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Should I consider a company in trouble?

by JUDIT PRICE
Sun Correspondent
Lowell Sun

In uncertain times, any port in a storm can provide a safe haven, even temporarily. But the need to move quickly can have unintended adverse consequences. We have long counseled that a job search strategy demands careful thought and intense research. It is essential to ensure that a viable long term career opportunity exists, the match between values and culture fit, and the skills needed to succeed correspond well. Nevertheless, opportunities with firms recognized as being on a critical list do present themselves as occasional opportunities. The question of what to do, especially if there are some interesting aspects to the job, requires some careful consideration.

The first question is should you even interview? Even if you are certain that you would not accept an offer take the interview. The fact is a predisposition to say no may change. There may be aspects of the job that a candidate may find intriguing. At the very least there may be an opportunity to add to your knowledge. You may learn something from the experience and have no obligation to continue the interview process, and it keeps a door open. Conduct throughout an interview process may even make further consideration at a later time possible. The company may turn around offering an opportunity later.

Take a close look at your potential boss. It is not uncommon for a struggling company to try and reorganize out of trouble. One result may be that the person who is your potential supervisor may be gone in a few weeks or months. In a dicey work situation 100% support from the supervisor is critical. The better the chemistry between you and the prospective boss the more likely the help in integrating you into the company. That could be very helpful in getting a good start even if the supervisor is planning to move on.

While a clear job description, responsibilities and expectations are essential, the next job/assignment is also important especially in a potentially volatile situation. The lack of a next step may suggest that you are being interviewed to fill a gap and solve a short term problem. There may seem to be a good short term opportunity, but it hardly qualifies as a career development move.

A large bump in starting salary may be a great temptation, but a dead end is a dead end. Part of salary negotiation should include outplacement and severance. Remember, this troubled company is asking you to take a significant career risk at your expense. You can be certain that no senior executive would agree to employment without some protection. So do not be shy if an offer package does not include severance.

If responsibilities include building a new unit or department it is a good idea to clarify the amount of control you will actually have. How much discretion do you have over budgets, authorizing expenditures, choosing your own people, and making changes? Is the approval process lengthy and cumbersome? Will goals and milestones be subject to process oversight, or will you be given clear goals, the money and discretion to pursue those goals and the authority to make the decisions?

Answers to these questions will give you an opportunity to size up both your boss and the company. If the primary reason for considering the job is control of your own workspace, then that must be negotiated up front.

After the interview, if the position still has attraction, there are a few other considerations that are important. Clearly this is a step up in both salary and responsibility. Yet how does the opportunity balance with your value system? What is the risk that this opportunity is not an opportunity, but a mission impossible? There are people who love these opportunities. They are fix-it types and understand that the project nature of their work will have them moving on, often within the same firm, but many times not. They understand this and accept it as a part of the chance to solve problems others failed at solving. They also are well paid once their reputation as fixers is established.

But if you are restless or you want to advance more quickly, going to a fragile company can be a risky choice rather than take the time to do a thorough job search. Remember, you are giving up a job that you are doing well and if one company wants you, other surely will, too.

For further Information email: Judit Price or call: 978-256-0482