INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYLance B. Eliot, Feature Editor, Eliot & Associates You're a CIO and you just got canned: Now what?by Lance Eliot, Eliot & Associates In previous columns I have offered a number of job and career tips for those executives brave enough to take on the much maligned and much undervalued Chief Information Officer (CIO) position. Given the relatively high turnover rates for CIOs, and the often lower pay in comparison to other peer executives, it's sometimes surprising that so many are willing to try to achieve and retain the CIO job. In this column I'd like to tackle one of the most confusing and overwhelming moments in any CIO's career--namely, getting canned. Any and all CIOs are vulnerable to the ax, whether due to poor performance (real or perceived), or being swept aside due to a merger and the introduction of a new CEO and his/her new team. The end result is a CIO who ``suddenly'' finds himself/herself standing outside in the rain wondering ``Why me''? Of course, a savvy CIO is not actually caught off-guard by being canned. Telltale signs prior to the actual moment of receiving walking papers are often abundant, and send a clear signal that it is time to actively be pursuing other alternatives. Sadly, many CIOs refuse to acknowledge the signals, or choose to wait until the ax falls before thinking about what to do next. CIOs should always be thinking and acting upon the what-to-do-next issue. I am continually amazed by CIOs who contact me the day after they have been let go, and are naively torn between wanting to take a much needed vacation and wanting to start their job search (which they believe they can wrap up in a month or so). The truth of the matter is that a CIO will need to spend months and months searching for a new CIO job (commonly requiring a minimum of six months and perhaps up to ten months). Taking time off for a vacation will merely delay the job search and likely extend the unemployment period. Searching for a new job is hard work, requires great patience and endurance, and will always take longer than you anticipate. What follows are my ``top five'' tips on what a CIO should immediately do after being laid off. Remember, the higher you rise in an organization, the further you fall. CIOs at the top are often embarrassed about their job loss, reluctant to seek help, and may even resort to hiding from their peers and colleagues. Actually, being laid off can be (ultimately) a relatively positive experience if handled properlyþas you will see in a moment. 1. Reflect on Your Past, Present, and Future Getting laid off is a sign that you should be thinking or re-thinking about your job and career avenues. Often, the CIO will be preoccupied with doing a good job and forego worrying about career issues. Although this is admirable, allowing yourself to become career directionless is not. In fact, given that today's corporations no longer worry about providing life time employment to its personnel, it's more important that a CIO be always thinking about increasing his/her employability. Did you take a chance on that client/server project that would help the company, and simultaneously help your career (firms are searching for CIOs with client/server experience)? Did you take on that reengineering project that was an optional ``added duty''? As the shock of getting canned begins to sink in, it is worthwhile to take stock of your situation and evaluate various alternative futures. Should you continue on the CIO path, or perhaps aim for another functional area, or be a general manager? Should you go into consulting? (By the way, many CIOs wrongly believe that consulting is easier, more fun, and more rewarding than being CIOþit's not.) Should you be a CIO in a different industry? Or should you continue your current path? 2. Watch Your Ticking Clock The moment you are no longer gainfully employed, the ticking clock of unemployment begins. How long is your severance package going to lastþ60 days, 90 days, 6 months? What will happen financially as the severance package evaporates? The timing of your financial woes will significantly impact the rate at which you will need to find a new job. In fact, most CIOs start their job search with rather grand ideas of the types of jobs they will or will not accept, and then gradually begin to realize that they may not be able to afford a choosy attitude. Plus, as the search wears on, a sense of desperation can often be detected by the hiring firmsþand, sadly, firms seem to generally prefer someone that doesn't want to get hired versus someone desperately wanting to get hired. Are you willing to take a CIO job at a smaller organization? Would switching from a large firm to a small firm, where stock options might be used to increase the potential compensation, be attractive? Are you able or willing to take a #2 position, perhaps heading the applications development or operations areas, below an existing CIO? Then wait for the CIO to move on, allowing you to eventually migrate into the top slot that you currently believe you have earned? 3. Prepare Your Search Plan After thinking about your past, present, and future (and the timing of your search), you should be ready to put together an actual search plan. Get out a sheet of paper and begin to make notes. Who do you know? You should have or should prepare a Rolodex (use an electronic contact management package with a mail merge capability), and identify who you will contact. Prepare a script outlining what you will tell each person that you contact. Make a schedule of when you will call each contact. Update the schedule and make repeat calls throughout your search activity. Consider contacting your CIO peersþthey may have heard about position openings, or know of colleagues that are about to leave their firms. Consider contacting vendors, consultants, and other industry contacts you have dealt with in the past. Consider contacting executive recruiters and be prepared to present your credentials. Update your resume. Have a script that corresponds to it. Practice the script. Establish a routine of making calls, telling your script, tailoring your script, etc. Look in the industry publications, such as ComputerWorld and InformationWeek, for job openings. 4. Notify the World Generally, finding a good CIO job involves beating the statistical odds of not finding one. The wider the search and the more possibilities that arise, the higher the odds that you will find the job that seems worthwhile. The smaller your search, the less opportunities that will likely be presented. Do not rely on executive recruiters alone. Remember that, in most cases, the executive recruiters are working for the employer, not the potential employee. They will screen you and keep you in mind, but their focus is on making the employer happy. Pursue every avenue that makes sense. Besides calling, you might consider a letter campaign. Also, attending computer industry seminars and conferences can be a good way to remain mentally active and increase your networking. 5. Pursue Openings Wisely When you hear about an opening, approach it properly. Even if you do not get an opportunity to be considered for the position, the people that you meet may know of other opportunities or give you good feedback about your strengths and weaknesses. Remain professional throughout the interview. CIOs who badmouth fellow CIOs are likely to find that the word will spread about their unprofessional attitude. Be careful when pursuing jobs that are too far beneath your current position. If the word spreads that you are willing to take a job at half your salary doing an information systems middle manager job, the rest of the marketplace may begin to think of you in those terms. On the other hand, do not skip pursuing a job that is slightly beneath your preferences--it may be good practice for pursuing the real CIO position that comes along later. As you begin to get serious consideration for an opening, you can enliven the activity by having competition in the bidding war to get you. The very fact that you can refer to the possibility that someone else may ``get you'' will sometimes make the firm hire you sooner and give you an edge in the negotiations. Conclusion Enduring the process of finding another job can cause a CIO to evaluate how his/her career, and provide the motivation to reinvigorate a stagnant career. The CIO job searching process should give even the most ego-strong CIO a moment of pause, and maybe even make the CIO more sensitive to the hiring and firing of her/his own information systems staff. Indeed, the next time you need to fire or hire a direct report, middle manager, systems analyst or programmer on your staff, think back to your experience and try to have some compassion for what they must be enduring.
Remember that your input is welcomed. If you have projects addressing the information technology area, and you would like to share this with readers of "Information Technology," please write to me at the address below.
Dr. Lance Eliot
|