Supply Chain Career Risk Management: Don’t Wait for the Pink Slip

Catalyst pink slip

Rodney Apple: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Supply Chain Career Catalyst podcast series where we help supply chain professionals take control of their careers with practical, real world advice. I’m Rodney Apple, and I’m joined by my co-host Chris Gaffney and Mike Ogle. In our recent episodes within this series, we’ve walked through the full career lifecycle from self-reflection, exploring the myriad of career paths within supply chain, how to craft a winning job, search strategy, interviewing best practices, offer negotiation tips.

And onboarding for success. Today, we are tackling a topic that is incredibly relevant in today’s market, but one that most professionals do not proactively plan for, and that’s how to prepare for the day. You are told that you and your employer are parting ways, whether it’s a layoff, a restructuring, or some unexpected termination.[00:01:00]

Now, here’s the interesting part. For those of us that work in supply chain, we don’t wait for disruptions to happen. These days. We’ve seen plenty, especially in the last several years from, the COVID pandemic. We’ve got this conflict in Iran that we’re dealing with as well. So one thing we’ve learned over the years is we build contingency plans.

We factor in risk, we diversify suppliers. We craft all kinds of scenarios. We maintain strategic relationships with suppliers and vendors, so when something breaks, we’re not panicking, we’re able to pivot very quickly when it comes to our careers. Most people don’t apply that same type of thinking.

They operate with a single source of supply. If you think about that, it can translate into one employer, one role, or one career path, and when that disruption hits. We’re forced into a reactive mode instead of being proactive. So today we’re gonna break [00:02:00] down how do you apply supply chain risk management principles to your career, so you’re always prepared with that plan B, perhaps a c, d, or even beyond.

And before we go any further, I’d love to ask everyone listening in the audience just to pause and think do you know of someone that’s doing well in their career and then all of a sudden. They got that pink slip. There’s a layoff or some type of restructuring or were just randomly terminated, came out of the blue.

I’m sure you can think of one because we’re seeing this happen in our corner of the world pretty much every day. The market is definitely on shaky ground and. We know some, a players high performers at all different levels in all industries not just in supply chain. Of course this applies to all different business functions, but, this is happening as companies continue to tighten the belt.

And so today we’re gonna talk about putting those contingency plans and applying risk management principles. So I’m gonna turn it over [00:03:00] to Chris Gaffney and he’s gonna break down some of the core supply chain risk management principles and how we can apply that to our own careers. Chris.

Chris Gaffney: Thanks Rodney.

So let’s start by connecting the dots and our audience or supply chain professionals. In, in our world of managing supply chains, risk management is now pretty much embedded into our decision making and thinking. We’ve gotten comfortable. With the concept of scenario planning, we are much better at identifying single source of supply, single gateway in freight, because we’ve been bit by that in the past.

So we’re building in redundancy, and you’re starting to see, the concept of contingency planning and playbooks be the norm versus the exception. Now, let’s think about. What that looks like if we apply it to an individual person’s career. And one thing we talk about a lot in supply chain, but almost never in careers, [00:04:00] is variability, right?

You know the world that most of our businesses see a lot of demand volatility, but we think the demand for our work and needs is super stable and super flat. But the reality now is demand for your skills may be changing and. Hopefully your ability to deliver is changing in a positive way. But, most people, like I say they assume all that’s stable and that’s just less true.

And that’s the concept that led to, us talking about this episode. And that’s where all of our exposure comes from, because early in my career, many cases the job loss came from either an industry that had fundamentally changed and everyone could see it. Or it was performance based.

And as Rodney mentioned, more and more we see people who are really good performers and their organization just makes a fundamental shift, and it’s something we don’t control. So let’s think about some of the topics we talked about in the context of [00:05:00] career planning. So scenario planning in the context of career planning is more about what happens if you’re.

Company restructures which happens more and more frequently. And what happens if your function either gets deprioritized or a decision is made and make by decision is made and the work that you do becomes outsourced or taken offshore And more increasingly, automation comes to your department.

So let’s think about the concept of safety stock, right? What does that look like for an individual in your career? In some cases it’s actually financial. How many paychecks can you go without without it really being a problem for you? In some cases, and for a lot of people in America, that’s still only a few weeks or a few checks, and so that’s a very short window for you to be able to endure something unexpected.

I think it’s also true emotionally. Most people are very invested in their [00:06:00] career. Many cases they identify themselves by the company they work for, and that’s a very emotional thing. If that comes to a sudden stop and like it or not. Most employee employer relationships are transactional. And I’ve worked at companies where we didn’t wanna think that would was really the case, but that’s really what it looks like and that can be a big emotional shock for folks.

