We are all familiar with the term “downsizing” when it applies to companies or organizations that dramatically reduce the number of their employees. Downsizing one’s career is similar in the sense that an individual decides to reduce dramatically the level of responsibility in their job or seeks a new job at a lower level.
Unfortunately, there is a stigma attached with downsiz-
ing, or stepping down, one’s career—in other words, a negative career move.
Employers frequently perceive these types of candidates as over-qualified and hesitate to hire them because they believe the individual will get bored and leave for a more challenging position. Other employers view this type of candidate as unmotivated.
Personal Career Downsizing
Although the idea of downsizing one’s career is something that appeals to both men and women of all ages, it seems to be more prevalent with women in their mid-20s to early 40s and with people in their mid-50s to early 60s—baby boomers. How long it took them to consider making a shift of this kind in their career may be different, but the primary factors involved are similar.
Personal and family dynamics are two of the driving forces for people to make changes in their career.
Let’s use as an example a planner who manages a department of 10 meeting planners who handle more than 400 meetings a year. She is no longer directly involved with managing any of the meetings and realizes that she misses that.
Another meeting planner now has a couple of children under the age of six. She is finding it difficult to balance the needs of her family with a job that requires her to travel 30 percent or more of every month.
On the other side of the spectrum, a meeting planner with close to 30 years of experience has decided it is time to step away from a senior management position after spending the last year battling and overcoming a serious medical condition. Another seasoned meeting planner wants more flexibility to travel with her retired husband.
Each of these individuals is seeking a way to create a more balanced work-life environment. Here are a couple of options to consider if you are interested in continuing with your current employer:
- Explore other opportunities within your existing company or organization that have less responsibility: This might mean allowing someone else to assume your managerial role or moving to another department that utilizes your skills and experience in a different capacity, such as human resources or facilities management.
- Examine whether you could job-share your position: The benefit to your existing company or organization is two-fold: 1.) They insure that they maintain the quality of their meetings and events, and 2.) They get additional value from having a second planner on their team.
It may be necessary to look for a new job if your current employer is not receptive to having you downsize your responsibilities. Consider how much a move of this type will affect your finances—the loss of salary as well as the change or severe reduction in medical and other employee benefits. This is important information to keep in mind as you explore other opportunities. A part-time position may fit as far as the pay is concerned, but it offers no health care coverage.
Reshape Your Resume
Look at your resume and assess what might cause “red flags.”
Here are some red flags to avoid:
- Eliminate a Summary of Experience at the beginning of your resume that starts out, “Twenty years experience…”
- Any reference to your management responsibilities, i.e., “Managing a team of six meeting planners”
- Overstating your involvement with strategic management of programs
- Rather than highlighting responsibility for total meetings budget for your company or organization, refer to budgets on a per program basis (Example: Managed programs with an average budget of $250,000) instead of the overall budget (Example: Managed $1.3 million in meetings and events).
Focus more on your tactical and logistical experience. Think about the primary skills and experience needed to plan a meeting or event, such as site selection and contract negotiations. Provide examples of your achievements in these areas that are concrete and measurable.
Remember to include no more than 10 to 12 years of experience on your resume. If, for example, you worked for your existing employer for more than 10 years, you could show a couple of your previous jobs in an abbreviated manner. Notice that the years of employment are not included.
Additional Work History
Senior Meeting Planner, ABC Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Meeting Coordinator, XYZ Inc., San Mateo, CA
The Elephant in the Room
Use your cover letter to acknowledge that you are seeking a position at a lower level. Let the hiring manager know that what you enjoy the most is planning meetings and events and not managing other planners. Look at what someone else might view as a deficit with your experience and see if you can turn it into an asset.
If the position is responsible for proposal development for international incentives, make certain that your resume includes examples of your ability to do site and vendor research in different countries. Be sure to do some research about a prospective company or organization and identify some ways that your senior level experience can be a benefit to them.
A meeting planner with more than 30 years of experience interviewed recently for a senior planner position with a large corporation. The meeting planning staff voiced some concerns that she might not find the position offered her enough of a challenge.
The planner responded that learning the policies and procedures and meeting standards this corporation uses would be a challenge, since she had been working for a small meeting management company the last 12 years. In addition, she saw this as an opportunity for her to help mentor some of the junior planners.
Salespeople are familiar with this phrase: “It takes 10 no’s before you get a yes.” Keep that in mind, because it may take a while before you find a company that values your skills.
