Careers Are a Game of Inches
What a lost internship taught me about serendipity and luck
Anyone who knows me well knows that I believe strongly in proactively managing your career, and taking ownership of your career decisions into your own hands. But equally as important, is acknowledging that even with the best of intentions, things are outside of your control.
Back in 2014, I was an MBA student looking for a summer internship. In January, I started my internship search and had a first round interview with one of my target companies, Salesforce. I didn’t end up advancing, but the next month in February I was fortunate to land and accept another offer with another company that was on my target list.
Unfortunately that success would be short lived - in April of that spring, my internship got rescinded (a story for another day) and I was staring down the end of the semester without a summer internship. This was not a fun place to be!
I started looking for internships and was fortunate to see that Salesforce had posted another open role. The recruiter was so kind and responsive when I reached back out, and did her best to fast track me through the interview process, but before I could finish the interview loop I got an exploding offer from another company.
I wanted to work at Salesforce, but as the saying goes, “a bird in hand is worth two in a bush,” and since they couldn’t move fast enough I got ready to accept my exploding offer with this other company.
Before I could accept the other offer, the recruiter called me back to let me know that she had spoken to the hiring manager who had agreed to extend an offer to me without doing a final round. I accepted the offer, and the rest is history.
They often say that football is a game of inches, and I’m inclined to say the same about careers. A break here or a break there can have exponential impact, as I learned in my internship search. If my offer isn’t rescinded, I could be in an entirely different place. If the recruiter didn’t advocate for me to the hiring manager, I may have never ended up at Salesforce! It’s humbling to realize how razor thin decisions (which you have no control over!) can impact the trajectory of their career.
As someone who makes an effort to manage their career proactively and intentionally and who believes in the value of this, (and advises others to do the same!) This experience taught me that while being proactive about your career and putting in hard work is really important, you can’t always anticipate the twists and turns that life is going to serve you that you have no control over. And unfortunately, there are going to be times when things happen that you don’t anticipate, that are disappointing, or don’t go your way.
But what’s also equally true, is that, if you can stay with something long enough, and persistently put one foot in front of the other while keeping your eyes wide and ears open, that break can easily swing back your way.
The experience also reinforced a humbling lesson: While hard work and effort are important, they aren’t always enough. Others, particularly those who have privilege, power, or resources, play a critical role in our success, and it's that with our hard work, ingenuity and effort, that we succeed.
This is especially true for any kind of career move - rarely is it solely because of your own volition and doing, but both of those things plus the help of others or the sponsorship of others. This is also why I am adamant about using access to privilege, resources, and networks as a force for good, and for a means of helping those especially who are traditionally underserved, or who continuously face bias in the workplace.
Be intentional and thoughtful with your career, but acknowledge your blindspots - Do what you can to be proactive, be thoughtful and optimize for what you want out of your career and trying your best to determine what that is and work toward it. But also, recognize that there will be things that you can’t foresee and that it's important to stay curious and open to when those things appear.
Stay in it when setbacks happen and remain curious - It sucks when things don’t go your way, especially when it comes to career moves. But when you focus on process and not outcomes, you can get curious into the opportunities that arise even when the outcome doesn’t go your way. A decline after an interview for a role means you have more time to focus on the next thing, which could be even better for you if you stay inquisitive and open
When you have privilege and power, use it to take intelligent risks - In order for me to land an internship at Salesforce, I had to get the recruiter to stay in touch with me, to respond to my email 4 months after our last interaction, to get her to fast track me to a final round, and to get her to get the hiring manager to make me an offer without actually really interviewing me. She was under no obligation to do any of these things, but she did them anyway, and if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. For that matter, same with the hiring manager. While certainly they had some incentives to find good candidates to fill the role, I can assure you there were plenty of others, but having the chance to get to know them more over the years the two things I know about both of these people are that A) they are both open minded and very thoughtful individuals and B) they both have a good sense of their values and beliefs, and those values seemed to intersect with mine. My plea to those of you who are in positions to help others in career searches, if you get the chance to meet someone who you can help who shares your values, find a way to help them get a break or find their break, it could be the thing that launches their career.
What I Read
Your Calendar = Your Priorities (John Cutler’s Substack) - I’m a big fan of John’s work, and even if you don’t work in product development there’s something you can learn from reading this post - I’ve always believed that how you spend your time is a reflection of your priorities, but the way that John lays this out in a visual format really makes it hit home. Here’s a thought exercise - go back through your calendar over the past 4 weeks, and see if how you are spending your time, matches up to your actual priorities.
Onboarding Isn’t Enough (HBR) - I’ve had about 30 conversations with people who have on boarded into a new job over the past 6 months, and even with everything we know about onboarding, it’s clear that companies regularly fall short of expectations when trying to onboard and integrate new employees into their organizations.
Workers Quit Their Jobs in Droves To Become Their Own Bosses (WSJ, Paywall) - I am biased, because this describes me, and about 10-15 of the internet friends I’ve made over the past four months who have done something similar, but some people are using this time to pivot into jobs where you become your own boss. I can tell you that the autonomy and agency is a breath of fresh air, and while there are things I don’t miss, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning how to be my own boss. As a sidenote, if you have even a wiff or hint of wanting to do this and ever want the encouragement, hit me up
Why You Can’t Ignore Talent Mobility Anymore (Paddle HR) - I wrote this week about internal mobility, and why it’s hard for employees to get this right. The more I talk to HR and talent professionals as well as employees, I’m convinced if we don’t figure this out, the Great Resignation is not going to be an aberration, its going to become the norm
What Can Employees Do To Drive Employee Development? (15 Five) - If you’re a manager, playing your part in your employee’s career development is a critical aspect of your role in developing your employees. Amidst the busyness, this often gets overlooked, and is a reason why employees walk out the door.
What I Listened To
Finding Meaning and Joy in Work - The Space to Experiment (How Did You Learn That?)
Taking Risk - The Biggest Risk You Can Take with Stanley McChrystal (Disrupt Yourself)
Persuasion - The Principles of Persuasion (The Knowledge Project)
Have a great week,
Al