When we think of the idea of supplier relationships. In the Korea world, that’s your network. And as Rodney said, is when you’re in the single source world and you’re engrossed in your own business, you’re talking about engaging with people at your current employer, and if you leave that company, you lose access to a lot of those people.

And I’ve seen it. When I left Koch and even suppliers, there were people who were really interested in spending a lot of time with you when you worked at your company. When you left, all of a sudden that phone didn’t ring. So you’ve gotta think about your broader supplier relationship network. [00:07:00] Who are your.

People you’ve worked with before who are different companies, people you might have gone to school with, mentors and people in the professional side of the business. Recruiters, that’s your alternate supply route. And so that starts to mean you’ve gotta invest in that. And I think last thing for us is continuity planning becomes, career plan B.

If something happens tomorrow, what steps would you take? We see a lot of younger people have a gig, a side hustle or something like that. Maybe it’s time to make that more substantial or know, what it would take to grow that into something that could be a more of a primary source of income.

And so that’s the idea for us. So the reality is. Whether you realize it or not, you’re the owner of your career supply chain, and there’s nobody else who’s gonna make it a priority. So like any supply chain, if you’re not actively managing that risk you’re the one who’s exposed.

So I’m gonna hand it off to Mike who’s gonna dig into this concept of a career plan [00:08:00] B as a key risk step.

Mike Ogle: Yeah. As you first get into this first step, just being able to figure out what would I do in these kinds of situations that Chris was talking about. It’s where most people do fall short.

They wait until something happens. And then they start thinking about that plan B. It’d be great to be able to have that already available because when you go through that initial emotional reaction of what ends up happening, your mind is going, 20 different directions at once. So if you had that discipline prior, it’s gonna help you focus from the very beginning.

People tend to end up searching for resources and making calls to figure out what to do next. So make sure that you have that plan B in place so that you know the steps you should take. So in supply chain, it would be like trying to qualify a new supplier after your primary supplier just shut down. It’s too late.

So that plan B, we really have to pursue that. And I’m gonna give you five components to be able to think about [00:09:00] how you would do this. So number one is, the first component is your network. That’s probably one of your greatest assets. Sure, you got a lot of experience. You’ve got things that you’ve learned over time, but that network is gonna be one of your most valuable things.

Your former colleagues, your industry peers, and even try to set up relationships with supply chain recruiters or search firms so that you’ve already got somebody that you can talk to instead of trying to flail around. And then think about industry association groups you’ve been part of, committees you’ve participated in or led, or even local kinds of organizations where you’ve got some great contacts who may know people in industries you’ve just never bothered to have that kind of conversation with them.

So make sure you contact these people and that you’re, it’s not because you need something from them today because something happened to you and you suddenly need them, but you’ve maintained those relationships over time. Don’t make it a new and sudden issue in the first time you’ve [00:10:00] contacted them in months or years.

Your network will be far more helpful in helping you navigate that next career opportunity if you’ve done the proper care and feeding of that relationship over time. So the second category, or a component that we’ll take a look at is going to be market awareness. Do you really have an understanding, a general sense, not just in your own industry, in your own company, your own suppliers, your own customers, but what’s happening in the entire industry?

What roles are in demand these days in supply chain, and the kinds of things that you think you could do? You know which ones are becoming less important? What are the compensation benchmarks and the kinds of comp compensation that are even being emphasized? What kinds of companies or industries are growing or hiring?

Are you aware of new players in the industry that are coming on strong? And then the third component that we’ll talk about is your personal brand and visibility. So you do need to have some kind of [00:11:00] visibility. You can start certainly with making sure that your LinkedIn page says all the things that you wanted to be able to say that you.

You’ve done once again, the proper care and feeding of your LinkedIn because that personal brand and visibility has to be really clear. From the moment you start sending out messages because people will go out and check your LinkedIn. Also, take a look at the various industry focused professional associations and the kinds of things that you’ve been involved in over time, and put those, that kind of information out there.

What have you accomplished? What have you volunteered in? What are the kinds of things that you’ve posted about what’s happening in the world and in the industry? So make sure you have that strong profile. That provides that clarity regarding your skills, your interests, your accomplishments, and those thought leadership postings about issues related to what you’ve done and be visible.

In various ways. It could even include things like social [00:12:00] media. Now we’ll move on to the fourth component out of the five and that skill relevance. So I mentioned this briefly in the third component, but it needs a little extra emphasis here. Have you been keeping up with where the field is going? Take notes on those kinds of things.

