This isn't a question about career strategy -- how you'll take your career from where it is to where you want it to be. It's a question about the underlying beliefs that guide you as you try to create career fulfillment.
Here's what it comes down to: Are you a jigsaw puzzler, or an equestrian?
The Jigsaw Puzzler
Intentionally or not, you may believe that to find the right place to land in the world of work you must fit what you can do or have done into the appropriately contoured space in the jigsaw puzzle of available jobs.
Ten or fifteen years ago this approach stood a good chance of succeeding. Chances are, it's the model you inherited from parents and teachers. You would expect to conduct a career search by scanning job postings looking for one that fits your skill set. You'd analyze your resume for transferrable skills and look for industries or careers that would utilize them. You'd probably be selective based on what looked interesting or attractive to you, but you'd be guided primarily by what fits with your experience and skills.
Today, in a vastly different employment environment, this approach still has a place. Window shopping on job boards will give you ideas you wouldn't have thought of, inform you about how an industry of interest structures its personnel needs, and -- perhaps most important -- it can jumpstart your optimism about finding more fulfilling work.
But it has a significant drawback, a subtle assumption I'm strenuously challenging when I hear it in my clients' thinking: namely, that your success will depend on how well you can match an employer's requirements. This places you in a reactive rather than proactive position, requiring you to massage the mix of what you have done or can do into a compelling resume and hoping it matches what the hiring manager has in mind.
The Equestrian
Better suited to the 21st C. global workplace is the equestrian. In this belief system, you know yourself to be sitting atop a dynamic, powerful energy -- your commitment to express and grow your talents. Your responsibility is to take the reins, sensitively but firmly, encouraging the best use of that energy and taking charge, moment to moment, of direction, pace and destination.
If this approach sounds more strenuous, even more risky, you're right! A decision to take control of your career destiny cuts both ways: more at risk, more to gain. But understanding the implications of the changed work environment in effect make the decision a no-brainer.
Employers can no longer afford to offer long-term security in exchange for company loyalty. They must attract employees with versatility, creative problem-solving, and unique combinations of skills and strengths in order to keep pace with the rate and scope of change. Career search strategy must be positioned to demonstrate how a candidate stands out, rather than how s/he fits in.
If you've kept an eye on these changes in the workplace, you know that the most highly sought-after candidates are those who can demonstrate creativity, individuality and unique combinations of strengths and talents are highly sought after by employers. This means that the full complexity of You, all that makes you who you are and unlike anyone else, can -- and must -- be carefully identified and articulated. It places you firmly in the saddle of your career, fully appreciative of the power and energy beneath you, knowing how to assure its health and vigor, and able to navigate changes in terrain in fine attunement with that power.
What are the concrete actions the equestrian takes to keep his/her career fully vital and heading in the right direction? Peter Weddle, in his Career Fitness program, outlines five activities to exercise on a regular basis.
1. Continue to learn
Don't overestimate the value of your years of work experience. It will get outbid every time by state-of-the-art knowledge and skills. Acquire them and deliver them now, in your current work.
2. NetWork
Focus less on meeting large numbers of people and more on increasing your visibility as a knowledgeable and widely respected professional.
3. Cross-train
Be prepared to adapt to a complex and rapidly shifting work environment. Develop multidimensionality. Combine a specific specialty with diversity in how it's performed (e.g. a variety of communication skills) or apply a primary skill (e.g. sales) to more than one product or industry.
4. Keep your bags packed
Expect change rather than hoping for stability. Keep one eye on the path ahead to increase your ability to direct the next transition so that it serves your long-term career plan.
5. Tend your soul
Your soul is uniquely yours and is also your link to the rest of humanity. Recognize that its brilliance is sustained by a larger vision of career success than personal gain, one that includes a share of responsibility for social/global/environmental betterment. Commit to specific "for the health of my soul" goals and integrate them into your career plan.
While none of these steps is easy to integrate into an already demanding schedule, they will serve you in the long run. If you substitute one activity within each heading for activities you've been doing to try to shore up job security or to sidestep the winds of change, you will not only be better prepared but you will feel better - more confident, more in charge. If you're unsure how to implement these recommendations in your own situation, seek the assistance of a career professional.
Would you like some suggestions for soul-nurturing activities? Go to http://www.successfromtheinsideout.com/resources.html and scroll down to "Soul Nourishing Sites".
Nina Ham, internationally certified career coach and licensed psychotherapist, is Principal of Success from the Inside Out. Her company guides midlife professional women to create careers that keep pace with their personal expansion and reflect their new priorities. Subscribe to the free monthly Career Search Tips and her free quarterly ezine.
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