What To Do When Your Boss Leaves

Recently, I was hired by a client, Amy,* who was in a quandary because her boss was leaving for a new opportunity. She thought she was a shoo-in for his job, then she learned the company was recruiting outside candidates. She contacted me for advice on how to get offered the job.

For four years, she provided more than her title, assistant director, indicated. She had, in fact, been doing her boss's job, department director, and was thoroughly qualified to take over the reins. The only problem was the company was not aware of this. They assumed that she was functioning in the assistant role. However, Amy's boss had spent much of his time out of the office,  (he had an outside teaching position) and Amy had been covering for him, running the department’s day-to-day operations.

Once I realized that she'd been unofficially doing the job she now wanted, I created a plan for her to communicate her level of competence to the hiring manager and human resources. She needed to clearly demonstrate that she set direction and goals for the team, acquired the resources to do the work and course correct when needed. Amy put together a small presentation to show her superiors what a great job she was already doing in the Director role.

Here are the action items I recommended:

Update Her Resume
The hiring team needed to see - on paper - all the things she'd been doing.
 
Other Supporting Documents
Amy created a marketing document outlining what she does everyday, her interactions with other key personnel and departments, her interaction with clients and vendors, and her results.

Include Testimonials
Since Amy was currently functioning as the director, she had daily interactions with key clients and junior staff. She solicited key contacts to write short testimonials in support of her promotion to the director position.

Management Proof
Amy had been managing junior employees for over four years and needed to show this, as managing the department staff was a major component of a leadership role. She included copies of performance reviews she conducted for the staff as evidence that she, not her boss, was in the manager role.

By the Numbers
Another key to Amy's success was for the hiring manager to know that she was in charge of preparing the department’s budgets and finding savings. Amy brought with her financial reports and statements she prepared for Accounting.

Proposal for New Ideas
She also had new ideas and prepared a document outlining several of her strategies.

Amy put this together (overnight!) and reported back to me that the hiring manager and HR team were blown away! She was on her way to a new, bigger and better role in the company.

If you are in a similar situation, keep track of your accomplishments and be prepared to discuss your contributions. You can never be too prepared for a great opportunity!