Jan
05
Reader Question: Should I Take The Job?
Kate, who I adore for reasons that extend beyond her enthusiasm that borders on the offensive, has a question.
“I currently work in IT Project Management (oh, the excitement! Ahem…) and I may soon have an opportunity to move into corporate communications. WOOHOO! This gets a WOOHOO because I really wanted to go into marketing but thought I wasn’t cool enough to major in it. (I know, I roll my eyes at me, too.)
Since I saw you used to work in Mega Company corporate communications, I thought maybe you could give me some inside scoop on what the job really is. This would be the communications department for the IT department that reports to the corporate communications folks.
Basically, would I be bored out of my mind? I don’t want to jump from comfy and boring to strange, new, and boring! Plus, I want to eventually run the whole shebang — or learn enough to start my own home business shebang. How could a job like this fit into the bigger picture, if at all? Although, if they offer me crazy money OF COURSE I will take it!”
Dearest, most wonderful Kate,
Corporate communications is a fancy phrase for politics. You get paid to attend meetings and write stuff that will never be seen because other people will rip it apart by committee. You will generally get business cards that have your actual name printed on them, not a little line where you’re supposed to write your name in with a pen. In my experience, and the experience of others I know, a move to corporate communications is almost always associated with a substantial increase in pay.
Marketing and corporate communications, while different animals entirely, are based on the same premise. You have to say something in a way that people — maybe customers, maybe colleagues, maybe higher-ups, maybe subordinates — will understand it well enough to do something as a result. Sometimes that “something” is getting people to buy your crap, sometimes that “something” is getting customer service representatives to remember how to say “hello” without fucking it up. (Secret: Every time I try to type the word “result” I accidentally type “reslut” instead. The Freudian implications of this are, well, Freudian.)
If you want to run the whole shebang, it is definitely a good career move. The people who are in charge of deciding whether or not to give you the shebang-running responsibilities tend to like both demonstrated communications skills and promotions. If you want to run your own shebang, it will, at the very worst, be a neutral career move. And if they offer you crazy stupid money then you should take it regardless. (No. I am not saying that people should take jobs just based on crazy stupid money. I’m saying people should take jobs THEY WOULD ENJOY AND WERE STRONGLY CONSIDERING TAKING ANYWAY based on crazy stupid money.)
Will you get bored? Yes. Corporate communications is not a good place for creative people to spend any great amount of time.
If you are offered and accept this position, your first order of business is to find a way to be running either the aforementioned shebang or your own shop before you burn out. Communications department burnout is ugly.
I have two pieces of advice for people who want to work in communications. One, you have to stop viewing writing as an art and start viewing it as a product. When people don’t like what you write, and they won’t, you’ll need something with which you can console yourself. Knowing that they don’t like your product is a lot easier on the ego than knowing they don’t like your art.
Second, invest in a membership to a gym that has a boxing ring. The people you work with will occasionally make you so angry you will want to kill yourself.
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“When people don’t like what you write, and they won’t, you’ll need something with which you can console yourself.”
This sounds like good advice. I spent 10+ years at a mega-corp. The Corporate Communications bulletins that made the most impact on the staff consisted of spin on why our benefits were being reduced, why we had to cross picket lines to work ridiculous overtime while the union was on strike, etc. Of course they wrote the good stuff too, like matching our donations to charity. But somehow the other stuff got talked about a whole lot more ;-)
I think Naomi is accurate in her comments. I also think some people would find Corp Comm to be soul-sucking purgatory. But maybe that’s just me, and maybe the career move would be worth it :-)
@ Tzaddi – You’re right… Corp Comm has it’s, um, downsides. Writing the manual that outlined penalties for not following call center scripting was probably my favorite. :)
“Thank you for choosing Bell.” Plus 2 points.
“Thank you for calling Bell.” Minus 1 point.
Ah, those were the days. I wonder if they’ll give me my job back.
Ah, another Telco survivor! I have drugs for that if you need them.
Are they the same drugs that came in my severance package?
Drat. I knew I was missing out on big bucks by choosing sanity over the severance-that-would-never-come, but I didn’t know they included drugs too!
haha! enthusiasm is never offensive when genuine!! and it is :)
thanks for such a good answer with a realistic perspective! Actually much of what you describe is what I deal with now, so that’s not an issue (most days!). now to just have someone quit, and if burnout is prolific that shouldn’t be long!
If you want to run the whole shebang, you have to take risks. This sounds like a job that could really suck or be totally awesome. Sounds like a risk. Take it.
I personally think marketing sucks much less than corp comm, having done my share of wage slavery at both. Also, IMO, communications is a ghetto for women in a way that marketing is not.
My husband has an expression that I love, that majoring in marketing (or communications) = majoring in “Hi!”
I will tell you that coming from IT they will see you as a super genius for knowing how to defrag your computer, and that can be used successfully to intimidate your colleagues. So that part is fun.
Oh, Sonia. It’s much more than majoring in “Hi!” There’s also pencil skirts, pink laptop cases, and nonfat lattes. It’s like, a quadruple major. Man, marketing majors are smart.