Corporate Survivor with Mei Phing : Career Growth In The Corporate World - Ep248: You'll feel stuck at your job if you don't have a back-up plan.

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

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Welcome to the Corporate Survivor Podcast, where we talk about how to grow your career confidence, build your skills and value, increase your salary, and the many lessons we learn in the corporate world. For more career support, click on over to www.mayping.com. This is Mayping, your corporate leader turned career coach. I hope you enjoy, like and subscribe. You will feel stuck at your job if you don't have a backup plan because the worst time to think about planning your career is when you are already feeling frustrated,

you are already wanting to quit your job and now you have to think about, oh my god, what am I going to do? What if no one is going to hire me? What if I can't get the job? What if this company is the best I'll ever have? All these negative feelings when it comes in, really, it is the worst time to think about what is the next step in your career. And I want to make sure that you avoid the situation by having a backup plan.

So welcome, welcome back to the Corporate Survival Podcast with me, Mei Ping, ex-corporate leader turned career coach and founder of the Corporate Survivor, a career program for 9 to 5 professionals just like you. So let's talk about having a backup plan and maybe before even talking about a backup plan, a better question to ask is, do you have a plan? Do you have an idea of what you want to achieve in your career? So for example, are you working on learning a new skill this year? And if yes, specifically what skill are you working on learning a new skill this year and if yes specifically what skill are you learning right be specific now next question is that okay maybe are you right now working towards a promotion are you expecting a pay rise a salary increment are you thinking about a new job or are

you thinking about new opportunities and you want to get a new project you want to do an internal transfer as a common whatsoever now being able to answer the question that i've just asked you in terms of like okay what's your plan right what you want to achieve in your career this year is super duper important if not it means that you are going to work every single day just you know clocking in clocking in, check out, but not really having an idea what is going on. Because this is actually eventually going to lead you into a situation whereby, oh no, I just really want to quit. I don't know what to do next. Then all the negative feelings will then all come in. And by that time, right, the last thing you want to do seriously is to fix your resume, your LinkedIn profile and practice interview skills. And I'm telling you as someone who has actually been there there and I work with so many people in my career

program members who told me the exact same thing. So first thing I want you to really, really define what you want to achieve in your career this year. So if it's a promotion, okay, you need to set yourself up for success to increase your chances for promotion. Or is it a salary increment? That's something that you want. Okay, then you want to make sure that you focus on getting visible, delivering your value so that your boss will recognize you for that pay rise for that salary increment. Or if it's a new job, right? Are you setting up yourself for success in terms of like starting to work around your

value positioning, starting to update your resume, thinking about all the value and contributions that you can bring along your career journey. So what do you want? To me, that is the first question. Because if you don't know that, then how can you have a backup plan? Now, I'll give you one example. And for me, in my entire career, I've never really been in a situation of not knowing what is next. The reason is because I'm a person who likes to plan, and I'm also a person who is very reserved. So meaning that, you know, if I can know what's going to happen in the future, I would really love that. So I start thinking about it and planning and all those things. So the way they want to think about it is that, okay, if I say that a salary increment and a promotion is important for me and I work

hard for it, but I prepare for my performance review. My boss gave me good feedback. But when it came down to the time for performance review or whatever reason, eventually the company or my boss said, no, maybe you can't get promoted. No, sorry, we don't have money to give you salary increment. Then now what are you going to do? So if you don't have a backup plan,

then this is when you're going to feel very bad about it. You're going to feel negative. You're going to be very upset. And eventually you may start feeling like, oh, I'm stuck at this job. I'm very unhappy right now with my boss and with my company, but I don't know what to do next. And I feel low confidence. I feel lost. I feel stuck. So the point now is that you want to make sure, okay, what is the backup plan actually? So for me, I always work towards a salary increment and promotion, and I always work towards communicating my progress and making sure that my bosses are really aware of all the contributions that I bring. However, I also have a backup plan knowing that like, hey, if Mayping has given more than 100%

and now my company or my boss is unable to kind of like give me the career progression that I want, then I can move on to the next company. I can move on to the next opportunity. And how do I do that is that I make sure I build a very, very strong LinkedIn profile. So if you don't know, LinkedIn is a professional networking platform, but it is also a space where a lot of hiring managers, recruiters, and HR talent acquisition people hang out. They look for talent and be able to give opportunities for the really, really good candidates that they can find on the platform. And your LinkedIn profile basically is like your online resume to make sure that you can be found, that you can attract messages from recruiters and HR, basically giving you an option when you decide to move on.

