The recently released 2008 Job Forecast, done by Harris Interactive® for Career Builder.com indicates that approximately one-third of employers surveyed intend to hire more full-time employees next year and that they are forecasting approximately 3% pay increases for existing staff. This is good news.
The other 2/3 are either planning on holding steady or reducing their existing staffing. This, too, is good news.
How can both of these things be good news?
The answer is that most companies are showing great uncertainty. They are uncertain about the course of our economy, our political climate, the war, and the availability of talent to bring them the results they desire.
In other words, employers in all surveyed fields are looking for competent, reliable employees who have ideas and talents that they can contribute immediately to help bring about results. This is great news for seasoned workers, those who may have been downsized in one industry are anxiously awaited to make a contribution in another.
The greatest challenge for workers is in being able to translate their portable talents and strengths from one field to another. This is much easier to do than most people think.
Why?
Most think in terms of transportable skills. And, to be completely candid, skills are not always transferrable from one field to another. Talents, however, can be transported, if you know how.
Check out our recommendations at http://www.creatingthefutureofwork.com and follow our guidelines.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Mid-Life Job (or Career) Change
Have you ever seen the three panel cartoon where a man is shown the door by his (now former) employer. The door closes behind him. And in the third panel he has turned around and is facing the closed door banging to get back in?
It’s sad. Many men and women in mid-life have been (are being, and will be) shown the door this year. Some will have been downsized. Others will have had their jobs shipped overseas or to lower cost environs. And some will have seen their employers fold up their tents and disappear in the night.
Whatever the circumstances, for men and women who have invested years in one field and are now on the outside looking in, the feeling is horrible, even with a durable parachute. The question becomes, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”
A healthy answer is, “Everything (or anything) you didn’t have the courage or incentive to do while you were comfortably sequestered in your former job.”
Consider Theresa Knight, a project manager for a telecommunications firm in New Jersey. I met Theresa when she registered for an over 50 job change workshop I was conducting. She had survived two previous downsizings, moving from one multi-national telecom to a national telecom and then to a spinoff of the national telecom. She had taken a slight hit on her first downsizing. But, the transition to the spinoff left her salary alone but with significantly reduced responsibility. In other words, she was making too much money for the work she was required to do. And, now, another restructuring had just been announced.
Theresa wasn’t worried the first two times. She was ten to twelve years younger then and her husband, George, still had his job…and his health.
Things change quickly. George had been downsized about 18 months ago and since then had developed heart problems. They sold their home and downsized their cost of living. They could make it on Theresa’s pay alone. But, they couldn’t survive without it.
Theresa wanted options. And, at the end of the seminar she had an idea.
I saw her two weeks after the seminar and her confidence was restored. Here’s what she did.
Theresa knew she had at least ten good years in her. She had great ideas, loads of energy, and strong credentials. She knew she was bigger than her current position. As a matter of fact, her boss was always coming to her for advice.
But, she knew that she was making much more than her peers with similar responsibilities. She knew she could do her boss’ job. And his boss’ job better than either of them. So, we created a plan for her to create her own position within her current company and propose it to her boss’ boss, the executive V. P. of development.
Theresa went to him with a plan, based upon her highest level of accomplishment in the industry. She showed him how to maximize the performance of his unit while reducing expenses and redundant development projects.
Theresa got the job. She became her current boss’ boss and was placed in charge of a major development initiative.
In Theresa’s case, turning around and knocking on the closed door would not have worked. But, going upstairs and knocking on the door of a higher level in the company did. Her past was her future.
How did this work?
I’d love to say it was easy. It wasn’t. But, it is a simple process, only three steps:
1. Know your strengths and how they have contributed to your past successes.
2. Know the challenges facing your prospective employer.
3. Make a value-based proposal (a win-win offer) that showcased your strengths and answers the needs of your prospective employer.
The details, of course, need to be worked out. But, next time I’ll offer another example of mid-life career change.
It’s sad. Many men and women in mid-life have been (are being, and will be) shown the door this year. Some will have been downsized. Others will have had their jobs shipped overseas or to lower cost environs. And some will have seen their employers fold up their tents and disappear in the night.
Whatever the circumstances, for men and women who have invested years in one field and are now on the outside looking in, the feeling is horrible, even with a durable parachute. The question becomes, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”
A healthy answer is, “Everything (or anything) you didn’t have the courage or incentive to do while you were comfortably sequestered in your former job.”
