Strategies for Staying Employed Longer (part 2)
In addition to being a jack-of-all-trades, you want to position yourself as an expert or the “go to” person in at least one specialized area. Carve out a niche for yourself. This is how you can become invaluable to an organization.
Take one of your natural talents or areas of interest and then learn everything you can through training, books, and mentors. When you become “the source” for information, and share your knowledge freely with others you’re not only helping advance your department, but you’re also making yourself sticky and indispensable to that organization.
Be a resource to others. People are the jet fuel behind your career. They can promote you, hire you, or introduce you to others who could potentially hire you. The key is to build and nurture a powerful professional network before asking for anything in return such as a plum project, key assignment, job lead, or recommendation.
Professionals are naturally drawn to those who are well informed and well connected. Be sure to tell your network about new technologies, events, professional opportunities, and news and information that may interest them. Send out quick e-mails with links to books, white papers, press releases, news articles, or websites.
Want more strategies for staying employed longer? http://www.careercoaching360.com/products/
Strategies for Staying Employed Longer (part 1)
It’s a dicey economy right now, and an even scarier job market. So how can you better manage your career so that you increase your odds of staying employed?
The answer is “stickiness.”
In advertising, sticky products, companies, or brands keep people coming back for more. The stickier the product, the more likely it will fly off the shelf and be in high demand.
Get excited about your career! Sticky people enjoy their job and enjoy sharing information to help advance projects, teams, and companies. Having a great attitude, a sense of humor, and a strong competitive spirit makes others want to be around you.
Confidence is a must. Arrogance is a showstopper.
Become a jack-of-all-trades. One way to be sticky is to become knowledgeable in several key areas so that you can float seamlessly from opportunity to opportunity. This is an excellent strategy during turbulent times as companies are trimming resources and shutting down lines of services.
Letting managers, program managers, and senior leaders know that you have two or three key skillsets, and add value in a variety of ways gives you a leading edge over others who may be looking for the same opportunity.
More great tips for staying employed longer coming later this week.
The Art of Promoting Yourself Without Bragging (part 2)
Here is another great tip for tactfully tooting your own horn without sounding cheesy.
Attitude is the key ingredient! I’ve found that getting a new job really boils down to two things: confidence and passion. To get the job offer at the NBC-TV station in Monterey and beat out the other 100 job candidates, I was passionate about the company AND the position. Even though I didn’t have the kind of experience that was required, I told the hiring manager that I absolutely knew that I could do the job.
There’s a kind of quiet confidence that we all have down deep inside. A confidence that comes from knowing what we’re capable of doing. When you transition into a new job role or a new company, you need to show the hiring manager that you have confidence in yourself and know that you’ll be successful in the job.
Great companies are ALWAYS looking to hire great talent – and that means you! So, if you’re serious about getting into a new career, then follow my tips, power up your confidence, and believe in yourself! You’ll significantly increase your chances of getting hired, decrease the time it takes, and be much more likely to transition into a new career that inspires you.
You can find more great career tips at http://www.careercoaching360.com/products/.
The Art of Promoting Yourself Without Bragging (part 1)
For a lot of us, one of the most difficult things about moving into a new career is having to talk about ourselves to our professional network. We may be able to promote products, services, and companies – but when it comes to promoting ourselves – forget about it!!
So, how do you speak about your strengths and successes in a tactful way without making it sound like you’re bragging?
Talk about your projects, teams, and the value they delivered to the organization. It may feel uncomfortable talking about your achievements, but the fact is you won’t get noticed (yet alone hired!) if you don’t talk about them.
Here’s a tip – focus on the projects and teams you contributed to, and the value they delivered to the organization. Talk about goals, or stretch goals, that were met and how they benefited the organization to help increase revenue, save costs, or gain more market share.
Focus on results. On your resume, in your interviews, and in your networking opportunities – instead of talking about your previous responsibilities, talk about tangible results you helped to achieve. When you quantify your achievements with a number, dollar, or percentage, you add credibility to your successes and rise above the competition.
For example, instead of saying that you managed a sales team for a specific product, instead, say that you led a sales team that generated $250,000 a year for the past 3 years! Quantifying your successes says that you are a driver, high achiever, and that you get results.
Look for more great tips for promoting yourself without bragging later this week.
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