The ‘have-nots’ are unable to find jobs or have got poor increments or have no promotions to look forward to. Like a customer service executive or a machine operator whose jobs have been replaced by chatbots and automation. If you have been laid off or your growth has stopped, here’s how you can create your new future.
Skills to get considered
The first thing you need is marketable skills on your resume. These are skills that are easily understandable, measurable, acquired through education or experience, that you can put on your resume or LinkedIn profile. List your marketable skills. For an accounts professional this includes working on Tally, statutory audit, budgeting, financial statements etc. Now identify your skill gap. Look at postings on job boards and LinkedIn profiles of similar but successful people. Which missing skills keep you from a shortlist or promotion? How could you acquire them in a year’s time? In six months? (see box). If you have a basic working or theoretical knowledge, put it on your resume and accept a lower-paying job to gain experience.
Skills to succeed
Transferable skills are more valuable and guarantee greater opportunities and growth but are tough to measure. How do you recognise the leadership qualities of the sales head for a CEO position or the diligence and insights of a data analyst for a lead role or the communication and time management skills of a team leader for a managerial role? Check out the stories you share about yourself and what others share about you. This exercise will take time and effort.
From all your previous jobs, write three types of stories—where you were proud of your achievements, where you were appreciated or rewarded and where you were the only person who could deliver a critical outcome. What does each story tell about you with respect to handling yourself and other people, handling information and handling materials or money? Ask someone else who has interviewed people or led a team, to share their thoughts on your stories. Now, prioritise these skills and stories as per the need of the role or promotion you seek and practise telling them to an interviewer or your manager at appraisal time.
Path to the future
Skills are the steps to progress. But in which direction? To find the right direction you need three things—your end goal, the journey and your enthusiasm. Let’s deal with the first. What kind of salary do you want in a year’s time and in five years? Where do you want to end up in 10 or 15 years? Your long term goal could be to become a specialist. Or a generalist. Having an ambition and progressive milestones is critical because the growth in role and salary will show you whether your skills are marketable or not. If you have failed, then either the market has changed and you need new skills or your learning has stagnated and you need to update your skills.
Workplace preferences
Next, think about the path or journey to create your negative list. If your journey is impossible, you will not reach your destination or even the first milestone. This is a short exercise. From your past experience, make a list of people you loved working with and others you detested. What are their traits that made it easier for you or made it impossible? Similarly, write down workplace conditions that you liked or hated, including culture, learning, facilities, timings, flexibility, autonomy etc. Look for repeated patterns. Finally, the easiest part, which locations are you willing to work and stay at, the daily commute time and any need for remote work. Make a list of all the features that make it impossible for you including moving to certain geographies or working with certain managers, firms or industries. Use this list to focus only on the roads you can travel and that take you towards your goal.
Motivation
Finally, don’t run out of fuel for the journey. Your fuel comes from short and long term motivation which lie in what interests you and what energises you. To identify your interests, look at how you spend your free time, what you talk about, what tasks at office made you forget the clock and what roles you dream of. Your free time may be spent in watching or playing sports and talking about it. You were most engaged at work while planning and executing a big event. You dream of working at a media company. Next, to find what energises you, list down people and institutions you admire and respect. The values and missions common to them are what matter to you for long term motivation. Use your interest and energy lists to decide between industries and firms for your journey.
Get skilled, get hired
1. Education
Formal education includes degrees and diplomas that you put on your resume and are relevant to your new goal. When you commit to formal education, you are either changing direction completely, like an MBA or are specialising in your domain, like an advanced diploma. A full-time course with a good brand is the signal the job market prefers.
2. Certification
The next best thing to a degree/ diploma is a certificate course. Offline and online courses include management programs or specialised skills. Prioritise based on brand and success of past students. Check if job vacancies are asking for a certificate, like a Microsoft certification or PMP for technical and project management roles respectively.
3. Apprenticeship
The fastest and best learning comes from working under experts who like to mentor. They are usually found in firms specialising in delivering the related service. If you want to learn field sales join a successful FMCG company or join a forensic firm for forensic accounting. Sometimes the only way in is through an internship or an unpaid role.
4. On the job
No master available, no problem. Create a learning opportunity within your own role and firm. Get a new project approved where you will learn and experiment with the new skill you need and deliver outcomes. For example, an Excel programmed sheet that saves time. During appraisal time, ask for a redefined role that will then go into your resume.
5. At home
While the first four methods improve your resume, the portfolio approach is most effective in interviews. This requires self-learning and thus time and commitment. Study on your own and execute projects with the new skill—like a website/blog/ designs. Be ready to show your output and impress a decision-maker.
(The writer is a career coach, Mentor and the Author of yoursortinghat.com)