Make it one of the documents that you end up reviewing and keep. Keep feeding it. Are you reading or listening enough to podcasts or YouTube videos or whatever it may be, to know the terminology and lingo people are using today? Do you know about the supply chain tools that are out there, the new ones?

What directions are going. What’s happening out there? Automation of physical and even mental workflows. The tools that are used for that. Analytical tools and techniques that enhance decision making. And then finally, leadership techniques. Do you know the kind of organization that you’d like to be part of?

And if you’re trying to pursue somewhere else, do you know their culture? Do you know what they’re getting into and what’s hot and what’s not [00:13:00] these days? And I’ll get into finally to the fifth component, and that’s gonna be career optionality. Ha. Have you really thought about what it would take to pivot industries to shift functions?

Are you open to those kinds of things? Can you prove the ability to pivot or shift? Has there been something you’ve done in the past where you can come up with an example? That could quickly say, Hey, I can do this. I’ve proven that I can do this. So your plan B, to kinda summarize these five, your plan B really shouldn’t be something that you build from scratch.

It should already exist at least partially, and be ready to activate. And that plan B, by the way, doesn’t just help you for that next job. It’s not something that you open up the time capsule and try to do what you need to do when the time comes. If you keep up on your plan B and keep thinking about the ways that you prepare yourself, it could also pay dividends on your current job.

You’re perceived [00:14:00] as someone who’s up to date making and maintaining their network connections and has forward looking thoughts about how companies can better compete in an ever changing marketplace. So the strength of your plan B preparations may be the reason. You might not ever have to use it by possibly preempting a company decision about your job being eliminated or restructured. So one of the lessons here is you can better prepare and get your radar up and working so you can understand where you actually stand. So Rodney, I think this helps lead into recognizing those early warning career signals.

Rodney Apple: Thanks, Mike. One thing that I would add too is and this, I’m just thinking of a candidate who’s been, I’ll just call it long-term unemployed. He is, got a fantastic background, has worked with some prominent companies supply chain executive roles. Been out for, I don’t know, a year and a half, and

is still looking for full-time roles. I had a contract role open up and ran it by him and just passed on It said, no I’m looking for [00:15:00] full-time roles. And, that was about six months ago and he’s. Unfortunately still out there looking. So I think, message here is just be open-minded.

Sometimes that contract role it’s better to be able to put something on the resume too, so it checks a few boxes. You close some gaps on the resume. You’re out there actively meeting other people. Could be suppliers customers and so forth. And bringing in some side income while you’re looking for that full-time role.

So just keep that in mind. Open that mind up as much as possible. Don’t have a closed mind. Be open to opportunities you may not have thought about in the past. Yeah, we’re gonna talk about those early signals. And just like supply chain disruptions, they rarely come out of nowhere.

We, an example is going back to the COVID pandemic. We saw where the originate origination of that disruption occurred over, over in China. And it slow rolled its way around the planet. And it’s not the first time we’ve had a pandemic either. We can go back in time and look at the history book and see what kind of damage that had [00:16:00] occurred back then, and apply those lessons to today to try to mitigate those risks.

Same principles apply to your career. You need to be able to spot those early warning signs. Some of those may include declining company performance. You start seeing things like budget freezes and cuts, or, Hey, we’re not gonna do travel. We’re no longer gonna do relocation for any candidates.

You might see some two roles combined into one. Some of that restructuring that we talked about early leadership starts turning over. At the top, they’re usually the first ones that are gonna know if something is starting to go slide the in the wrong direction financially and may and may have their own plan B that they take advantage of.

Automation as Chris alluded to heavy investments in automation. Outsourcing to contract manufacturers or, and, or 3PLs. Or 4PLs It brings back a, I had a person I’ve worked with way back at Home Depot. He said, Hey he’s at a big CPG company. I won’t name [00:17:00] them.

But just mentioned that, hey, there’s a trend over here that we’re starting to. Outsource more and more of our product lines to contract manufacturers. And that has me concerned about my role as well as opportunities for growth. You think about your role disappearing, but you also want to think about if my company’s on this trend.

What’s that gonna mean for opportunities? They’re probably gonna be a lot less in terms of upward movement. So that’s another thing just to bear in mind as you think about that. Plan B, not always about what if my job is lost, but what if the opportunities are limited? So just bear that in mind.

And then your own role too, right? It could be they ask you to move take a pay cut or move into a lesser role. So those are some of those those indicators that you need to just keep an eye out for and then make sure you polish off or dust off the resume and the other things that Mike talked about within that plan B.

