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Black Collegian Career Center
Job Change: Keeping Irons in the Fire
by Pamela M. McBride
If you lost your job today, how prepared are you to keep the cash flowing? Will you
have to start a job search from scratch or do you already have some irons in the fire?
According to a recent press release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, eight million
people lost their jobs between January 1995 and December 1997. Furthermore, less than two
million of them received written advance notice that their jobs would be terminated.
If you don’t already have a specific plan in place for re-employment, read on to
find out exactly what steps you can take TODAY to be prepared for what could come
tomorrow.
Whether you need to stay competitive in your current job or get a new one, there are
three steps you must take: increase your marketability, make contacts that count and try
something new.
Increase your marketability
Imagine finding the perfect job opening, only to discover that the closing date is the
next day and your resume needs updating. The last thing you want to do is lose prospects
just because you were unprepared. Marketing yourself successfully requires you to be ready
when opportunity knocks, so make these adjustments to your resume, right now.
- Revise your work experience to include your current job.
- Review your performance records to identify any recent, relevant accomplishments that
demonstrate your abilities.
- Add any pertinent training or education you attained since your last job hunt.
Later, when it’s time to apply, don’t forget to tailor your resume to show
how you meet the advertised requirements of the job.
Even if you are not going to conduct a campaign now, make yourself more marketable by
acquiring additional skills through in-house or external training. If you can’t get
company sponsored training, it’s worth the investment to pay for it on your own.
Finally, volunteer for, initiate or lead special projects at work to get noticed and to
gain some of those new skills with which to update your resume.
Make contacts that count
Don’t be anxious at the thought of networking. "Networking is only painful
when you are talking with people you don’t like or have something in common
with," according to Ollie Stevenson, an Area Operations Director at Drake, Beam,
Morin in Houston, TX.
Where can you find these colleagues? Attend meetings of a few professional
organizations in your field and pick one to join. Registration fees for events and
membership fees vary, but don’t join until you have attended at least one function
and determined that you like the crowd. Each professional group will have its own
personality, find one that fits you.
Try a new skill or location
If you really "know your stuff," make money sharing your expertise with
others. You can do this by teaching, consulting or writing about what you know.
Conducting workshops for community college adult education programs, places of worship
or civic groups are often a good place start for teaching and can be relatively easy to
"break into." A little more difficult to land are consulting gigs for local
businesses (but not your company’s competitors, of course). Finally, if writing comes
easy to you, try your hand at getting published. Trade journals and magazines are a safe
bet if you write about your areas of expertise.
In either case, familiarize yourself with the demand for these services in your field
and geographical location and don’t be afraid to test the waters before you give up
your day job. Visit a bookstore or library to learn how to market yourself as an expert in
your field.
If the idea of relocating appeals to you, prepare for the chance to pack those bags and
move on.
The most obvious and least risky means of identifying potential work is to inquire
within your present company. Depending upon your flexibility about where you are willing
to live, you may uncover a goldmine of possibilities.
Don’t want to stay with the same company? Collect information about new places
before making a move.
"Start by contacting friends or relatives who live there, subscribing to the
Sunday paper, and requesting a relocation package from the Chamber of Commerce,"
suggests Kaila Wilkes, Manager, Dislocated Worker Program, Washington, DC. "Then,
plan a trip to attend a professional conference or to have networking interviews,"
she adds.
Regardless of which methods you utilize to stay competitive in your current job or get
a new one, draft a plan for action and take the first step right away!
Pamela M. McBride is a Career Management Consultant and writer.
Source List
Ollie Stevenson, Drake, Beam, Morin, Houston, TX, 713.914.1101, ollie_Stevenson@dbm.com
Kaila Wilkes, Dislocated Worker Program, Washington, DC, 202.565.0008, stekai@aol.com
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