Take control of your career destiny!

In the last 12 months I left one company, test drove another, and then expanded my independent business. Let me share what I learned while researching how to take control of my own destiny.

Economic insecurity will continue

Many employees feel less secure than they did 3-10 years ago. While the end of the Recession will reduce the level of panic, longer-term trends will continue to reshape the relationship between employee and employer. Companies are being squeezed by globalization and competitive pressures caused by technological advances. Companies need to be increasingly nimble to survive. The ramifications of this to you as the employee?

• 1 in 2 employees has been with their employer less than 5 years *
• The average job tenure is 2-3 years
• The top 10 jobs in demand in 2010 did not exist in 2004 *
• The US Dept of Labor estimates that today’s students will have 10-14 jobs by the age 38

Strategies to gain control

To thrive in this climate, you need to be flexible to the company’s current crisis and simultaneously work harder to maintain alignment for your long-term goals. Establish yourself as the preferred resource by studying the voice of the customer (the employer in this case.) Anticipate what the employer might need in 6 months by carefully monitoring the industry. Network across the company and industry so you are always top of mind. Place the team’s goals over yours.

Does this remind you of anything? The most successful employees look very much like a vendor. If you consider the actual duration of today’s permanent jobs, we are all in contractor-like relationships now. Behaving more like a contractor or vendor in the future is the key to increased success and security.

I didn’t invent this concept, Lance Morrow first wrote about it in 1993:

“America has entered the age of the contingent or temporary worker, of the consultant and subcontractor, of the just-in-time work force – fluid, flexible, disposable. This is the future. Its message is this: You are on your own. For good (sometimes) and ill (often), the workers of the future will constantly have to sell their skills, invent new relationships with employers who must, themselves, change and adapt constantly in order to survive in a ruthless global market.” Lance Morrow, “The Temping of America,” Time, March 29, 1993

I am concerned that 17 years later we have not listened to prophets like him. We still act as if the world of the 1950s and happy-ending Jimmy Stewart movies is going to return “when the recession is over.”

What to do if in transition

1. Understand that any role you target today will likely morph considerably over the next 2 years. Don’t limit your pitch to so narrow a target role that a hiring manager cannot see other ways to use you as a department evolves. It is true a hiring manager prefers a perfect fit for the short term but most good hiring managers also consider the long term – or consider their staff easily replaceable.
2. Know enough about yourself to know where you are really most marketable and develop the pitch to demonstrate it. You need to show flexibility but not suggest you are a commodity. Instead, present yourself as a very precious, high potential asset to employers where that is realistic. If you are an intrapreneur, flaunt the added revenue you can generate.
3. Have a long-term goal that is flexible enough to accommodate short-term realities (no more specific than “Be one of the best salespeople in this industry.”)
4. Develop and sell your soft skills. Network constantly. Not only are 70-80% of hires are made through networking and referrals in the “Hidden Job Market” but soft skills are valued more in the hiring process than technical as long as minimums for technical skills are met.
5. Create buzz to support your exceptional expertise versus other available resources. (I have done this successfully with a number of clients, and a lovely example is the case study for Sylvia. She had even been out of the industry 3 years and rejoined it at a considerable increase in pay!)
6. Be open to contract. Employers do not see much difference between the two and contract is easier to get approved.

If currently employed

1. If you are already actively working, focus on the projects where you will be valued more, where your skills are most unique and mission critical. Have the courage to move away from a project or job you don’t love. If you don’t love a role, the employer probably will not consider you “first string” if the company reorganizes.
2. Concentrate on what is best for the project and company, even if it requires short-term personal sacrifice. Reach outside of your job description, contributing ideas and offering assistance to the larger team. This may challenge the current reporting structure and job definitions of others (like your boss) but encourage them to join you.
3. Expand your networking and reinforce your brand value across the organization. Maintaining influence over the larger organization makes it easier to get things done and be a change agent. It may provide security in a re-organization.
4. None of us know what role we will be in tomorrow. “Be prepared.”

If you want to read more on this subject, try William Bridges, Job Shift: How to Prosper in a Workplace Without Jobs, 1994, Perseus Books

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDLIwlzkgY&feature=player_embedded