But don’t panic. This is just a sign that it’s time to start getting serious about allocating time and space to prepare just in case, right? When you [00:18:00] start seeing these signals start reconnecting. With your network. I would even argue you should proactively maintain these relationships, especially with those that are hyper connectors.

Those that work, for example in my world, in, in the recruiting space there’s a lot of roles that we work on that may never hit the public eye. And so keep those relationships fresh. As Chris alluded to, suppliers, customers, those you’ve worked with in the past.

Past employees, et cetera. So keep those fresh and look out for those signs, because once that disruption or that pink slip hits, then it’s just, time is not on your side. And you wanna move as quickly as possible. Especially if you’re in that position, as Chris talked about earlier, where, you have a limited supply on the money side.

And those that I would say those that, there’s, think about the market too, right? When we’re in a shaky job market there’s, unfortunately, there’s less opportunities and more people looking for them. So if you wanna equate that to [00:19:00] supply demand planning that’s what you got.

You got less supply of jobs and more supply of candidates.

Chris Gaffney: Yeah. Rodney, I would add one to that again, in our whole spirit. Thinking like supply chain people being data driven. One of the things that we know today is AI is involved in the job search business, right? People are using AI for their resumes, but employers are using AI to scan resumes.

And a common experience is, I can’t get through the. Traditional. Throw my interview, throw my resume in for a job I never hear. I think our experience is a high percentage of people who get hired and a high percentage of people who are hiring, like to leverage some level of referencing. I know that person that person was referenced to me.

So one point of advice that I give and I have used is. To really assess your network, and the simple thing you can do is go into LinkedIn and [00:20:00] there is a very clear way that you can download your contacts into a spreadsheet and I. Advocate that people rank their contacts. It’s an exercise, but who are the people?

And it’s probably between 50 and 200 people that if you sent them a note today and said, I need to talk to you, they would respond immediately. They would say, I’m available now. I can get on the phone later today. That’s your tier one. Okay? And that list of people is where your next job is gonna come from.

They may not be the ones who will hire you, but they have that same tier one network where if they reach out and say, I’ve got a friend who’s in the market, I will strongly reference them, can you talk to them? And so if you’ve got 50 people who are in your. Top tier network and they have 50, that’s 2,500 contacts.

And if your list is bigger or theirs is bigger, that’s the bigger one. And so that’s my kind of, [00:21:00] bedrock advice for people in networking is know who that list of folks is and today get started reconnecting with that first 50.

Rodney Apple: That’s a great add, Chris. Appreciate you making that point. And I do wanna elaborate on what you said about AI because on the employer side or the recruiter side and I can go back probably 20 years we’ve, it wasn’t called ai, but we’ve had the technology on the employer side to filter by keywords.

Algorithms do a lot of the heavy lifting and force rank the applicants based on keywords in their resume. If you fast forward to today, job seekers have the, an abundance of technology that’s very advanced that agents can get out there and mass apply to roles, customizing your resume, making sure you’ve got the right keywords that align to each and every job you’re trying to apply to.

And so when clients reach out to us here at SEM Talent Group, we’re hearing a common complaint is that our applicant, our inboxes are full with [00:22:00] applicants. They all look qualified. So it’s hard to see who really sticks out because everyone’s using AI tools to cus their customize their resume around the job description.

And that’s creating a lot of turmoil. And sometimes employers just say, Hey, we, we just, we don’t have time to deal with this and so can you help us out? So the message to those that are looking is that. You certainly want to check the box and apply online. But as Chris just alluded to, the networking is where all the magic occurs.

So check the box, apply online, make sure your resume is a good fit and aligns with the job description without faking it, of course. But make sure you follow up through networking as well. Let’s talk about. The pink slip. And for those that have not heard that term before I mentioned that in the office the other day, and our younger employees are like, what is a pink slip?

But it’s basically a termination notice, right? We just read that Oracle terminated 30 some thousand people through an email, they say may [00:23:00] have been written by ai. That’s not the proper way to do it. That’s neither here nor there. It’s a termination notice or a layoff notice. Chris I’m gonna start with you.

What should be your immediate response when you get that bad news?

Chris Gaffney: It is definitely a shock for the vast majority of folks, when they get that note, notice when they are asked to. Step into a meeting that was unplanned or put on their calendar in short notice. I think the first thing first is to be poised when you’re getting that information. The reality is you may not be working at that company anymore very shortly when that happens.

It may be days, it may be weeks. It’s no more than a month in most cases. But in the moment there. Let your emotions be okay. There is no value in getting overly emotional in the moment because one or more of the people that are involved in giving you that news, in many cases, they don’t want to give you that news.

