Creating your own role
Where do I find my perfect role?
I’ve found through firsthand experience that the best roles are the ones you create for yourself. They’re not the ones publicly posted or ones that will show up in some email newsletter.
The extreme example of this is becoming a founder but it can also be done within a company or joining one. I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced all three.
To do this effectively, you probably need three conditions:
- Know the decision maker (or be the decision maker).
- This is generally easier when dealing with a smaller company or team but to carve out your role you need the decision maker on board.
- Talking to someone who is then going to talk to another person on your behalf is nice for a referral but not for creating your own role.
- Show them, don’t ask them.
- Write your own role description. Nothing fancy, it could be a few bullets.
- Have concrete examples of learnings and outcomes (using a metric is often the easiest way to articulate this) you will provide in this role.
- Be flexible on the constraints.
- Signing off on a full time role can be a heavy decision regardless of who you’re talking to and how obvious the need is for the role you've defined.
- If you have the ability to flex on timing, use it to your advantage. Frame the role as a pilot (e.g. let’s try this for 3 months).
This approach inverts the typical hiring process by front loading the “offer letter”, and having the company say yes or no to the role you’re proposing. So even if they say no, hopefully this will have saved you a lot of time.
A book worth checking out if you’re stuck on this question and need inspiration: The Courage to be Disliked.
If we can be helpful as you navigate answering this question, feel free to email us at founders@hedgy.works