I'm curious how easy or difficult it is (generally speaking) to move from Nike to Adidas? More to the point - how open, eager, etc. is Adidas to hire Nike folks? I know lots of people make the switch but I'm wondering if they are chomping at the bit? Hesitant (given the toxic environment at Nike and any concern around bringing it with...)...do Adidas folks even bother asking why they left Nike?
9 replies (most recent on top)
Just DO IT !
Been at Addias for a few weeks after several years as an ETW at Nike. A few VP’s in Herzo will view Nike as a four letter word, but for the most part I keep running into ex-Nike here and I’ve yet to see it be a negative (in my case it actaully did end up being a plus). Just refer to it Nike as “the compitor” or “the company across the river” whenever you encounter a German accent and you’ll be fine most of the time.
Overall, the culture is night and day better. I really never saw how toxic my years at Nike was till I settled into Adidas. Adidas is going though a similar culture shakeup, but from seeing two of these first hand now, Adidas is handling it much better.
what a great thread. kudos to the op and all folks (including the linkedin person) who responded...
I've worked for both. People go back and forth. adidas is not foaming at the mouth to hire Nike employees just because they worked for Nike. Yes, having competitor knowledge is good, but it doesn't make or break you. If you are a skilled employee, with a strong portfolio or work history, you would fit right in at adidas.
If you just delegated all your work to a team, paid agencies to do cool things to look good in a recap deck to get you a bonus or raise and otherwise aren't willing to do any actual work, don't both applying to adidas.
Loved this:
“Glad you got the insecure but trying to project superiority out of your system. You must work at Nike.”
Bingo! No better way to sum up the culture here than that!
Agreed with what was said previously. Adidas doesn’t really care where people come from. The culture is much more about how well you execute your job and as long as you do that well you will have a long career there. Adidas has no problem getting rid of bullies and harassers, it may take a year or two for the process to play out, but they will get rid of them eventually.
Like Nike, Adidas has worked with the McKenzie group, so some of the same issues with difficulties getting things done in a timely or efficient matter do exist since both companies now operate within a matrix organization setup.
There are a lot,of ex Nike people at adidas. The companies are a lot different. The focus at adidas is on execution of work almost exclusively. At Nike it is much more about how one manages up. Nike is constantly on an elusive search for what is next with its talent. It is never satisfied with what it has, thinking there is somebody better suited for every job. adidas believes that talent delivers now. The culture at adidas is much healthier if you are actually someone that does the task at hand. adidas is not chomping at the bit as you say for Nike talent but it isn’t opposed to it either. adidas is an 80 year old company with a long history of winning in the culture and innovation spaces, so Nike is seen as a strong company and competitor but not as some shining star on the hill. And everyone in the industry knows that Nike has internal culture issues right now and that morale is low across the the board. I speak for myself and experience only.
Right...because if I'm on this site and asking for nuanced answers to the questions above, I haven't done the obvious already. Glad you got the insecure but trying to project superiority out of your system. You must work at Nike.
For everyone else, I'm trying to get inside info (intel, experiences, etc.,) that I wouldn't necessarily get by cold messaging/calling someone on LinkedIn.
Why not do your own research on LinkedIn? Search for people with Currently company: adidas; previous company: nike