Career Development For Managers

Dear Import/Export Compliance Manager,

I’m an experienced import/export compliance manager with a number of years to go before retirement.  I like my job, but have been thinking about what other options there might be for me.  What do you think?

Wondering in Wichita

Dear Wondering,

What lies ahead, indeed?  It sounds like you are happy or at least content with your current job; that is a plus that so many people cannot say about their situations.  Yet you are being proactive and thinking about the long-term.  That’s awesome.  The status quo, of course, is to stand pat and remain a import/export compliance manager, either at your current company or someplace else.  Let’s talk about your other options.

The most obvious course of action is to angle for a promotion to a position with a scope beyond just import/export compliance.  This would usually entail working for a large company with a Sr. Director or VP-level position covering all types of compliance, not just import/export.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager has seen a number of attorneys slide into these types of roles.  This requires going after a large company though; small and mid-size companies are much more likely to be places where import/export compliance managers are topped out. 

If you want to remain at the manager level with the same responsibilities but in a totally non-corporate environment, perhaps working in academia would be a goof fit for you.  Export compliance, especially deemed export and ITAR rules, is getting much more exposure in academia as college administrators realize the amount of risk they are carrying with their cutting-edge research and students who are foreign nationals.  Ever tried explaining to a professor that, despite the benefits her research will do for humanity, her research is still subject to the EAR? 

To break outside the mold even further, you could attempt to get hired on with an import/export compliance service provider.  You’ve probably noticed that a great number of the people you always see at conferences used to work in the corporate world or government.  The thing to keep in mind when making this jump is that being at a service provider vs. being inside the house is the difference between operating a landscape service and mowing your own lawn.  At the latter, you do the work and get to stick around and enjoy the fruits of your labor instead of moving on to the next client.

You would think that working for the government is a possibility.  Personally, the Import/Export Compliance Manager is aware of very few people (well, one, actually) who have made this trnasition.  Anyway, working for the government might be an option for other path-creating individuals but, like working for a vendor, the job responsibilities might not provide you with the same satisfaction you find in being a successful import/export compliance manager in-house.

As you’re aware, there are other types of compliance out there.  Product compliance (REACH, RoHS, etc.), contracts, HR, finance (LOTS of those jobs are out there), anti-corruption/conflict of interest and Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) need high-powered professionals to run those programs.  These positions are likely out of reach for import/export compliance managers, however, with the greatest chance of success meaning moving to a small company where personnel wear multiple hats.  If you were trying to hire a manager for your finance program, who would you choose: the person with ten years of finance experience or the person with ten years of import/export compliance experience?  At the management level, you don’t take the chance of hiring someone who a) doesn’t know the industry and b) you’re not sure will even like the field.  At a specialist or analyst level, you can take that chance with less risk; this is not the case with management-level positions. 

The last option the Import/Export Compliance Manager is aware of is becoming a consultant.  This is a weird combination of being an import/export compliance manager again, just for tons of multiple companies and without managing anyone directly, and a salesperson as you have to drum up your own business.  If you become an independent consultant, as opposed to working for a firm, there is the work of creating your marketing strategy and infrastructure, including your website.  You’ll be spending a lot of time attempting to gain new clients and potentially a good amount of time on the road, both visiting client sites and attending trade shows to promote your services. 

The Import/Export Compliance Manager recommends taking a long hard look at your current role and what really makes you happy about it.  Take those particular components of your job and see which of the abovementioned options will allow you to hold on to them.  The good thing for you is that you are in a strong position to, if you try something new and it doesn’t work out, find a new import/export compliance management position someplace else.  Good luck!