“Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
If
you’ve been in the same job or career for over five years, chances are the employment
market process is quite different from when you last sought a new opportunity.
Rapid and complex might be the best words to describe it. Wrapped up in the day-to-day
tasks of doing our work, it’s easy to forget to look outside of our area to see
what’s happening around us—the shifts, subtle and seismic.
Some
of this information is probably not new to many of you, but keeping up with
these career evolutions can be overwhelming. It certainly ain’t what it used to
be! So much more is expected of us as citizens and employees. Employers are
looking for employees who can contribute to an organization to keep it
competitive, along with well-informed people who exhibit potential.
But
just how do we follow these shifting chronicles in the job market?
As
you read books and listen to a variety of recommendations on
career topics, be aware of a couple of things. Each decade has brought its
progress and predicaments. First, if the person making recommendations is
telling you to just go to the employment office and apply or look in the
newspaper classifieds, chances are they’re a bit out of touch. While such advice
may be well intended, times have warped forward. Yes, there used to be a time
when longevity in a position, qualifications, and hard work would earn you a
promotion. Or maybe you could have tried pounding the pavement, visiting
several companies and putting in an application or submitting a résumé, hoping
for an interview and a subsequent job offer. These days, this is rare.
Technology
prevails. Now, an online presence is not only helpful, but also essential.
CareerBuilder, Indeed, Monster, and log-ins to company websites are required and
consume time in a job search. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social
media outlets can provide job leads.
Whether it’s the old way or the new way, a
well-planned strategy will land you interviews, jobs, positions, opportunities,
and career promotions.
