Welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast my name is Alex and I’ll be your host for the next 30 minutes we’ll treat this half hour as a career consultation of sorts say you’ve come into my office and you’re wondering you’re pondering you’re contemplating you’re you’re plotting your next move
Incorporate you want to think like a corporate Cowboy but you are not yet a corporate Cowboy [ __ ] we all strive to be consummate Professionals in our own right but sometimes sometimes you have to reach out if those within your immediate circle are not the caliber of individuals the caliber of professionals
That you want to keep constantly then you’ll have to Outsource some of that effort that’s what we’re here for where Associates incorporating Associates and we’re cultivating a generation of corporate Cowboys today’s question comes from r slash career guidance career guidance and oh I picked one with a very short prompt so
This may or may not be tricky filling half an hour with content but but typically I can fill half an hour with a stream of Consciousness if I’m not I don’t know plugging our Instagram or patreon but that takes less than a minute two minutes I could rely on some comments I could
Critique them give you a second opinion on the comments even so without further ado today’s question is asking if someone says they don’t offer a job but an opportunity is that a red flag question mark if someone says they don’t offer a job but an opportunity is that a red flag
I mean right off top I wouldn’t necessarily discount this prospective employer as a scam artist right I mean if you speak in truisms which I sometimes do my associates sometimes do these truisms have to hold true right so if I told you say you applied to a position with my
Firm and I told you I don’t I don’t hire employees I make professionals that that type of truism ought to hold true throughout your experience working with me and it should I mean it has what I’ve said has stood the test of time so someone who says they don’t offer jobs
But an opportunity well you have to assess the opportunity going in before you sign on the line and agree to commit a portion of your time your energy your knowledge your know-how any technical expertise that you’ve accumulated over the years or over time before committing any of that you have
To know what opportunities it is they’re offering right the interview goes both ways this offer goes both ways which you have to offer them which is why they are hiring you and what they have to offer you which is why you would consider working with them
Or for them but the basis of this podcast is to elevate aspiring professionals to put them at the same level as the corporation so you could work with corporate not just for corporate forever You Want To Be Your Own Boss right you want to set your own hours make your
Own money charge your own rates right foreign sorry and the body on this one is really short it says I’ve been told that opportunities are good and I understand that but I need a job right now thoughts what that’s it that’s the question I’ve been told that opportunities are good and I
Understand that but I need a job right now okay then go look for a job what that person told you as far as offering opportunities not jobs obviously doesn’t apply to you if you can see through their through their statement as you not getting a job
Doesn’t mean you can’t keep them as a Connect can’t keep them as a as a node to your network right a business card of sorts now you know somebody who knows somebody and potentially they know things they know more people that’s the opportunity at least when I go into an engagement when I
Start a professional relationship those are the opportunities I look out for unless I’m in the market for a job opportunity is abound opportunities are everywhere if you need a job right now apply for a job if in the interview you see because it’s all cons all contextual it depends on
The facts and the circumstances if in the interview or when you’re already working they say I didn’t hire you to work right I hired you for opportunities I don’t offer a job but an opportunity that’s where you should be following up with the questions exactly what kind of
Opportunities are available what kind of opportunities can you help create potentially with the company if we’re talking about offering an opportunity maybe they gave you an in maybe they gave you an introduction into some kind of practice or some kind of Network or Circle some type of access to
A sphere of influence that you didn’t have before that’s an opportunity so what can you build from it what can you build on it what can you build with it how can you improve it improving on it will also improve your lot in life as a professional
That’s how you start to Garner a reputation that’s how they know Alex produces more than what he costs right that’s it no Alex puts in work If Ever I had a problem I know I can call Alex Alex is the problem solver those are the kind of opportunities because those opportunities are recurrent
Those Opera those opportunities yield dividends in the future you might do work for somebody once and in the future they think of you if they need the type of work that you do you know somebody who knows somebody that’s all opportunity but the but the truisms again
Can be a facade can be just a sham it can be a scam a bait and switch they don’t offer jobs that offer opportunities but you applied for a job so you applied for a job it’s like seventy thousand dollars a year right and then in the interview they say oh
That was just to get you to apply it’s actually forty five thousand dollars a year and an opportunity you will have to think long and hard if you want to take that kind of pay cut in exchange for whatever opportunity it is they think they have to offer to compensate
For the number that they advertised on their job posting right and that depends on context I mean we’re dealing with a different tax bracket say it’s a two hundred thousand dollar a year salary that’s to get you to apply the offer they give you during the interview it’s a hundred fifty thousand dollars
