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Evaluate situation before seeking severance package

By Elaine Varelas, Globe Correspondent, 10/31/04

Need advice about managing your career or workplace? Our specialists can help. E-mail questions to ; fax to 617-929-3183; or mail to Job Doc, The Boston Globe, P.O. Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819.

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I've spent my entire 30-year career at one company and have, for the most part, loved it and thrived. Recently, changes in management make me believe I'll be laid off. Does it make sense to walk into human resources and ask for an amicable separation with severance, or should I just wait for the ax to fall?

Before jumping to the conclusion that you will be laid off, or that you should volunteer to be severed, you need to evaluate your current situation and see if you really want to leave your organization.

Start by identifying the factors that made you love your company before the change in management. Include personal factors such as opportunity for advancement, managing others, sense of contribution or importance, and organizational factors like culture, common purpose, corporate direction, and former management style.

Once you have completed the list, try to determine what has changed and if you think it is fixable.

No matter your initial conclusion, schedule a time with your manager to go over the information and ask for his or her help in identifying your future potential within the organization. Having your thoughts gathered before the meeting will help you control what is bound to be an emotional conversation.

If you discover you really want to stay, your manager can advocate for getting you the training, coaching, or mentoring that you will need.

If you decide it's time to move on, I do not recommend going directly to human resources, but again to your manager, who most likely has access to information about potential staffing changes. HR usually does not have the latitude for these conversations. Your manager is in a better position to act on your behalf and explore the situation and options with HR.

As a long-standing and valued employee, you possess critical and historical information that the company will be reluctant to lose, and it will be costly to replace you. This could be advantageous to you if you ask to be let go and are seeking a severance package.

What you want to avoid is your offer being declined and identifying yourself as someone not interested in staying with the organization. Therefore, approach the conversation with a comment confirming your commitment to the organization and how you recognize the company may need to eliminate positions. Offer to help review your situation and the company's options.

If you're interested in career change, start by networking

I am seeking full-time professional work, but not having any luck. I'm not sure whether my age, 48, or time I took off to spend with my child are factors or not. I'm getting some interviews, and made it to the top two candidates for one position, but no job offer. I'm not getting any interviews in the area that I'm trying to switch to -- public health -- but am in the field I had worked in for many years -- the environment and agriculture. I have started taking classes for a master's in public health. Can you offer any advice?

Age, among many other issues, is relative. So before you focus on one factor that you believe may be impeding your success, let's review your situation.

You have good experience in environmental and agricultural fields. Employers find this experience attractive, as evidenced by your ability to get interviews. So we'll consider that a strength. Continuing your education is another strength. Sounds like you don't have experience in the place you want to be -- a weakness. Your age can be either a strength or weakness depending on your attitude, behavior, and the environment you'd like to work in.

The first thing you need to do is improve your ''30-second commercial.'' You need a strong target statement that outlines what you want to do, what environment you desire, and what you bring to the table. Wanting to ''switch into public health'' doesn't give me enough information, but it does give me clues that a switch means the industry is new to you, and you have little or no experience.

A stronger statement might be, ''I'm using my XX years of experience with environmental and agricultural issues to focus specifically on public health. I'm in a master's in public health program and am working on a specific expertise in the areas of _______ and ________. I'd like to join an organization dealing with issues related to _____.''

People trying to make a career change can't rely on résumés and paperwork to transmit their credentials, or their eagerness to have an impact in another industry. Networking, an important part of all job searches, is vital to someone making a career change. Your goal should be to develop a group of ''field sales people,'' who can speak to your expertise, all you have to offer, and the reasons an employer should consider you for a position where you may have limited expertise.

So where do you start on building that network? Start with your former colleagues. Identify similarities between the industries you were in, and where you want to go. Contact former managers and co-workers, and build from there. Practice your commercial, and see if it provides them with enough information to get you closer to the right people. Develop a list of organizations you'd like to get into, and names or titles of people you'd like to meet. Recognize that A doesn't lead to B in networking -- it just gets you closer.

Next, move on to your faculty. Review their experience, past employers, and current and former students who could help you. They (and your university's career development or graduate studies office) may know of internship or volunteer opportunities to build your skills and expand your contacts.

Research professional associations in your target field. Do they have student memberships? Attend local meetings or volunteer to work on administrative tasks (i.e., registering guests or moderating Web forums) as an easy way to make contacts, expand your knowledge of job openings, and have potential employers become familiar with you.

Be creative -- become an expert on who's who in your target field, and do not rely on paper to make a ''relationship'' sell.

Job seekers with specialized degrees should cast a wide net

I am finishing my master's degree in American religious history. I have had my résumé on the market for nearly 8 months and have only received two interviews, though I applied for over 100 jobs. I am looking for a position in the nonprofit sector, a university, or in education. I have tried several online job boards, but nothing seems to work. One problem is that I have little work history. I am a hard worker and feel very frustrated with the search. I have tried my career office but it was no help. To top it off, I have huge educational debt.

Students who pursue degrees in specialized fields that have little or no business application often have difficulty parlaying their education into real life work. Here's how to get started:

• Find ways that your degree and education will differentiate you from the rest of the pack. Look for part-time work or an internship that will help position you for future employability.
   
• The job search is not a passive game -- to be successful you need an active approach. For example, you say your résumé has been ''on the market,'' and you have submitted résumés or used Web-based job search tools. That's a terrific start, but these activities really don't take all that much energy. And to get where you want to be, more energy must be invested.
   
• You've identified the industry you'd like to enter, but the function is missing. These two components work in tandem and you must be able to clearly and concisely state what opportunities you are looking for.
   
• Does your résumé reflect what impact you'll have when you join an organization, or is it just a chronology of where you've been? While your grade point average and course work are valuable, how will they translate into the skills you'll bring to the job, and the results you can generate? Ask a faculty member, or your career services department, to read your résumé with a fresh eye.
   
• The power of networking can't be overstated. And in my experience, you will find people very willing to help. Who do you want to meet? What are their titles? What is the name of the organization? Where did other people in your graduate program get jobs? Where have your faculty members worked before? Where do your classmates work? Create an organized system, start with a colleague, and let the connections happen.
   
• While your debt may seem huge, don't let it sink you. Concentrate on being upbeat and show how you can bring that positive energy to the workplace.
   
• The same way you got through school, one paper, one class, one credit or course at a time, is how you'll complete the job search successfully. Using all job search methods -- ads, online job boards, recruiters, and networking -- set quantitative goals per week for each, and keep at it.

Elaine Varelas has over 20 years of career development and consulting experience and is currently managing partner at Keystone Partners, a career management firm headquartered in Boston.

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