Consider Theresa Knight, a project manager for a telecommunications firm in New Jersey. I met Theresa when she registered for an over 50 job change workshop I was conducting. She had survived two previous downsizings, moving from one multi-national telecom to a national telecom and then to a spinoff of the national telecom. She had taken a slight hit on her first downsizing. But, the transition to the spinoff left her salary alone but with significantly reduced responsibility. In other words, she was making too much money for the work she was required to do. And, now, another restructuring had just been announced.
Theresa wasn’t worried the first two times. She was ten to twelve years younger then and her husband, George, still had his job…and his health.
Things change quickly. George had been downsized about 18 months ago and since then had developed heart problems. They sold their home and downsized their cost of living. They could make it on Theresa’s pay alone. But, they couldn’t survive without it.
Theresa wanted options. And, at the end of the seminar she had an idea.
I saw her two weeks after the seminar and her confidence was restored. Here’s what she did.
Theresa knew she had at least ten good years in her. She had great ideas, loads of energy, and strong credentials. She knew she was bigger than her current position. As a matter of fact, her boss was always coming to her for advice.
But, she knew that she was making much more than her peers with similar responsibilities. She knew she could do her boss’ job. And his boss’ job better than either of them. So, we created a plan for her to create her own position within her current company and propose it to her boss’ boss, the executive V. P. of development.
Theresa went to him with a plan, based upon her highest level of accomplishment in the industry. She showed him how to maximize the performance of his unit while reducing expenses and redundant development projects.
Theresa got the job. She became her current boss’ boss and was placed in charge of a major development initiative.
In Theresa’s case, turning around and knocking on the closed door would not have worked. But, going upstairs and knocking on the door of a higher level in the company did. Her past was her future.
How did this work?
I’d love to say it was easy. It wasn’t. But, it is a simple process, only three steps:
1. Know your strengths and how they have contributed to your past successes.
2. Know the challenges facing your prospective employer.
3. Make a value-based proposal (a win-win offer) that showcased your strengths and answers the needs of your prospective employer.
The details, of course, need to be worked out. But, next time I’ll offer another example of mid-life career change.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Looking for Work in ALL the Wrong Places
An August 24, 2006 survey on JustJobs.com reported that the number 1 interest of job seekers is a position with a good salary and benefits. The item of second greatest importance was work/life balance. Third , fourth, and fifth were: advancement opportunities, work environment, and nature of the work – the industry and function in which the job would be performed.
If we unpack these results, they tell us that the average job seeker does not really care which industry, field, or position they occupy, whether the environment is healthful or uplifting, and even if the job has real opportunities for advancement, as long as it pays well and gives good benefits. Since only 24% indicated that work/life balance is important, it might be said that the majority wants money and benefits and it would be nice if they could balance life and work.
As the old saying goes, “seek and you will find.”
Extending this a bit further, we might presume that an individual who seeks only the highest paying job and who doesn’t care what or where it is will most likely end up with a job she hates, that pays well, and enables her to spend some quality time with the people she cares about.
But, isn’t this what everybody’s been complaining about these past few years? When government statistics are released saying that over 80% of all workers are dissatisfied with their work, shouldn’t they be quoting this survey: “Government statistics released today have revealed that 80% of workers have chosen to do jobs they hate just because they pay well. But, instead of revealing their satisfaction, because they got what they wanted, they are complaining all the way to the bank.”
The reason why so many people are so dissatisfied with the jobs they have is because (to paraphrase the old Waylon Jennings country hit) they’re looking for jobs in all the wrong places. And they’ll never find the right job until they learn to look the right way.
There is a right way and a right place to look. It isn’t out there. It’ s in there.
If we unpack these results, they tell us that the average job seeker does not really care which industry, field, or position they occupy, whether the environment is healthful or uplifting, and even if the job has real opportunities for advancement, as long as it pays well and gives good benefits. Since only 24% indicated that work/life balance is important, it might be said that the majority wants money and benefits and it would be nice if they could balance life and work.
As the old saying goes, “seek and you will find.”
Extending this a bit further, we might presume that an individual who seeks only the highest paying job and who doesn’t care what or where it is will most likely end up with a job she hates, that pays well, and enables her to spend some quality time with the people she cares about.
But, isn’t this what everybody’s been complaining about these past few years? When government statistics are released saying that over 80% of all workers are dissatisfied with their work, shouldn’t they be quoting this survey: “Government statistics released today have revealed that 80% of workers have chosen to do jobs they hate just because they pay well. But, instead of revealing their satisfaction, because they got what they wanted, they are complaining all the way to the bank.”
The reason why so many people are so dissatisfied with the jobs they have is because (to paraphrase the old Waylon Jennings country hit) they’re looking for jobs in all the wrong places. And they’ll never find the right job until they learn to look the right way.
There is a right way and a right place to look. It isn’t out there. It’ s in there.
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