[00:24:00] That’s been something they’ve been directed to do. They may be somebody that you need in the future. So I think just be as level as you can be in the moment when you’re in your employer and you’re getting that news. And then in most cases, they’re gonna give you the opportunity to get outta the office.

Okay? And at that point, you’re gonna do the logical things. You’re gonna talk to immediate family. Give them that news. Let them be supportive of you. And so let that normal frustration, uncertainty, humility, let those things wash over you because they are what they are. But I think this is where the mindset matters.

As I said before, a very high percentage of these changes now are not a result of your own performance or capability. So I think this is where you want to really. Keep that in mind. Get the validation from the folks in network who care about you and advocate for you. We’ve talked, we’ve, Rodney, you and I have talked to someone we [00:25:00] both know very closely, and it’s been very humbling for that person who has been at a high performer their entire career.

In retrospect, and I’ve told a lot of people, A year from now, you’re gonna be fine. Okay? And so hang on to that while you’re sorting through this, but now you’ve gotta get into leveraging that plan B. Okay, we’ve talked about all the things that we need to do, but this is where you’ve gotta go ahead and get moving on it.

You’ve gotta do the math quickly to say, how much time do I actually have? You’ve done the work that we’ve talked about. Hopefully now you understand. My personal family resources allow me to do x. I have days, weeks, months, or longer that, that allow me to say, this is what I need to, this is the time I have to be able to work on what comes next.

And then I think, we’re gonna get into the practical steps if you’ve built the plan. So Rodney, I know you’ve got a very clear list of that.

Rodney Apple: Yeah. Thanks Chris. And before I start on this too for those [00:26:00] listening that might. Either find yourself out of a role right now or you’re deeply concerned or you just wanna take this advice and create a plan B, which we highly recommend doing even though you think you’re completely safe.

’cause we know a lot of people that thought that and they’re they got that pink slip. But I was gonna say, go back and listen. We, in this Catalyst series, we have started with taking that time to reflect. Go backwards, look at. Throughout your career, the jobs, the people you work for, the skills you’ve developed, do that, pros and cons.

That it’s a linear, right? So it leads right into, what are the types of roles that I may qualify for what are the ones I’d maybe like to stretch into. And then getting your resume and LinkedIn profile together, getting that job search strategy together. We talk about those things and we go very deep and broad.

And so I would encourage you to go back to the series and start with episode one for this CATA Catalyst series, and it’ll give you a lot of the advice I’m getting ready to cover from a very [00:27:00] high level. But as we have talked about, networking is where the magic occurs. Hopefully you’ve already been doing some proactive networking, but if you haven’t, this is the time to do it.

So start activating your network. Pull that list together. LinkedIn makes it super easy to go through and. Look at your past employers look at people you’ve worked with. Where are they at today? You never know. ’cause all you know, some people think I’ve gotta reach out to the hiring manager.

They’re the ones that makes the decision. Or I’ve gotta reach out to that recruiter. They’re gonna help me find a job. In reality, most recruiters, almost all recruiters on the agency side, headhunting side, or employed by our, by employers to go fill certain jobs. So in other words, they’re not in business.

We’re not in business too. To find jobs for candidates. We’re here to help you with that effort though so reach out to those recruiters, your trusted peers former colleagues. That’s a great place to start. And as Chris talked about earlier, try to force rank those who’s category A. These are the people that I know best.

They’re gonna probably be able to help. And then just go further down that list. [00:28:00] Start with the warm pot connections, and then go from there and see what you can get out of that. Ask for referrals too. Always ask, could you know any somebody that might, could help me out? A recruiter or really anyone?

Step two is make sure you get those materials that we’ve talked about, your marketing materials, your resume is updated. I would encourage you to. Keep that resume updated at all times. Document your accomplishments, your accolades, so you can pepper those in at any given moment. Same thing with your LinkedIn profile.

Make sure you know how to art, articulate your value proposition. Step three is defining your target. What are the roles, those industries, take a look at the market. What industries are thriving? Based on the current economic situations aerospace, defense, healthcare, those are on the up technology not doing as well.

So just bear that in mind and concentrate your efforts on where the opportunities are at today. Yeah, look at the company types too. Right now a lot of the larger corporations they are, tend to be out front when it comes to proactively trimming and restructuring.

Maybe it’s time to look at a [00:29:00] mid-size company. So just look at those different ownership types and company sizes, industries and concentrate your efforts where. You have the odds of most success. And then put some structure around this too. Again we’ve, we have a lot of information over scm talent.com on all of these tactics that I’ve covered, including eBooks and guides on how to create a job search strategy, how to interview, things like that.

