniversary, a new company president with terrible foresight and remarkably poor interpersonal skills, tried to renegotiate her compensation structure to lower her bonus potential. She left, started her own business, and her ex-company began a downward spiral they still can't seem to dig out of.)

 

Tony 

“Tony” was a lower-level marketing person working for a large, fairly stodgy company. We met for coffee and he confided his hopes of running his own business one day – he was full of energy and ideas, and great at connecting with people on a personal level. (If I asked Tony about people we might know in common, he’d invariably say “Oh, she’s one of my best friends!” I’ve never known anyone with so many best friends.) At the time, he was still in his late-twenties, already a father of two and completely aware that his responsibilities to his children were going to keep him from taking the risks necessary to start up a company. He was stuck, he felt, plodding along on his current narrow track.

 

I heard of a start-up company with seemingly solid financial backing looking for someone to oversee their marketing department. No guarantees, but I was pretty confident the job would last long enough for Tony to seed himself as a business leader, setting him up to leapfrog over others at his level. I sent him in for the interview and sure enough, the hiring manager picked up that he was unique – not everyone can combine solid business training with an entrepreneurial nature and an ability to forge terrific connections with co-workers. He was hired, performed as we all expected and when the company folded (with a big explosion over financing) two years later, he was considered a solid Director level candidate in Marketing. His next job was a leadership one, with a compensation package appropriate for that level. In just over two years, he tripled his salary, reached an executive level, and satisfied his entrepreneurial bug all within the mainstream corporate world. The opportunities were there because he was terrific and he knew to hold out for situations which would allow his unique skills and personality to flourish.

 

Company structures are almost always pyramids, with wide bottoms and tiny peaks. Only a few folks make it to the top and frankly, most of my candidates really don’t see themselves there – they’re happy to settle in to a mid-level role where they can be successful. But if you’re one who truly believes you have the knowledge, skills, personality and drive to reach that upper level, you might as well start positioning yourself for it as early as possible. Go for it. If you fail, you’ll fail. But if you’re great, why waste career time plodding along on someone else’s track. Set your goals high, starting with that interview!

Paying Extra for the Extra-Talented