Having completed the MBA course and secured the first job, it would be time to consider whether the degree was an end in itself allowing you to secure a high paying job or just the start of a long journey towards fulfillment of career goals. Debra Bass, President of Johnson and Johnson’s Global Baby Franchise Organization, puts things in perspective and gives tips on making the best of career opportunities.
Bass, an alumnus of University of Michigan, Ross School of Management, had started her career in Procter & Gamble then went on to Bristol Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company and others, gaining valuable experience and insights into various aspects that helped her reach the top.
The first job for fresh MBA grads would mostly be at the bottom of the pyramid. Bass, during an interview in Forbes CMO network, likens the career movement to a lattice than a ladder. There is no single path to reach the top, but several ways of achieving your goals. However, a rational choice has to be made so that you could arrive at the destination without much meandering.
Thus, the first job assumes importance as a stepping stone that could propel you forward in the general direction of your career goals. Thus, in Bass’s case, she wanted the ‘first stop’ in her career journey to be a top CPG firm. P&G fitted the bill from a training and reputation perspective.
At a later stage, moving on to another company, the aim should be to grow, learn and develop new competencies, she says. This could be by way of new types of consumers, a new business model, new company culture, new systems/processes or even a new way to achieve functional competence.
When she moved to Bristol Myers Squibb, while the job was still in consumer marketing, it her an opportunity to build a competency in patient engagement. She explains the moving away from a direct path as a purposeful step that helped her gain competency across myriad factors.
While staying on at P&G could be considered a safe choice, her intention at this particular point was to understand different business models. All the same, it is important to stay focussed on career goals and not to move for the sake of moving, especially when a degree of continuity is important for many hiring firms.
Also, it should be kept in mind that you may at times have taken the wrong decision and gone astray. But once you realise that you do not fit in at a particular firm or job profile, it is time for a quick change. The core competency and experience you develop over the years would help in making the right choice, she says.
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Bass also stresses the importance of mentors, sponsors and advocates. She attributes a major part of her success to the right mentoring and sponsorship. In fact, she returned to JNJ because she had a sponsor who was willing to advocate for her.
She says while several people are focussed on gaining more Facebook friends, it should be more about collecting a small but highly valued network of mentors and advisors.
