Marketing Me! Goodbye letters and emails

Saw this on Jobacle today. All about goodbye emails at the office.

There are some great points included in this entry and if you are about to leave the present position and are the type to share your thoughts with the department or company at large - please visit this site first!

I have seen my fair share of goodbye emails - fortunately, I never sent one myself. Goodbye emails are sappy emotional outbursts which do more harm than good.

First, you are leaving the company/job. Once gone, you will be remembered, in most cases, for about five minutes after your exit.

Second, a wise man once counselled, "let your reputation grow hair before you brag about it". In other words, let your name become legend amongst former co-workers - if you were worth it.

Next, why are you marketing yourself to former co-workers? After all, sending that goodbye email is exactly what you are trying to do; making sure nobody forgets you or the valuable contributions you made. If you were so valuable, your work speaks for itself.

Finally, don't leave former co-workers with anything which might be misconstrued or could be used against you in the future. A goodbye email fraught with emotion and tears might be remembered as a sign of a demented unstable person. Not the type of referral you had planned on.

Here is the secret. Put in your notice, be pleasant and go away. You will be much more happy if you follow this advice.

Happy hunting!

Marketing Me! How agile are you?

Think you are agile? Think you have what it takes to make those lateral-upward moves in down markets?

Check out my friend Don.

I met Don when he was a technical recruiter in the height of the "dot com" days. Don placed dozens of people with my IT startup during a two year time frame. I had a good idea what he was making per placement so I know he was doing well with the technical placement company he worked for.

So what did he do?

He went solo and for a year and a half made even more money filling key job positions. Rather than do the shotgun approach, he specialized in placing minority candidates with technical companies. He made even more money.

During this time period, Don bought his first house. He saw how the real estate market worked and how home values were rising. He also was considering real estate as an investment strategy for all the money he was making in recruiting.

So, not one to go halfway, Don went to real estate school nights and got his license a few months later.

Don starting selling one or two homes a month on weekends.

Then the "dot bomb" bust happened, so Don went from part time real estate agent to full time.

Don focused on up and coming neighborhoods in older sections of town. Sure enough he hit another home run and until last year was making more sales and more money then ever before.

With the real estate market going the way it is, Don is moving back into recruiting. This time, he is reaching out to all those entry level techs he placed a decade ago and finding many of them are higher ups responsible for hiring.

Don is well placed to start picking up where real estate dropped out.

How about some personality traits of Don?

- Incredibly optimistic. Never a bad word or negative statement from him.
- Energetic and hardworking.
- Higher faith. Don has strong convictions which are reflected in his work.
- Honesty.
- Goal oriented.

Are you cut of the same cloth? Consider your options and see what you are doing to be as "nimble" as Don. Most of us follow the same old, "the company let me go - I wasn't planning on this!" lament.

Don has never waited for this to happen. He keeps his eyes and ears open for opportunity at all times.

If you don't have a similar plan for your life, why not make one today? Why not get busy on figuring your four or five plays and what fits for you?

Happy hunting!