You can just take that opportunity. You will never ever feel stuck again. So that was something that I always, always focused on. Yes, at my job, I focus on performing. I focus on delivering my performance goals, my KPI. I talk about my contributions. I speak up. I get visible.

I do all the things that's right. But at the end of the day, there may be certain things that I cannot control. I cannot control the budget. I cannot control the headcount. I cannot control the company's performance in terms of like the revenue that they're making and stuff like that. There are just things that I cannot control. But what I can control is to make sure that I give you 100% at my job because I'm very clear what I'm working towards. But at the same time, I also know that, hey, if for whatever reason, my boss or my company is unable to give me that progression, that level up that I want,

whether it's a job title, whether it's a promotion, it's a pay rise, salary increment, new opportunities, new project, whatsoever, it can be whatever, I am always ready to move on to the next thing. And the backup plan is that, like I said, I have a very, very strong LinkedIn profile. I know that my profile demonstrates my value, my contributions, my skills, my achievements, that HR, hiring manager, and recruiters can message me.

And I tell you that this is a backup plan. In fact, it's beyond my 9-to-5 job. Now, I've been a career coach and a career mentor, right, running my own career programs for almost five years. And I can tell you that up to today, up to today, I am still getting messages through my LinkedIn profile, right, messages from recruiters and HR asking me if I want to go back to corporate, if I want to go back to banking, if I want to go back to consulting. And can you imagine this is five years on?

And in fact, interestingly, right now till today, actually, I still do have a backup plan. And it's not, even if it's not intentional, right? It is already working so well. Even though I barely update my LinkedIn profile nowadays because I've been running

my own career program, The Corporate Survivor, for almost five years already. I've been a career coach and mentor, like I said, almost five years already. But the fact that I have built a strong LinkedIn profile, I know how LinkedIn works in terms of getting

opportunities for someone who is working in a 9-5 job, that door is always open. So that backup plan can follow you throughout your career journey. As long as you learn how to set up your profile correctly, you apply a LinkedIn strategy that works for a 9-5 professional, then the good feeling is that knowing that no matter how you feel at your job right now, if it's going well, then great, right? Just continue progressing in your current company, knowing that even if recruiters message you, you may not go for the opportunity, but it's a very good feeling knowing that like, whoa, actually, right? Someone else, another company, another person, another HR, another recruiter actually recognize my value, actually gives you a lot of confidence knowing that you are good enough to attract

another company to want to headhunt you. That feeling is very difficult to describe. It gives you a lot of confidence to do well at your current job. It gives you a lot of confidence in your own value and ability. So this is definitely something that I teach in my career program because it has actually worked really well for me. And I will say that beyond, even before when I was in corporate, I spent almost five years at Standard Chartered Bank. And how I got into Standard Chartered Bank was I was headhunted on LinkedIn as well. that was back in 2014, 2015. It was a very, very long time ago. And I remember that at that time, in 2013, 2014,

I was working at Visa. I was an internal auditor. I mean, the work was fine and everything. However, when it was the end of 2014, even though I was the top performer, I did not get promoted. But I've really made it very clear that I'm looking for a promotion. And there were also a lot of reasons and excuses being given to me as to why I was not get promoted, but I've really made it very clear that I'm looking for a promotion. And there were also a lot of like reasons and excuses being given to me as to why I was not

the person and likely I will not be the person anytime soon. And to me, it was unacceptable given that I felt that I was the top performer and still I got all these excuses and I was not even the next person in line. And then some, you know, someone newer is going to overtake me. Anyway, long story there. We don't have to go into detail. But the point I'm trying to make here is that I've always had my LinkedIn profile. I've always had messages from recruiters and HR,

but I've never taken action until I felt that, hey, actually right now, my company, my boss, is not appreciating me. It's not recognizing me. It's not really giving me the promotion and salary increment that I'm working so hard for so now i've decided to take action on my backup plan right like i said you know if you set up your linkedin profile correctly apply the right strategy the right strategy that works for 95 professional right the backup plan is always there

