To manage your career you should…
- Keep your “offer criteria” in that dynamic state of change that allows you to adapt to market conditions…stay aware of ‘next steps.’
- If your current goal is to find a new position, then you should prepare your search as a “business model”, manage it accordingly, be flexible, and be ready for the unexpected.
THIS Week’s session: CareerFIT II… Understanding how and what to communicate about yourself during active career transition.
You understand that managing your own career involves three key ingredients:
- Confidence in knowing that your career is on the right path;
- Continuous research and networking leading to awareness of potential “next steps…” to keep your career moving forward;
- Competency with career transition strategies and job-changing skills.
To manage your career wisely has you extending the same concepts. Consider some of the factors listed below … Examine each factor through the questions listed – and then ask “does this opportunity fit me?”
Work Requirements and Expectations: What is the next appropriate work for you? Is the work process or project oriented? If it’s process oriented, are the requirements and expectations clear? What kinds of projects will you work on? Will you work on one project at a time, or multiple projects? Are the projects long term or short term? Will you work on a project long enough to see the end result? Is it important to you to be able to see the project as a whole, including the result? Or will you be content to do the work without a big picture understanding?
Work Environment: Will the work space be a source of comfort and confidence for you? How formal or informal is the environment? Hectic, fast paced? Will you have the opportunity to have flex time, or to tele-commute? How many hours a week does the employer expect you to work? Will you have the freedom to wear casual clothes? What is a typical day like at the company you are considering? Would they allow a “trial visit” or at least a site visit?
Career Path: Is there a defined succession plan? What position(s) can you move to next? How long do new hires generally stay in the same job? How quickly do people get promoted? Are your opportunities for professional development well defined and available to you? Are mentors available?
Training and Personal Development: what kind of training will you get from the employer to do the job? What kind of training will you get to stay current in your area of interest? Are the answers to these two questions different? Does it matter to you if the answers are different?
GETTING RECRUITED
Determine your career objective…Know what your next right employment is. This will help focus your actual search. With clarity in your positioning goals, you can write a great resume to convey your story.
“WORDCRAFT” your resume and other collateral materials…Create a forward looking “story” of what YOU CAN DO. Target your accomplishments, such as increased sales and profits, reductions in costs, etc. Focus on achievements that support your qualifications for your job goal.
Are you challenged in finding the right words? LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for you to use in self-assessment. Access the LinkedIn Profiles of other professionals like you… experiment by searching for a person like you in LinkedIn.
KEYWORDS become personalized phrases by incorporating adjectives and adverbs that uniquely FIT you…
Those phrases should be confirmed for the reader and listener with high-impact accomplishment statements (think behavioral evidence, like the bulleted information in a well written resume)…
a well-‘crafted’ accomplishment statement can trigger appropriate questions that allow you to expand on your strengths, with positive, supportive examples, elements of your career story—PROOF of your value proposition.
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