I was with the brand for 16 years until the last reorg, been trying to find a job since. Nike experience does not seem to translate anywhere else. Been looking for 4 months without much luck. a few interviews here and there but nothing great.
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It’s a tough job market out there and, unfortunately, it’s taking people longer to find their next job.
Good luck. Keep your head up (it’s tough). Continue to find time for your hobbies and friends/family. You will find something and chances are it’ll be better than what you left.
@j4 Never worked at a place where people have such great work life balance. Hardly see my teammates working 4 hours on average.
It turns out being good at coffee meetings, lunch meetings, and boozy off sites isn’t what most places are looking for. Welcome back to the real world where we work for a living.
@OP yep. Anecdotally those in Nike middle management (Dir, 50, E-band) that were RIF’d are having the toughest time. I moved up 3 pay bands during 16 years at Nike. The job market informed me quickly my last 2 Nike Director roles were fluff. Had to step down my search to Sr. Manager to finally get traction. Landed a great FAANG role with a much higher ceiling obtainable by producing results rather than posturing and butt kissing.
@e8 Pretty much every large company has fluff roles, and most of the times, it's not even the roles but the people in them. They learn they can get by putting in very little work and just smoozing, when they are really sabotaging themselves. I would challenge you to point out a role where someone actually works hard in that wouldn't be applicable somewhere else. He-l, just work ethic is worth a lot
There are a lot of bs jobs at Nike that don’t have a counterpart in the real world. Stay away from such jobs. They will make you unemployable. Other companies don’t have as many fluff roles.
It’s not the years at Nike that is hurting your experience but the role you played at Nike. I was in something similar in Tech, realized I was in a bubble and jump out as fast as I could (took like 2 1/2 years). Fortunately for some of those folks in that previous department they were moved over to software engineering instead of laid off.
This technically can go for any company but I’ve seen this happen the most of Nike to create specialized roles only suitable for a few companies.
If you feel that 16 years is a waste; Nike is just showing its own 55-year-old company right now. That is the real waste
I’ve seen a lot of people land amazing gigs on my feed. Some took steps down because their role at Nike was inflated. Others have better positions with higher pay. No one size fits all.
Make sure you network. The brand name won’t get you anywhere alone. Your network will get you much further and connections into other companies. Always see if you have a connection working where you apply and leverage them.
Yeah unfortunately having joined Nike from outside, the quality of experience here is poor. Speaking for tech. Most managers think managing up is their main responsibility and full time job. Tech devs have poor skills and code as though they learned to build from a coding for dummies text book. For senior folks, Nike is corporate welfare at its worst. And worst of all everyone is smug and condescending until they see the world outside.
Nike is not looking good to recruiters
That su-ks. I hope things turn around for you soon.
I was 24 when the last one got me. I had to move out of state to find something but the experience translated to a promotion with a competitor brand. I was for sure worried during the search but it shook out.