Will They Reward Your Edge? Future-Proof Job Moves

A single, career-defining question: “Can I create disproportionate value here - and will the organization reward it in the ways that matter to me?”

• Matthew shares the #1 question you must ask yourself before committing to a new job.
• Learn how to align your personal value creation with what a company truly rewards.
• Understand the difference between big bureaucratic vs. small fast-growing companies for your career path.
• Discover how to rank your priorities: time, money, autonomy, and more.
• Get practical interview questions to uncover whether a job fits your long-term goals.
• Explore how to assess if a role offers real growth or just a paycheck.

Key Question:
Can I create disproportionate value here - and will they reward it in ways that matter to me?

https://moveupcareers.com/strategycall

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-job-interview-experience/id1538223546

https://moveupcareers.com/survey

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Move Up Podcast,formerly known as the job
interview experience.
I'm Matthew.
I'm a former executiverecruiter, search firm owner,
director of Talent acquisition,talent vp, interview coach, and
host of the Move Up Podcast.
I talk a lot about interviewquestions it's really important

(00:22):
for you to ask yourself aquestion.
We're gonna take a step back andI think this is the most
important question you can askyourself.
You're tuning in, you're likelyemployed wanting a better job,
or maybe you've had a greatcareer and you've been impacted
by layoffs.

(00:43):
Company changes the economy, andso you are brainstorming,
working on your next big job.
This is a question I think youtake.
Take an hour, take an evening,and meditate on it, and then for
every job.
You don't have to ask it beforeyou apply because you might not
have enough information, but youshould think about this before

(01:04):
you apply.
If you can suss it out reallyquick or while you are in the
process.
Think about this beforeaccepting a job or putting up
too much energy into it.
Here's the question.
Can I create disproportionatevalue here?
And.
Will the organization reward itin the ways that matter most to

(01:27):
me?
Why does this question matter?
It fuses self-awareness withreality checking.
Ask yourself, where is my edge?
And will this culture, this compplan, will this leadership
actually recognize it?
You want to kill the buzzwordsfrom the company, what they say

(01:49):
about their culture and surface,whether the role advances your
long-term career growthlifestyle in impact pinpoint
your unique problem solvingpower.
So list the business issues thatyou've solved that few others
can and translate them into.

(02:12):
Outcomes.
A hiring manager cares aboutrevenue, efficiency, retention,
making themselves look good, howthey get promoted.
Innovation.
A lot of you report to A CEO ora company owner or president.
What do they want?
In interviews, ask questionslike, what does world-class

(02:34):
success look like in this roleafter six or 12 months?
Follow it with how are resultsmeasured, rewarded, or promoted
internally?
What does the word merit mean atthis organization?
And then compare their answers.
You need to ask questions likethis.
Compare their answers with yourpriorities.

(02:54):
Rank what orders most right now.
Time, money, autonomy.
Flexibility, commute, missionvisibility.
I would rank each one of those,create a spreadsheet, from one
to five or one to 10 based offwhat you've heard, what your
impression is, of who you'llreport to.

(03:16):
The reward must be more thanjust a salary bump.
Look for increased influence,bigger problems to own.
Take ownership of senior levelmentoring.
Moving into more and moreleadership roles.
Guard against taking any job,verify that high performers earn
raises.
They get visibility.

(03:38):
Growth, whether you're tradingone plateau for another, my
observation has been anincredibly large bureaucratic
organizations.
It is, it takes more time.
If you are impactful, it takesmore time for that impact to
resonate and get you promoted.
Uh, lower risk overall, but Ithink lower reward small

(04:01):
organizations, this is justcommon sense.
It's easier to make an impact,be seen and be remembered for
the next move.
More new, bigger roles open upmore often'cause the company's
likely growing.
So if you feel like you are aninnovator, a mover and shaker, a
large bureaucratic organization.
A big company might be reallyhard to move up in quickly, or

(04:25):
even, right?
You might make 3% a year morethere, but you'll know what your
bonus is, right?
You'll get bonuses, you'll dowell, but overall, it's gonna be
tried and true, slow and steady.
So think about that.
I'm not saying anything againstthat a lot of respect for roles
within large companies becausethere are so many upsides to
those roles and downsides tosmall, more volatile.

(04:46):
Organizations I worked at.
Both I've enjoyed both.
But think about these things,and I'll repeat that question I
asked at the beginning of theepisode.
Ask yourself, can I createdisproportionate value here and
will the organization reward itin the ways that matter to me?
Do you care about.

(05:07):
Silly little reward systems,right?
Maybe the company just rewardswith job titles, but not money.
Maybe you only care about jobtitle and you're willing to take
a pay cut to get that money, orI'm sorry to take a pay cut to
get that title.
Whatever it is, think about thisreally deeply.

(05:28):
At the end of the day, you needto ask, will they value what I
do and will it get me what Iwant?
Thanks for listening to the MoveUp Podcast, the Move Up Careers
podcast.
Thanks for navigating throughthis name change with me.
I look forward to sharing morewith you soon.