Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Banking career advice for the young (and young at heart!)
.A number of readers have privately e-mailed me as to what l think the true position is at Merrill Lynch.I am sad to say l cannot proffer career advice.Each person's position is unique.I think of my readers like snowflakes.No two are the same.Everyone is special.What l can say if you're unsure about what to do in any firm,especially a bank/similar,here are some generic questions you should ask your self.
A short guide to career due diligence, most of you already know this;but the late 20-something new meat has yet to be tenderised.This for them,l hope l'm giving something back to the young folks :
1.Do you believe top-down communication has been transparent and honest? I of course mean corporate 'honesty'.So not fraudulent counts as 'honest' in this context.
2.Do you believe any of the assurances provided to you by your manager/senior management .If it's something along the lines of,''we value our top performers'',''there will always be roles for exceptional people in our ( INSERT NAME OF COMPANY)'',"if you're giving better than your best/110% there's nothing to fear","We value people",''our core values are that we we treat our human capital professionally''.You should probably be packing up your stuff slowly and knocking out your hard drive before I.T. shuts off access.
3.Note though the sooner you leave,the better first mover advantage you will have over later leavers.Get into the market before the crowd.You're more likely to find employment else where,if you want to work again,especially for more junior/middle management roles.
4.On the flip side, if you stay what is the probability of a decent redundancy pay out?.Redundancy In your company this may be called ''voluntary or involuntary separation'' ,''right-sizing'',''role elimination'' or even ''redundancy".
5.If you do decide ''to stay'' and sit it out,consider what information you have on your operating environment about malfeasance or misfeasance.Any memos,emails,records of meetings? Get proof.Evidence is key,ideally these days of regulatory breaches.They're the juiciest. This will always be useful in severance 'negotiations' with HR later.
6.The restricted stock problem.If you were compensated in restricted stock mostly,you could try and get new co. to buy you out in real cash (unlikely but always worth trying it on.It's just a monetisation trade really) or ask for straight stock for stock swap on same terms.Failing that remember restricted stock is not real.The numbers might look big to you now,but the value depends on performance of the share price.How do you know if your current employer will even be in business a year from now?You can't eat stock,go down to Starbucks and try to pay for coffee in restricted stock.They will laugh you out of town.It's essentially an illusory not so golden handcuffs for middle managers.You won't really lose anything by letting it go if you really want to leave.
In the age of the adversarial consumer society,employees only owe a duty of care to one person.Themselves.
Good luck you crazy young things!
RB
A short guide to career due diligence, most of you already know this;but the late 20-something new meat has yet to be tenderised.This for them,l hope l'm giving something back to the young folks :
1.Do you believe top-down communication has been transparent and honest? I of course mean corporate 'honesty'.So not fraudulent counts as 'honest' in this context.
2.Do you believe any of the assurances provided to you by your manager/senior management .If it's something along the lines of,''we value our top performers'',''there will always be roles for exceptional people in our ( INSERT NAME OF COMPANY)'',"if you're giving better than your best/110% there's nothing to fear","We value people",''our core values are that we we treat our human capital professionally''.You should probably be packing up your stuff slowly and knocking out your hard drive before I.T. shuts off access.
3.Note though the sooner you leave,the better first mover advantage you will have over later leavers.Get into the market before the crowd.You're more likely to find employment else where,if you want to work again,especially for more junior/middle management roles.
4.On the flip side, if you stay what is the probability of a decent redundancy pay out?.Redundancy In your company this may be called ''voluntary or involuntary separation'' ,''right-sizing'',''role elimination'' or even ''redundancy".
5.If you do decide ''to stay'' and sit it out,consider what information you have on your operating environment about malfeasance or misfeasance.Any memos,emails,records of meetings? Get proof.Evidence is key,ideally these days of regulatory breaches.They're the juiciest. This will always be useful in severance 'negotiations' with HR later.
6.The restricted stock problem.If you were compensated in restricted stock mostly,you could try and get new co. to buy you out in real cash (unlikely but always worth trying it on.It's just a monetisation trade really) or ask for straight stock for stock swap on same terms.Failing that remember restricted stock is not real.The numbers might look big to you now,but the value depends on performance of the share price.How do you know if your current employer will even be in business a year from now?You can't eat stock,go down to Starbucks and try to pay for coffee in restricted stock.They will laugh you out of town.It's essentially an illusory not so golden handcuffs for middle managers.You won't really lose anything by letting it go if you really want to leave.
In the age of the adversarial consumer society,employees only owe a duty of care to one person.Themselves.
Good luck you crazy young things!
RB
