Career Resolution #3 - Connectivity and the skills of professional survival
In an insecure world of work, with job security a thing of the past, you obviously want to avoid the financial dislocation that comes with the traumas of unanticipated job change. For any clear-headed professional, enlightened self-interest dictates that you learn and apply the practical career survival strategies that will give you greater control over your destiny and better tools for managing the continuity of your employment.
Connectivity increases credibility, visibility and stability
Just as your company has an inner circle, so too does your profession, and becoming part of it delivers benefits that can have an immediate positive impact on your career. The inner circle of your profession, those most committed and best connected, know each other through social networking and membership in professional associations.
Social networking, through Linkedin.com or one of the many other networking sites, allows you to reach out into an almost limitless community of like-minded professionals, on a local or global basis. These contacts can help you grow professionally, acting as mentors and allies. They can also help you in a job search today, or one planned for the future, with introductions at their own companies or to the right people at other companies.
Begin by linking up with people you have worked with in the past, then expand your network by joining the special interest groups and connect with others who share your professional interests.
These benefits make getting connected through LinkedIn , the premier networking site for professionals, one of the easiest and smartest career strategies for professional connectivity. There are many social networking sites, and it is probably a good idea to have a presence on two of the biggest, after LinkedIn, Facebook should be your second choice. For a complete listing of networking sites by special interests, languages, sex, race, and more, go to www.wikipedia.org and key in “social networks.”
You should also become a member in the local or regional chapter of a professional association. This offers similar benefits to social networking but on a smaller scale. However, association membership puts you on a recognize-in-the street basis with the most committed and best-connected people in your profession and local area; these are the people who can most immediately impact your career.
No one has ever thought to explain to you that with job and career change constant throughout your half-century work life, the most important skills you can develop for achieving success and fulfillment, are the skills of job search and career management; and of all the career management skills you need to develop, professional connectivity and your ability to network is the most important.
Career navigation is a critical-to-happiness aspect of your life and that deserves study and management. Make 2012 you study the building blocks of job search and career management that enable you compete in a fiercely competitive job market.
Martin Yate CPC, is the NY Times bestselling author of Knock em Dead The Ultimate Job Search Guide, and Secrets & Strategies For Success. As Dun & Bradstreet says, "He's really just about the best in the business." www.knockemdead.com