Make sure you’re treating it like you would put your sales cap on. You’re in prospecting mode and I’ve gotta have target companies, I’ve gotta have decision makers and influencers and advocates that I’m reaching out to. On a daily basis, set up those goals and allocate time and space on your calendar to to get this work done and make sure you’re following up.

And I’ll say this is the number one piece of advice that I could, that I can give to anyone is don’t assume that people you reach out to, just they don’t get back on the first effort. Don’t assume that they’re ignoring you. Assume that they are busy as all get out. As companies are tightening the belt do more with [00:30:00] less.

That has been the mantra for a long time. So it seems, and even on our side, we are getting swamped with folks that are looking and, I wish we had more hours in the day to, to help each individual out, but we just can’t. And that’s the way I think almost all employers and recruiters are feeling these days.

So the message is, the follow up is where the magic occurs when it comes to networking. You don’t want to hammer someone’s phone, but you certainly want to pepper in some follow-ups. Maybe try them on email. Try them, make a phone call. The old fashioned phone still works and give it a whirl.

Leave a sort message and try ’em through text. Younger generations are all about texting, multi-touch is the message and following through is really where the results occur. And then lastly, step five is just Chris alluded to, is just understand the financial runway.

Be open-minded, prioritize those roles you really want. But as you get further down the road and you find that you’re starting to run through cash or savings, make sure you’re open-minded. And even if you have to take a contract role just to get by and close, keep [00:31:00] active.

That’s better than just sitting there waiting for that perfect opportunity. Let’s cover some of the common mistakes that people make and that slow down the job search. Mike, you wanna take this one?

Mike Ogle: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks Rodney. There are a few mistakes that we see that are just cause.

Consistently cause delays in job searches. So I’ll give you six of these to think about for the moment. The first one is you waited too long to start, you didn’t prepare a plan B, and then you waste time trying to figure out a game plan. So you do have to go through an initial phase where you’re just trying to make sure you can internalize things a little bit, but you really should hit the ground running as, as quickly as you can and having that plan in place starting.

Right away, even if you do wanna take maybe a little bit of time to think about things and to put something together, but. Get started as quickly as you can in one way or another. [00:32:00] So the second would be that you rely only on online applications. You start going out and finding different, through different searches.

You find some positions could be company websites, it could be some of the general sites that are out there for all kinds of jobs, but you just rely on that for and start submitting all kinds of online applications. Then when that doesn’t work or doesn’t seem to be producing very well, then you start using other ways.

But you really need to do a variety of ways from the very beginning. The third one would be not maintaining and leveraging that network. So we’ve talked about that a lot already, but it is the number one thing that you need to rely on. And then one of the mistakes I think sometimes people make that delays things is trying to keep it quiet that you’re out of a job not being able to get out there and reach out to the people who know you, they’ve trusted you, that you’ve had a career where you’ve worked with these people.

They [00:33:00] understand it. They know other people that are well qualified that are in these kinds of positions. So the fourth, I would say is being way too narrow in what you’ll consider. Think about your options, consider other kinds of things. The fifth one would be, don’t let your emotions drive your decisions.

Don’t panic. Don’t jump too fast without knowing your options. Make sure that you’ve reviewed that plan. B, it guides how you get started, but don’t delay the start until you think you’re fully prepared. And then the sixth one would end up being you struggled to clearly articulate your value. And one of the things I think that’s incredibly important here is to always have some kind of elevator speech or even a series of elevator speeches about different kinds of things.

But do you really know how to tell people. Hey, so tell me a little bit about yourself. What, where do you wanna be? What are you trying to consider as your options? What [00:34:00] kinds of industries have you worked in? You’ve got all kinds of little elevator speeches that you need to be able to have practiced, and you can pop ’em out there without sounding too practiced, but it sounds like you really know what you wanna be, where you’ve been and what you’d like to be able to consider.

So if you think about all this, once again in supply chain terms, it’s like responding to a disruption with no contingency plan. So that plan B is a huge focus of what we’ve been talking about today. So make sure you don’t react. You’re ready to execute and that almost if you don’t and you are just simply reacting, it’s gonna delete lead to those delays.

So I think the next topic that we’re gonna dive into is being able to make sure you can turn disruption into opportunity. That’s all yours, Chris.

Chris Gaffney: Thanks, Mike. Yeah, again, I think from a supply chain context, when we have a disruption, we always say take advantage of a crisis, right? How do you get better?

