Don’t Be A Scaredy Cat

Posted on January 25, 2019 by

0

If you are a Millennial, you likely feel as if you missed the chance to catch the next great career wave. It is easy to think “Boy, if I’d known Mark Zuckerberg in college, I’d have jumped for the chance to work with him” or “If Google had offered me a job, I’d have moved to the West Coast no questions asked”.  But the fact is, most people are not willing to take a chance on a company that is not a household name.  It is only in hindsight that we can see what should have or could have been.

I’ve been recruiting for 25 years, and I have lost count of how many naysayers have dismissed job opportunities for reasons that seem ludicrous today.  I’ve had people turn down interviews with Discover because it was a one-trick pony, with Amazon because it was a glorified shopping site, with Walmart.com because Amazon did it better, and with numerous online lenders because the regulators were going to shut them down.  All missed opportunities that I expect are still deeply regretted.

Today, I am working with a fintech – based in Europe – that is expanding to the USA.  And I’m finding the same thing.  The candidates I’m targeting – individuals 10 to 15 years into their careers with experience in Lifecycle, Portfolio, Digital, or CRM marketing in credit card or banking, are telling me that they are not willing to relocate for a company they’ve never heard of.  The same things I heard about Apple and Google and Discover and Amazon.  And I expect that they will be regretted every bit as deeply. 

You can’t ride the next big wave if you aren’t willing to fall into the water.  You need to open yourself up for the opportunity and trust your instincts.  Otherwise, you’ll be one of those people with deep regrets.

Leave a Reply

[ssba]