Expert career planning: changing jobs, negotiating salaries and promotions

Since 2000, Ohms Consulting has been placing executives and specialists in the fashion, lifestyle and creative industries and through Ohms Retail Services, specialises in services and talent searches in premium and luxury retailing. With these many years of experience, CEO Jutta Ohms can easily answer a number of important questions about job hunting, career planning and salary negotiations, which are likely to be burning questions not only for those working in the fashion industry.

How does one find the right job after graduating (in fashion)?

Today it is not about the question for life but about the start into paid employment. There is a trend to pursue multiple paid jobs simultaneously. This can be having a full-time job that secures the rent, maintaining a blog to express oneself, working as a model and collaborating on a startup with friends to get involved in a business idea. This is not meant as a recommendation, but it is part of our reality. I myself have worked in very different areas that would not have occurred to any career counselor to be put on the drawing board. This benefits me enormously today in my business as an HR consultant, as I have gained insights into many different areas - but it was not planned like that.

In case that one does not have clear ambitions or too many interests: Check what makes your own heart beat faster and pursue it: What did I like to do as a child and what would be the professional equivalent today? Also, talk to people who are happy in their jobs and who work in a field that interests you, then do the field work: go to events, visit trade fairs, talk to salespeople in stores about brands. Talk to friends, family and experts. But always just as input and then pursue your own passion.

How do I know that my job is not the right one?

When one does not feel like going to work anymore. Don’t wait until you are sick of it.

When is it time to go?

When something does not feel right and one is not motivated much but you should first check what you can change yourself. Maybe you have to change your personal habits: expand hobby activities or curb them, optimise your diet, check the quality of your sleep, do more sports, give more attention to your spouse, nourish healthy friendships or end those that are not. If everything is okay in those areas, one should check what is not harmonious in one’s work environment and actively do something.

Workplaces are not rigid constructs where you have to act according to regulations. Maybe you can work on the ambiance? Clean up, reorganise yourself? Then look at the tasks. And if something is not right, look for changes in-house first. Nobody happily lets an employee go if they have potential. But if you have an environment that does not suit you, such as a moody boss or incorrigible, nagging colleagues and you can’t change it foreseeably: move on.

How often can or should one change employers?

In the beginning, one can and should experiment. If one stays in the first two, three jobs only one or two years, that’s okay. After that though, there should be longer periods of at least four years to be able to evaluate the results of one’s work. For example in design or sales, processes take so long that one can do little in a short span of time. Today, nobody expects one - it is even seen as a disadvantage - to stay long in one company because one runs the risk of becoming blinded by routine and complacent. However, if you can advance significantly within a company and maybe change locations, a longer affiliation is quite interesting for the job market. I think after six to eight years you should check if you have settled in a comfort zone - and then look for a change in order to advance yourself again.

How do I go about it when I want to advance/change positions within a company?

Look for a conversation with a decision maker. This can be a supervisor or the HR department, that depends on the company. A conversation with a trusted person in-house helps to ascertain this. Even if there is no vacancy at the moment, you can get onto the radar screen and may get promoted faster than you would have otherwise. After all, the same rules apply to everyone, including the superiors who like to see when someone wants to change professionally.

How do I handle promotions or salary increases properly?

If you have a trusted colleague on a higher level, that person can be a top advisor. Likewise colleagues, friends or personnel consultants in the industry, who have experience with salaries and will share them. Basically, it makes sense to discuss the practices when negotiating the first contract - how often and in what rhythm are salary discussions planned in the company? Sometimes there are anchored automatisms, in other cases one can make an individual agreement. And the employee should then keep track of this agreement and demand it with a little bit of advance warning.

Not every promotion is accompanied by a salary increase. Sometimes it makes sense to take the next step without renegotiating the salary. If you have proven that you are successful in the new job, the bargaining position may be even better and the feasible financial jump even higher.

What should I prepare for by all means?

A clear inner attitude. Do not compete as a petitioner but courageously go into the conversation. Position yourself without hesitation. But do not overdo it.

How much more salary can and should one ask for when changing employers?

That depends on whether it is accompanied by a change of location. 10-20 percent at the same location is appropriate, because with each change the responsibility will hopefully grow but there is always a certain risk associated with any change too - that the step was not the right one (because after signing the new employment contract, one’s boss may change, for example, or the strategic orientation). If you move to a location with different living costs, you have to plan accordingly, both up and down. It also depends on which structure you work in: Agencies that sell services can hardly keep up with large manufacturers in terms of salary, because they have to calculate differently. It needs the all-round view here. For newcomers, nothing speaks against putting the ball in the future employer’s court and asking for an offer. In my experience, salary negotiations are almost always very fair, especially when the negotiating partners are employed themselves as they do not spend their own money.

How much of an increase can one ask for at the company’s annual performance review?

That depends on the company’s performance, revenue targets and the increase in sales. The arguments must be right. Anglo-Saxon companies often allow big jumps and usually have a system within which to move. German, perhaps more conservative companies, are often even less willing to move. You have to come up with a suggestion yourself. Maybe even go into a job interview, if you are open for something new anyway, to test the market value. But not to argue with a present offer, that is not well received.

Photo: Jutta Ohms, Ohms Consulting

This article was originally published on FashionUnited DE; translated by Simone Preuss