I don’t write a lot about career transition here, although I probably should. I have been posting my best information on LinkedIn Pulse. Why? More people see it and comment on it, and my ideal prospects are looking for that kind of help on LinkedIn.
That said, this post is worth publishing both places. It contains some of my best ideas for successfully navigating our fluid world of work.
No doubt, the world of work has changed. Here’s how you can make this change work for you. Below is the full post:
The 3 R’s of Employability
Do you want to be employable or hirable? Of course you do. Given the fluidity of our current work environment, you need to make sure that should you have to (or want to) make a change, you can.
I have been thinking about this a lot, and I believe I have a simple formula for staying desirable for project, contract, or full-time work: The 3 R’s of Employability – Recent, Relevant, and Ready. If you are missing any one of these components, you will have a more difficult transition.
Recent
Ideally, you want to be doing some work currently, or within the past few months. This isn’t always possible if you have had a personal health issue, been dealing with elder-care issues, or had an extended transition due to layoff.
However, everyone is able to publish these days. You can keep your skills sharp, and knowledge of your industry or job function current. You can then present some point of view here on LinkedIn Pulse, or in a slide deck that you post on SlideShare.net and then embed in your LinkedIn profile, or in a portfolio of your work on Behance.net – the opportunities are endless!
The worst thing you can do is be invisible.
Relevant
Even if you have been working full time, you may not actually be relevant to potential employers. Are your skills current? Are you proficient with Microsoft Office and other required tools? If not, get yourself some training – pronto!
Has your industry suffered a major contraction? You need to think about how you are going to position your skills to be relevant in a related industry.
If you are hoping to make a big transition to a different industry and job function, you need to work with someone so you can clearly articulate your value to a potential employer, and why you think your skills transfer well to that new job or industry. (This is almost impossible to do on your own. Get some help.)
Have you been staying at home with your kids? I’ll bet you have picked up some transferable skills. But you need to be able to talk about them in a positive way that doesn’t sound defensive. (See above – brainstorm with someone about this.)
If you know there are some skills that you need to take up a level – or if there is some certification or training that interests you – go sign up for it now. You’ll seem like a motivated professional, and will be more employable.
Ready
How are you feeling about your skills? Are you ready for a full-time job?
Did you have a bad breakup with your previous employer? Have you worked through and PRACTICED how you are going to talk about it? (Pro tip: Make it short and factual. Leave emotion and judgment out of it.)
Would you be better off getting some freelance work or a project first? There are different right options at different times in our lives.
Is your resume current? Does it clearly convey your value to a potential employer? Do you like it and want to send it to people? If not, fix that.
How is your LinkedIn profile? Is it current? Is it compelling? Is it complete? If not, working on that needs to jump to the top of your list. LinkedIn is a critical component for employability.
Over to You
As you can see, there are three things that you need to have in place. Not having any one of these will make finding work more difficult.
Whether you are in transition or happily employed, make sure you step back occasionally and evaluate where you are with your 3 R’s.
If you need help with any of this, please reach out. I have 20 years of experience working with professionals in transition. www.pointatopointbtransitions.com