In today's topsy-turvy world of foreclosures, bank bailouts and stock market fluctuations, uncertainty and fear is weighing heavy on people's minds.
How secure is my job?
What if my company can't make payroll?
Should I prepare a new resume in case I lose my job?
These are some pretty common thoughts today.
So, I'm writing this post to be inspiring and encouraging to people that are fearful about losing their jobs.
I'm not here to say blogging and social media is the end all, be all, of self promotion. But, it's a great place to start building an asset — an index of thoughts, resources and connections that can be leveraged before or after you lose your job, or at any time in your career.
Don't think it matters?
Guess again.
To have a competitive edge in today's world of talent, I think that the most successful job hunters have four things working for them.
- Strategic and Tactical Knowledge of their industry.
- The ability to craft a plan and execute it.
- A network of connected people willing to provide referrals.
- A medium to spread their ideas that reaches new people that become part of their network
- An indexable digital asset that allows their past ideas to continually be leveraged to build their network. (blog, web site, video channel, podcast, etc.)
I haven't done any scientific research studies other, but I think the people who can easily transition from one job to the next, have these four things in line well before that transition comes to fruition.
So, the call to action is this. Start building these assets!
There are too many talented people with the knowledge and ideas to share that don't.
If you start today, by the time companies begin hiring on January 1, 2009, you'll have:
- Articles available on your site
- A top spot on Google for your name so that hiring managers can find you and learn more.
- Something interesting to do between the Christmas/New Year's lull.
- A medium to explore creative ideas and make mistakes without financial consequence.
- A few people wanting to read your ideas each day.
It doesn't have to be an elaborate, expensive thing.
Basic Typepad blogs cost $60 per year. WordPress is free if you have a domain.
If you're trying to be in a great position for recruitment, the point is to express your ideas, gain credibility with original, well-thought out arguments and become the preferred choice for the positions you're applying to.
Get started. Make some mistakes. Have some fun.
Instead of harboring fear and uncertainty, you can work to reshuffle the cards in your favor.