Plus an opportunity this term opportunity sounds so nebulous sounds liquid it sounds ethereal whether or not you can even hold it in your hand is it something tangible what what the [ __ ] is opportunity the opportunity presents itself when there’s even a notion of an opportunity that’s where you come up with follow-up questions
To pin this opportunity down and find out what it’s about because it might be worth your while might be worth your time and your effort your investment maybe it’s some type of project launch that you’re trying to get off the ground and you can get in at the ground level
And grow that opportunity from a hundred fifty thousand dollars a year to more than double three hundred fifty thousand dollars a year but you won’t know if you don’t ask but this what I’m telling you it’s it’s it’s so rudimentary it’s almost obvious the only reason I’m presenting it to you
In this manner is because it was asked in this manner there are many different ways to ask how to be a professional and that’s funny because all I’m doing is posing questions that you could and then turn around and ask the employer why you want to be a professional
Is going to inform how you will become a better professional with the questions you ask the information you want to find out which is information that you will use to make a decision whether or not this opportunity is even worth your time it’s that leg work on the front end
Saves resources on the back end don’t interview for a position and then feel like you were cheated when they tell you oh this is just an opportunity you have to do your due diligence as a professional as all professionals should I don’t know why my voice is fading or cracking
Maybe I need a drink of water but I don’t have any on hand Like every professional you ought to conduct your due diligence and no what it is you’re negotiating for what kind of work you’re getting into in order to make informed decisions make the right move I mean if you’ve stuck around this long in this episode maybe you’re waiting for a gold nugget
But the gold Nugget’s been there this whole time maybe it’ll take a second listen through or a third listen through but it’s the idea that you create the opportunities somebody somebody offers you an opportunity it may not be all that much or it may be something you could work with
Maybe something that you could incorporate into your own professional development plan maybe negotiate a one to two year contract and build from there see where it goes renegotiate later or set Milestones certain trigger events that allow you to renegotiate halfway through your contract progress is looking good if this opportunity is going better
Than projected it’s how you view opportunity don’t take every opportunity at face value due diligence requires you to do your homework the legwork up front before gassing yourself out after getting started I feel like this rant could just be my perspective right as a corporate Cowboy if if you have
And again a lot of it has to do with how short this question was and the body I mean I read the body they’re both the question was one sentence the body was one sentence so it’s giving me some space it’s giving me a lot of time
To be able and deliberate on it it’s not automatically a red flag unless you did your due diligence on the front end again and going in you already know this this person ain’t worth [ __ ] which if that’s the case why the [ __ ] are you interviewing with them
Other than to hear out what this opportunity is because I mean you never know opportunities could be diamonds in the mud so maybe you’re interviewing for them then knowing you may not work for them but still you could work with them somehow that’s where the creativity comes and that’s where the
Innovativeness of a corporate Cowboy comes in this takes time to develop this kind of skill takes time to sharpen to hone to a fine point the bleeding edge of professionalism the constant and professional what we’re all striving to achieve let’s take a look at some of these comments here
We’re about halfway through so yeah I’ll read a couple of them and I’ll critique them give you my point of view but I think I answered that pretty straightforward the the opportunity in and of itself is what you should be questioning whether or not it’s worth it if you need
A job now then obviously you’re not going to just intern for somebody and work for free which is sometimes what some employers mean when they say oh no we don’t offer jobs we offer opportunity we we pay you an experience that’s where that comes from we pay you an experience we don’t give
You money no no we don’t give you the [ __ ] you need to eat we we give you other [ __ ] we just hand your responsibilities duties and obligations without any of the compensation portion of it nah that ain’t worth it some sometimes it might be if you’ve if you’re coming
Into it with some kind of buffer some kind of little nest egg some kind of cushion to make the experience worthwhile maybe this maybe some kind of experience really is worth you taking six months away from the actual Workforce in order to learn something to gain experience in an area that
You previously didn’t have any or you think you might have lacked to some degree the first comment here says I went to a zoo meeting and the main speaker said we had the opportunity to earn thousands and it’s commission pay what felt weird was that I was told it was an interview
But it felt more like a seminar in this context 100 red flag it’s code for we will work you to death and then come up with some reason we don’t owe you any money okay okay so yeah you notice how I SP I spoke on that internship on that internship portion of
Where a job intersects with opportunity right I mean if they’re paying you an experience sometimes it might be worth it I mean it might be worth it if you’re in high school right if you’re in high school and you can hold down an internship kudos to you or
