Your Best Job Search Resource? You!
By Walter Akana
Normally, when people ask about resources for job seekers,
they mean something that will be useful in helping the job seeker
successfully secure new employment. It could be a book, a website,
an article, an assessment, a contact management tool or a
networking or professional organization. There are lots of
possibilities. And all you need to do is launch your web browser to
find them. So, this article isn’t about any of those.
When all is said and done, success in a job search is
meeting a short-term objective on a longer journey of career
success. So, as I see it, the best resource for a job seeker is his
or her own good judgment in making choices that lead to successful
career management. Individual choices will be different for
everyone. However, there is one common theme: developing the
self-knowledge to be able to recognize the right kinds of
opportunities, and then exercising the discipline to get out there
to meet the people who can help connect you to them.
Frankly, the world of work has undergone epic change.
Part of the reason more than fifteen million Americans are out of
work is not simply due to economic melt down. No, loss of jobs
started well before, when companies realized they should focus on
core competencies and outsource everything else. This, of course,
was aided and abetted by a global leveling of the playing field so
that work could be shipped anywhere on the planet. So, the game has
changed. Dramatically.
On a fundamental level your ability to find work is all
about making your career your business. This doesn’t
necessarily mean starting your own company. But it does involve
your readiness to stand up and make dramatically new choices that
allow you to make a difference.
Consider the case of Binny Thomas, as related by
Seth Godin in his book
Linchpin: Are You
Indispensable? Binny got a new job, without
leaving her old one. How? As Godin relates it:
One day, Binny Thomas stood up. She stood up, spoke up, and started doing a new job. She didn’t leave her organization, didn’t even get a new title or new responsibilities. Instead, she started doing her old job in a new way. Binny stopped going to meetings with the goal of finding deniability or problems to avoid. Instead, she started leaning in and seeking out projects where she could make a difference. Suddenly, Binny was inspired. She was looking for opportunities instead of hiding from blame.
According to Godin, one of the most fundamental shifts
in our new economy is the role of self-determination. Conformity is
not the path to success; rather, how “…We respond to
the opportunities and challenges of the outside world now
determines how much the outside world values us.” And this
affects both job search and long-term career
management.
Aside from reading Godin’s wonderful book as just
one step, I can’t think of a single resource that will help
you decide when and how to stand up. Yet, if you are looking to
find a new job and to run a successful career thereafter, you need
to turn to yourself and figure out when and how you can best take
charge of your career, and what resources you’re going to
need to make that happen.