How do you [00:35:00] reset? And I think we want to continue to apply that idea as we’re thinking about applying kind of risk and resilience thinking to your career. So I definitely would say, again, over time. Most of the people that I know who had an unplanned event ended up in a better place, and in many cases it was a completely new avenue for them.

So I think in a time of challenge, have some confidence and hope that this may turn into something that’s great for you long term. Obviously we want that adversity to be as controlled as possible. The kind of opportunities that we see. Are people who move into a completely different industry, right?

Many of you know I spent a lot of time at Koch. There are plenty of people I know at Koch who have nothing to do with the food and beverage industry anymore, and they’re doing really well, right? So some of it was like, can I survive in a different industry? Rodney mentioned it earlier, that whole idea of agility.

Is mostly already in your [00:36:00] tool bag. If you step back and reflect, you will realize that you’ve had to make shifts in the past. You’ve been able to take what you do and move into a different place and be successful. So this is another opportunity for to use that agility to set yourself up in a different industry.

And the reality is we know lots of people who have been better off over time in terms of their ability to actually, get increased compensation. And again, if you’re thoughtful and do the scan that Mike talked about, you may find an industry where your skills are really valuable. I have a friend who was a senior supply chain person.

He got involved in the revenue side of things, which was very advanced at. Coca-Cola. And when he moved into another industry that hadn’t seen that capability before, he was giving very basic advice that was viewed as really groundbreaking and he was able to have huge influence and got into a bigger role out of that.

So I also think, in many cases we get pigeonholed in a role in [00:37:00] our company and a new role. May a cha may give us the chance to take what we’re really good at. And match that into a role that’s out there. So I think, that’s where mindset matters in this opportunity. That’s why having this plan also, gives you something to do when you’re in a bit of a chaotic state.

But if you work the plan, have that right mindset you can turn this from, how do I survive this disruption into something that, that, how do I leverage into the next best thing for me? Just a thought process around that I think is important. And then I think, Rodney, as we get into the final stage is that it’s really about mindset.

So give us your thoughts on mindset in this si situation.

Rodney Apple: Yeah. Thanks Chris. Yeah, and I would add just one more thing to what you covered. It can be tempting when you’ve been out for a while to, to take that role that you’re just like dreading. This is not. The right people. I wanna work with the right company.

They’ve got ethical issues, whatever it [00:38:00] may be that doesn’t align with you and your values. And I know that’s a difficult decision. You’re watching your savings drain and you’ve got one opportunity. And so I. Do your pros and cons. It’s just something you’re gonna have to evaluate if based on finances and your other most important factors in your own career, in your own life.

And I certainly, feel for those that are in that position where they have to take a, a. What we, Chris likes to use the term regrettable career move. Try to avoid those as best you can. Sometimes it’s better to take a part-time role or a contract than to get into a full-time role that you know you’re gonna be leaving as soon as possible.

It’s just not a fun place to be. So just, do your best. ’cause everybody’s got their own priorities and so just wanted to call that out. Try not to make that regrettable career move. And if you do, yeah. One other thing, yeah. If you do work on the plan C, d, and E right away so you can pivot once you can find a better opportunity.

Mike Ogle: One thing I would add to that as well before you dive into the long-term mindset side of things is, what an [00:39:00] incredible opportunity if you’re in that type of culture that’s a little bit challenging is to go in with a positive attitude and see what you can do to be able to make your team and your group if you can be part of a transformation.

Of that kind of culture and people see you that way, that would be very highly remembered.

Rodney Apple: That, that’s a very valid point. Sometimes companies have that culture because of one person, one leader. And if you’re stepping into that person’s role, sure you’re gonna have an uphill battle in a way.

But they’re, you might find that people are welcome, welcoming a new leader that’s gonna, bring life back to the company and treat people with respect and dignity and things like that. So that’s a great point. You have to take the time to do the due diligence and. And before you make that, that decision on an offer.

So that’s a great add, Mike. Yeah. So let’s pull all this together. We’re talking about incremental moves when you think about it, right? Most people aren’t [00:40:00] gonna be in, in a job search. I would even say it’s, 1% or less of the time of your working life, right?

Your 35, 40 years, however long you put into your career, let’s call it 1%. And think about those 35, 40 years, you wanna maintain a long-term mindset. And for if we have anyone that’s out there listening that’s in college or that’s embarking on their career, this definitely applies to you.

You’ve got a good ways to go the three of us here on the pod of or entering the latter stages of our career. But maintaining that mindset. And always be prepared for managing career risk is critical. And on the flip side of that too, and it can be very tempting, I just wanna call this out.

