2 things to consider when choosing a new place to work

There are lots of roles in the IT sales market at any given time. That said, moving jobs is a big deal. There is an inherent risk and typically you will only move jobs if there an improved opportunity available. The problem is how do you measure that opportunity? The recruiting company will give you an undiluted point of view and human nature leads us to believe the grass is always greener. How do you know?

Firstly the market can tell you a lot. By it's nature the market is unbiased and based on facts and performance, so its a great indicator. What is the market opportunity for the products your prospective company sells? Is it operating in a market that has exponential growth potential? How has the company performed in creating product/market fit and territory penetration? These questions can be answered by looking at the quarterly call transcripts if the company is public. If still private they can be gathered from media releases or asked at interview. Ideally your prospective employer should be growing at more than 20% in a multi-billion dollar market. If they are a top 2 player in that market the indications are strong that they are a serious business.

Secondly it needs to be a great place to work for you. The culture and ambition of the organisation need to match your ambition for the coming years. If you are still at an early stage of your career then development is going to be important. Don't confuse development with training, that's just table stakes, look for a company that has managers who have a track record of developing people from within. The leaders you work for in any business are going to have a massive impact on your ability to progress and achieve. Ask your network; check out the people you will be working for, ask in an interview how they build teams and how they empower people. They should have concrete examples.

As a personal example when I look at the company I work for; Cloudera, we operate in a number of markets; IOT, Cloud and AI. Each of these is a multi-billion perhaps trillion dollar market. Cloudera is uniquely positioned as an innovator to help our customers create value using this technology. Financially we are growing well above 20% CAGR, selling to the Worlds largest and most innovative companies in Finance, Telco, Healthcare etc. Our leadership are widely recognised as the absolute best in the business. Culturally we need high performing people and we empower them to own and make the most of their careers.

Should you find a company with demonstrable product market fit in a growth industry, who employ and empower high performing people you should certainly weigh them up against your current organisation over a 3 year horizon. That will help you make the correct decision for you.

If you'd like to understand how Cloudera could be a fit for you, get in touch directly.