Stay relevant in the workforce.
“There is no linear career path anymore.”-Dan Schawbel
The Cheat Sheet:
- How many jobs do most people have between the ages of 18 and 45?
- 20% of the workforce is retiring in the next 4 years: true or false?
- Which are the top majors that land jobs after college?
- How to network effectively, even if you’re an introvert.
- EQ or IQ: which is most desirable in a job seeker?
- And so much more…
There’s no denying it any longer, the workforce today is an entirely different animal than it was even a decade ago. Long gone are the days of working for one or perhaps two companies in your lifetime. Now most people will work in at least 3 different careers in their lifetimes, some of us will work in as many as six! And note that says careers, not jobs.
If you’re like millions of others trying to get a leg up on the fierce competition in the marketplace, we’ve brought in Dan Schawbel to talk about how. Dan is the author of Promote Yourself, and that’s exactly the topic we dive into today. Dan shares the facts, figures and suggestions he has for the best ways to promote yourself and stay relevant in the workforce today. All of that and more on the 338th episode of The Art of Charm.
More About This Show:
Dan Schawbel has made a successful living by studying what other people do for theirs. He has specifically studied the millenium generation, otherwise known as Generation Y or The Millenials. But he’s discovered some interesting facts and applicable information for everyone along the way.
For example when it comes to your ability to promote yourself and stay relevant in the workplace, Dan suggests zagging when everyone else is zigging. What does that mean exactly? The current trend is for most people to bounce to another company in order to be promoted or earn more money, there isn’t much loyalty anymore. And Dan says you can capitalize on that by staying put and developing a strategy to make yourself indispensable.
The first one is fairly easy to do: generally it’s easier to stay where we are than to find a new job. But not all of us have a strategy to make us indispensable, and to be sure the company we’re working for keeps us around and that we’re also top of mind for promotions. Dan shares how to do this on today’s episode.
His first suggestion is master your current role. Do the job you’ve been hired to do and do it well, do it to the best of your abilities. Often this will take you at least the first six months you’re in a new position. Dan says you can’t stand out until you’ve done what you’ve been hired to do.
Once you’ve done that, then you can ask for more work, ask for that special project, offer to pitch in to help others in new areas outside of the scope of your job. This is also when you start presenting ideas for new opportunities for work. Do you see any area where the company could be more efficient, some way you can help the company make more money in an area? Now you can create a presentation and pitch it to your boss. But you can only do this once you’ve shown you are competent at your job, otherwise no one will take you seriously.
Another great way to promote yourself is to join special interest groups outside of work. Are you intrigued by marketing? Then join up a marketing meetup group or join a local branch of a marketing association. Find a conference you can attend on a weekend about the topic you are interested in, and then bring that information back to your job. You’ll find useful ways to apply yourself in your role when you do.
Though we discuss many other topics, one final subject we’ll touch on here is the necessity of soft skills. Nearly every recruiter and headhunter out there wants someone with great soft skills. They want to know you can work well with others, you’re a team player and will enhance the company overall with a good attitude, cooperation and team work.
Dan and I discuss other useful suggestions he has for staying relevant and making yourself someone your company can’t live without. He gives us specifics on how to promote yourself through tracking the metrics of your successes and why growing your network will ensure you’re never without job offers. It was great to have him on the show, please join me in thanking him and thank you for being here too. Enjoy the episode and we’ll see you next time.
THANKS DAN SCHAWBEL!
Resources from this episode:
Promote Yourself, Dan Schawbel’s latest book
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-Best of The Art of Charm Podcast
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