It’s not really part of the topic, but. You do have to be mindful of having too many moves. What we refer to in, in recruiting is is job hopping, right? And stability is still something, loyalty, stability is still very important. If you, if employers, recruiters look at your resume and you’ve made that pivot [00:41:00] every six months or every year they’re gonna make some assumptions that you.

Have some kind of issues, with staying for at a job. It could be performance or you, or on the other side, it could be you’re just chasing more money and if somebody throws you a higher salary, you’re gonna jump ship, right? Factor that into this long term mindset because it, it should be continuous, not something that’s incremental, between employers.

Maintain this mindset. And what I mean by that is at your own employer, you should be thinking about what are those, based on your goals. Everybody has unique goals and objectives, but be thinking internally at my company where do I want to go? Where can I go? Who are the people that I respect as leaders that I’d like to work for?

It could be I need to round out my experience if I want to become more of an end-to-end supply chain person, right? So have that plan, be at your own employer and then have those plan Cs or ds in case you get that [00:42:00] unfortunate call or email that your job is about to end, right? So just be thinking about this from the moment you start your first job all the way through.

And I would even say, especially as you move midway through to the end of your career, because unfortunately there still is some bias out there in the workforce. And as you. Sometimes I’m not painting a broad stroke, but discrimination is still something that unfortunately we see in the world today.

Maintain those scenario plans from the moment you get out. Everybody’s excited. I’m starting my first job. Doesn’t mean you need to have a plan B on the second day of your first job, but you should be thinking broadly and long term. And that applies to what we’ve been, the core thread here is around your network.

And if I’m coming out of college even if I’m in college. Right now I would encourage you to go ahead and set up your LinkedIn profile. I see a lot of college students doing that. I’m sure Mike, you and Chris you’re encouraging your students to do that early. And often it might even be a requirement these days, right?

But starting [00:43:00] out with your network and building it and networking is not just what can you do for me, it really is more about going about it with, what can I do for you? Here’s how I help people. Is there anything I can do to help you? And boy, I tell you, most people that have been around the block that I see that have accelerated in advance of their career, I would say networking has been paramount to their success because.

When you think about skills, soft skills, you think about hard skills everybody’s, fairly capable. Not everyone’s equal, but capable of developing that way. But really what sets apart people beyond, the all important leadership, that’s gonna be super important if you want to advance your career upward.

It does come down to your network, so it’s not just about contingency plans in case the pink slip happens. Networking is paramount for success. Throughout your career, and understanding your market value, understanding your trajectory, and then what are those boxes, for lack of a better term, that I’m gonna need to check, whether it’s functionally or technically, or soft skills.

Or [00:44:00] industry experience you need to round that out. So maintain that long-term mindset, have contingency plans for your current employer. Have contingency plans for if that no longer becomes the case one day, and that will set you up for long-term success. Anything to add on that micro Chris?

Chris Gaffney: Yeah, I, my view is the world is evolving and. I think nobody should, nobody can afford to stand pat at this point in time. And I think, most people don’t enjoy change. Again, we’ve lived in a world where there was relative career stability compared to today, but more variability than our parents likely dealt with.

And I just think that’s, that trend is gonna continue. So this whole idea. Of being proactive. Nobody else is going to take care of you. That’s the harsh thing about this when it comes to this. So I think just being in the game [00:45:00] constantly focusing on investing in your own capability, building your own skills and capabilities so you’re more capable and being part of a network, right?

Those are the things that I think are the most durable things that we’ve talked about. If you took nothing else away from our discussion today.

Mike Ogle: Yeah, and I think one of the things that I tend to end up sharing in class every semester is, the whole Darwinism side of things. It’s not always the strongest and fastest that end up surviving.

It’s the ones who end up being the ones that can adjust the species. For instance, in this case the careers that are ready to be agile, be able to. Adjust and be prepared for when things happen. Not always the strongest and fit to survive. Make sure that you’re able to adjust to changing conditions.

Rodney Apple: Great additions. That’s a great way to wrap this up. Thank you audience for listening. If [00:46:00] you found this episode helpful be sure to subscribe to the Supply Chain Careers podcast at your favorite listening platform. And if you know someone that could benefit from this conversation, we encourage you to forward it to them.

And lastly check out s cm talent.com. We have spent, since we founded the company, we have cranked out a lot of content. Our DNA is to help as many people as possible. We know we can’t do that individually, one-on-one with a lot of people. But we put forth a tremendous amount of effort to crank out content and thought leadership that can help those that work in this incredible op career space of supply chain management advance their career.

So we’ve got a ton of advice on leadership job search strategy, professional development, and more. So thanks again for listening and we’ll see you next time.