Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

 

Fear.  Fear is driving the economy right now.  And when fear drives the economy it also drives the employment market.  So, companies are afraid of what the future may hold.  They cut costs, reduce staff and prepare for the worst.  Workers respond by being in fear of losing their jobs.  If that is already happened, they fear that they will not find a new one.

 

How do you step out of fear and take a rational approach to managing your career in these anxious times?  Here are some practical steps to take to sound career management:

 

1. Ask yourself, what’s the worst that can happen?  Well, you may never find another job and be chronically unemployed.  Really?  How likely is that?  Isn’t it much more likely that you may have a longer time in a job search or that you may take a cut in pay, until the next time that the market booms and you get a big increase in salary?  Is it not more realistic that you will be able to use your skills, experience and determination to work through a period of difficulty and emerge in good shape?  That seems more realistic than facing a career disaster.
2. Strengthen your core competencies.  Whether you are working or looking for a new position, strengthen your skills and knowledge.  Turn downtime away from another four hours of online poker to online research on your field.  Read, research and grow.  Stay current in your field and build your base of knowledge.
3. Expand your skills.  Volunteer for projects that will allow you to learn new skills and work in different environments.  Not-for-profits, schools, hospitals, associations all need free or almost free help.  Use their needs to help you build new marketable skills.
4. Build a portfolio job.  Can’t find a full-time “real” job?  Find project work.  Some companies may not be able to hire full time right now but they may be able to hire for 10 hours here or two weeks there.  Cobble together a series of projects to generate income, keep your skills current and build new experiences that will help you market yourself when the economy rebounds.
5. Take care of the body.  Exercise.  Eat right.  Stop smoking.  Don’t over serve yourself.  If you don’t like the physical you, do something about it now.  The physical focus will provide strength and energy to endure the uncertainties and frustrations of unemployment and a job search.  Taking care of your body will help you convey the image and energy you need to succeed in a competitive environment.

 

I don’t make light of the difficulties in the employment market right now.  It is tough.  But just like the stock market there are bear and bull markets in employment.  Take the steps above and you will be prepared to succeed in a tough market and strengthen your value when the market goes bullish.

 

Tell me what you think about fear in the employment market or tips you have to manage a career in uncertain times.

 

Kevin Pallardy

Career Coach

BPI US Partners

Message – Lessons from Presidential Election (Why It’s Vital to a Successful Search)

I must confess that I am looking forward to President Elect Obama’s inauguration. As President, Barak Obama offers the promise of something new, optimistic and hopeful. And I sincerely hope he can deliver. Our country, in fact the whole world, desperately needs leadership that can frame a future and our choices in terms that give us all hope for a better world. Barack Obama’selection will be dissected and analyzed for many, many years. One striking difference between the campaigns that I believe was crucial was the way the candidates articulated and then stayed on a message. This central element to effective leadership was a true differentiator between the candidates, and it’s a lesson we can apply to successful job search efforts, too.

There is a very good article at the Sandler Traing on this point. http://www.sandler.com/content/show/9033

According to Sandler, there are two crucial lessons to learn from the campaign. They argue that how a candidate runs his campaign sends a message “that is at least as important, if not more so, than what the candidate proclaims to stand for.” I completely concur. Here at SSP BPI Group, we coach our search clients that especially in this tough market, they need to be thinking of their search campaign as a sort of “job performance audition.” So it’s critically important to project calm professionalism is all of your search activities. After all, if you can stay cool in the midst of a tough economy and difficult search, what clues might that send to prospective employers about your potential performance once hired?

Look at the two presidential campaign in that light. The national polls were leaning slightly towards Sen. McCain until the week of September 15th. That’s the week the first of the big failures in the financial services industry hit, and Sen. McCain was claiming the “fundamentals of the economy are strong.” He had been on the message for a while, so there wasn’t anything unusual or inconsistent about his statement – except of course it’s timing and the fact that it illustrated a rather poor grasp of the reality facing the nation. In contrast, Sen. Obama had been arguing for the need for fundamental change for months. On top of that, his campaign seemed to exude a sense of calm professionalism in the midst of an emerging crisis. Many observers of the campaign argued that Obama stayed on message for months, providing an authentic, disciplined approach to his campaign. McCain seemed to careen from one position to tehnext with little to no consistency or discipline.

So – is your search campaign message consistent? Is it authentic? Can you succinctlyexplain your value to prospective employers? As we learned in the many months leading to the November election, consistency, a focused message and calm professionalism in your search efforts communicates a LOT about you as a potential employee.

Another valuable lesson from the campaign is that being different can help. It’s a highly charged, very competitive job market. So it’s important for you to stand out. Barak Obama may very well have won the election BECAUSE he represented something different. It’s likely many organizations are taking a long look at “business as usual” practices and coming to the conclusion that those practices are not teh answer to long term success in this highly volatile world-wide economy. SO how can you tie your message to change? Can you effectively articulate a value proposition that prospective employers might find valuable in a world where the one true constant will be change?

The market is tight and promises to get tighter. So work hard to develop and hone your message, keep it authentic, stay focused and find a way to explain your unique value proposition to prospective employers.