If you’re in Community College you can hold down an internship kudos to you but I mean if you’re in Community College you’re about ready to enter the workforce if you cannot if if you can apply yourself if you’re not [ __ ] [ __ ] then you can do that
And and I do mean it’s hard if you’re not mentally slow if you’ve got your priorities in life set up and you’re geared towards building yourself a professional image and a reputation to boot you’re about ready and so an internship where you get paid solely in experience may or may not be
Worth it at that point depending on how much how much experience you have how much expertise you’re bringing in granted you’re going to be young right so you won’t bring much which is why you may or may not be able to negotiate some type of compensation
In the form of money maybe a stipend maybe lunch right start start with something small and from there you snowball he [ __ ] you grow your steak in the corporate world I mean we’re all born into this it’s a corporate war after all you have to decide whether you’re a soldier or a general
Or you’re a casualty but we all start as soldiers the second comment here says if you hear it is an opportunity to Be Your Own Boss and retire early please run run run it is MLM that’s multi-level marketing yeah I I didn’t even consider it I didn’t even consider it because it’s
Obvious I mean if if it’s not a job an opportunity I frankly I’ve heard the pitch right if it’s a bait and switch I’ve heard the pitch but I feel like people at this day and age know a lot about multi-level marketing and how to avoid it
It’s a scam in and of itself and I told you like if you’ve already done your due diligence which is why you have the power of the internet at your fingertips if you’ve done your due diligence beforehand then you know exactly what you’re interviewing for before you even go in an interview
You will have questions lined up follow-up questions about this quote unquote opportunity before you even go in you want to you want to know where the opportunity will take you in conjunction with how far you will take the opportunity right this is going to be an exchange of
Value and this is how you end up working with corporate not just working for corporate again you want to be your own professional you want to be The Hired Gun not the throwaway The Hired Gun I mean obviously you want to move righteously you want to have some type of moral character
Somebody else says it doesn’t matter what it’s called this next comment says it doesn’t matter what it’s called it matters what they are quantifiably offering oh I like that that use of quantifiably you have to be able to quantify this opportunity and again you’ll do that using questions
That you ask to verify whether or not this opportunity has some substance behind it has material figure behind it something that you can grab hold of something tangible something you can measure something quantifiable as this person says they continue if the quote opportunity comes with an hourly rate you find satisfactory that’s fine
I said that too right if it comes with a salary plus an opportunity well then you have to assess whether you can live on the salary and grow on the opportunity if not obviously don’t take the job the way the question was posed though would sound like it was
It was uh either or but it was not and you either got the job or you got an opportunity but you didn’t have a job and an opportunity right when they said this person is not offering a job only an opportunity I mean if you’re not getting paid for it
You yeah you ought to assess whether or not [ __ ] is even worth you hearing out maybe you’re not in a position for that if you go in for the interview it’s just gonna be for informational purposes because you won’t be taking the job unless unless again we’re talking higher level higher caliber
Thinking here unless you can finesse an opportunity into some money but I’m not even gonna begin digging that hole because that that requires much much more information and a lot more questions if we had this person as a hypothetical client they gave us no information they just gave us
Two questions here on whether it’s a red flag and then our thoughts a second point to this comment also says if the quote opportunity comes with a commission-based model that they tell you will be a quote sure thing then you may want to reconsider let me reread that it says if the
Opportunity comes with a commission based model that they tell you will be a sure thing then you may want to reconsider I mean if they tell you it’s a sure thing right if they tell you it’s a sure thing and it’s commission based first look at the flat rate
Right and if it’s commission based then you need to evaluate what type of product or service it is that’s being sold keep in mind that now you’re considering working for somebody working under somebody and of course I mean thinking that it’s not an MLM doesn’t
Make it not an MLM so it could be a pyramid scheme for all we know but it could also be a legitimate product or service that you’re selling I think a nice serving a nice helping of due diligence is an order for this to be able to verify that you’re not
Getting sucked into a scam right you want money at the end of this deal in addition to whatever opportunity it is that they are offering you want to evaluate whether or not the compensation is worth it and the opportunity is legitimate so if you do find yourself in a similar position
And you have questions about your next move your next opportunity breaking into corporate moving up in it or if you know somebody who’s considering making a move it needs added a perspective don’t hesitate reach out to us or on Instagram at corporate Cowboys with a z foreign the corporate Cowboys podcast
On rumble on YouTube you want to shoot us a donation by all means greatly appreciated there are a couple of links floating around that all goes towards business expenses and legal fees have yourselves a good one I’ll catch you next time
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