Career Management with Jason Alba
Ouch.
With all that is happening around us I can safely predict two things:
1. We'll make it through this just fine.
2. We will learn from this, and events leading up to this point, and be more serious than ever about our personal career management.
Why will we make it through this just fine? Because we have pulled through bad times before, at a world, national or personal level. Think about life and morale during The Great Depression... I'm guessing it was worse than it is now. Now people are worried about cutting back on splurges, while then people where literally worried about how they were going to get the basics to survive day-by-day. I cannot fathom the depths of despair that so many experienced during The Great Depression.
When I got laid off I had a number of safety nets to rely on, including family, church and neighbors. My family was the recipient of giving and goodness from each of those safety nets, because when I got laid off the recession/depression was personal, and others had the means and the hearts to help sustain us.
I realize there are people who are homeless, or who are looking for that morsel of bread, but I do think there are so many programs in place between churches and the government that we aren't going to see mass starvation and poverty like we did almost a hundred years ago.
We have to make it through this. And we will.And when we do, we have to be ready for the next one. We need to be prepared. Because hundreds of thousands of professionals with degrees and credentials got kicked out on the street, even though they were high performers, even though they made or saved their companies money, and even though they were so very close to retirement.
Why do we think our boss will protect us from layoffs when he or she has as much "job security" as we do??
I must come out more independent, and be more career management minded. We must do things "between job searches" so that when we are in a job search it is not as long and/or painful. Here are a few ideas of what we can do in 2009, whether we are in a job search or not:
1. Grow our network. It's not all about numbers, but having a network of 500 is more powerful than having a network of 5. Go to networking functions... get out of the house or office!
2. Nurture relationships. Get beyond superficial and develop, as Keith Ferrazzi would say, "intimate relationships." If you don't know what that is, go get Never Eat Alone from your local library.
3. Have $1,000 ready for lunches. Okay, maybe not easy to accumulate $1k while in a job search, but I was thinking when I was in transition again I'd love to have $1,000 earmarked just for lunches, breakfasts, coffees, etc. I want to get a contact in a place where they can't leave, so we can develop a deeper relationship... usually a meal helps with this :)
4. Keep my eyes open for target companies. Always consider where you might be working next, or what problems you might help solve next. It's better if you start working those target companies now, and continue to work them no matter what your employment status is.
These are career management tactics. Job search is another thing, but my point is I think we need to have much more of a long-term, career management focus than a short-term job search focus.
What do you think?
________________________________________________________
Jason Alba developed JibberJobber.com to replace the job search spreadsheet. If you need help organizing a job search, or your professional contacts, check out JibberJobber.com. He also authored I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What??? and coauthored I'm on Facebook -- Now What???, both of which are designed to help professionals get more value out of these social networking tools. Learn more about Jason at http://twitter.com/jasonalba.
Purchase your copies of Jason's books by clicking the images below:
 |  |
________________________________________________________
Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newsletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com.
Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:
No comments:
Post a Comment