How To Get The Job You Really
Really Want - Your Advantages
This section should maybe have been titled "assets".
If you stop to think about it, actual assets ie; money, equity,
investment plans can easily be assets in your job search. How? As
an example, let's say you decide (having put all the foregoing into
practice) to hold out for the perfect opportunity. Actual
assets (money for example!) can be used to not only fund your search
but also yourself and your family during the search. It is a
total release of pressure to know that you do not need to work
for twelve months! That you have time to secure the job or career
change that really is exactly what you want.
If you are nearing the end of your working life, it
may be that such assets can release you into less remunerative work
that is personally more appealing or hobby orientated.
However, your
main advantages are not of a literal sense. The investments in
learning skills throughout your life, now become advantages in your
job search. Examples of such advantages are as follows;-
-
A
reputation as one of the best in your market. (You have made
one hell of an investment to be recognised by your peers as
one of your markets best!).
-
A degree
or other (possibly vocational) educational assets
-
A
particular market / topic specialisation (being an expert or
authority on a given subject).
-
A hobby
-
A network
of contacts
These advantages are very difficult to discuss here,
because they will be very personal to you, but you get the
idea. To illustrate how this might work in practice, let's take an
example.
Say, you studied, and got a first in French at
university. After leaving university you join a major investment
bank in the City of London and end up on the floor trading
derivatives. A highly plausible situation. After a number of years
with the bank, your French is only used on the occasional holiday,
and has faded a little.
Then one Sunday, you are reading the paper or surfing
the job boards, and there, in the recruitment section, is a high
powered job as a derivatives specialist, paying a mega
salary with a French bank. Hey presto, suddenly your French degree
is a major advantage. I hope you are starting to see what I
mean by advantages and assets.
Other examples, an old holiday job selling on the
market could turn out to be an asset, that children's summer camp
you did in 1994 might just turn to your advantage one day, maybe
even that stint you did as treasurer of the pub football team might
just come in handy. You never know when these skills and
experiences might suddenly become an advantage. It is difficult
to imagine right now, but really, you never know.
These advantages you have, are like playing two's
wild, you never know when a particular feature might suddenly
become an asset.
This also illustrates a further point. Like actual
assets (investments etc), you should always be looking to add
to your portfolio, as well as investing further in existing
assets. Remember what I said about learning earlier, it will
always pay dividends. Indeed, the more you invest, as in
literal assets, the more you will reap the dividend. It is
the same with your personal assets.
You should
always aim to have some sort of learning or asset investment
project on the go!
So, that covers the four areas that you need to
address when deciding what you want. Once you have completed this
assessment, you will know where you want to go as far as your career
is concerned. You may well have re-defined some major areas of your
life as well! With the pace of change getting faster, it is
vitally important that you understand how you can make the
best of any given situation, how you will react, how you can
take advantage.
What you should now have is a complete profile of
yourself, basically what makes you tick. What motivates you, what
excites you, what new areas you can move into and generally how to
maximise your potential as far as the career / job situation
is concerned.
As a final thought in this chapter, we Brits are very
conservative when it comes to career changes, we are known to stay
in one career stream for life. Now we have already discussed why
that will no longer be possible, but it is interesting to note that
Americans expect to change career track (on average) five times
during their working life.
In the U.K we are going to have to get used to
that sort of batting average, and following the guidelines in
this chapter is one sure way of making certain you are
ready to meet the challenge. In the end, you have to know
what you want. Then you have to make a compelling case to a
potential employer by using your Desires or Needs, Skills and
Abilities, Personality and Advantages or Assets. In other
words, sell yourself, and don't forget to close the deal!
Next Section -
Where To
Find Jobs Or Home
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