it's just down to you whether you're going to take action or not and then at the end of um december yeah it was december 2014 when i got a message from standard charters global hr asking me if i was interested in a position in a new team that they were setting up then i was like yeah actually right now my work situation has changed i felt like i didn't really get um the career level up that i'm looking for like i said promotions and increments then that's when i decided to respond to that message and started looking into that opportunity. And eventually I took up the role with Standard Chartered and that has also allowed me to grow so fast within the bank

because I am always very clear that I know what I want. I know what I'm working towards. If I'm picking up a skill, if I'm working towards a promotion, salary increment, new opportunities, I am very clear on that. And more importantly, I have something that's working for me in the background. I have this super useful backup plan that I've set up, which is my very, very strong LinkedIn profile. And I know that I can give more than 100%.

But on the other side, right, I want my boss and my company to also, in a way, compensate me or rather meet my expectations as well in terms of career level up as well as salary. So I would say that throughout almost the five years I was at Standard Chartered Bank, as you know, I spent quite a number of years at this company. And I will tell you that every single year I was promoted at Standard Chartered.

So I started actually as a senior executive. And when I left, I was senior director. That all happened in less than five years. And that is very fast for someone to rise up within the banking industry. And I was not doing banking sales, right? So it was not investment banking. It was a banking role.

And this is actually something that doesn't happen. It's not even common at all within banking because to rise up one rank in banking, it can take years. It can take like five to six years, right? So my point is that eventually I stayed with the bank because every single year, I was getting rewarded for my hard work.

I was getting rewarded for my contributions with promotions, salary increment and new opportunities. So there was actually no reason for me to take action on my backup plan. But what gave me a lot of confidence is knowing, is knowing that I have that backup plan and I'm actually receiving recruiter messages and HCR messages every single week, every single month. And there are interesting ones, but I just didn't take action on it because I didn't feel that I wanted to move on at that time. But knowing, knowing that my skills are in demand, my abilities are being recognized, knowing that I wanted to move on at that time. But knowing that my skills are in demand, my abilities are being recognized, knowing that I have value to bring, and now there's like

multiple companies sending me messages, asking me if I'm interested, and probably in the salary range that I'm looking for as well. That is a very important point to give you that confidence of knowing that like, hey, I am totally in control of my career. I advocate for myself. And more importantly, I know how to have, maybe I'll put it this way. I don't put all my eggs in one basket. Yes, I'm actively working at my job right now. I'm doing really well. I'm getting recognized, right? I'm delivering all these things. But at the same time, I know that at any point, I feel like I'm not being compensated what I'm delivering all these things. But at the same time, I know that at any point, I feel like I'm not being compensated what I'm worth. My backup plan has already been set up.

I can just go to my LinkedIn DMs and just start responding to all these recruiters. And I will be able to get the immediate opportunity and likely at a higher rank and higher pay almost immediately. And that is actually the best backup plan that you can have for your career. So if you don't have a LinkedIn profile, you don't have a strong LinkedIn strategy, as a 9-5 working professional, I highly encourage you to really think about your career in the long term and really start building that backup plan because I can tell you that it gives you so much confidence.

It gives you so much confidence and I think so much assurance. The word is assurance, knowing that whenever you want to move on from your current company, the option is always available and not just one option, multiple options, different companies, different career levels, maybe different industries. The option is always available for you. And I think that is the best feeling ever because the worst feeling is stuck, but the best feeling is possibilities.

The best feeling is having options. The best feeling is getting recognized, getting validated, knowing that whenever you want to move on, the options are available. There are so many opportunities that's just waiting for you to say yes. And I think that was really something that really fueled my career and that is why when i

built the corporate survivor which is my career program for 95 professionals when i built the corporate survivor after going through every single module around adapting at your job upskilling work performance and so forth the last module is actually about building your LinkedIn profile because having that backup plan is so important, right? It's not just wanting to succeed at your current job, but it is also making sure that like, hey, in case something happens, I have a backup plan, right? I can quickly move on to a new company without feeling negative about it. It's like, okay, you know, if you can't give me what I want, then I'll just move on. Then it's fine. Right. That is actually the feeling that I've always had in my career. That's why I'm, I'm always very confident to take the next step because I know that I am safe in a

certain way because I have already set up my backup plan to always work for me, to always make sure that I have the option. I have the possibility. I have the opportunity. And I hope that you do the same as well. So with that, good luck and I'll see you next episode.