Tool Box
Issue No. 46 - April/May 2009
How to guarantee your employability
by Rex Buckingham
Organisations are making incredibly important decisions right now, based on fear and uncertainty. Some of these will be made by people anxious about their own positions, others in too much haste.
Now is the time for you to act. You might have become a bit used to it all – the job; you may be responding a bit on ‘auto-control’ – your professional development ‘reviews’ may be just running along nicely – no one is really fussed – a bit of flying low under the radar, perhaps, or too often have you become the obvious point of blame. So, how do you firstly reaffirm to yourself that 1) this is the right job for you and 2) you are the right person for the job? Maybe now is the time to move, guaranteeing your employability – not necessarily your current position!
The resume
Bring your resume up to date. Look back at the job description and make your resume relevant to the job description. Do you have a JD? Has anything changed since you started the position – all these things give you a reason to be proactive and to ‘put yourself’ into the management of you – not leaving others to be thinking about you and your job and its relevance today. This strengthens your personal position, calls the bluff to some degree on others who may be focusing on you, so they receive less focus. This is the time to show you count – not just because of yesterday but because of tomorrow – you need to think like (or above) your manager! Q: Would you hire you, every day, for all responsibilities? Work life valance is a consideration. Status quo is not necessarily the goal. Consider your current KPIs. Are you just getting by, no worse or better than anyone else? have really good reasons why you are not quite making the measurements? Q: What can you do to improve? Do you have the necessary authority? Are you connecting with the right people to be taken into account? Do you need to help others improve their performance so you can improve yours. Is ther...
