…Towards the end of the call he said something that really struck me, and made me think about how I communicate with people. He said: “Jason, you have to remember one thing. HR can smell blood from a mile away.” I took that to mean that my demeanor was too down. I was a wounded animal, and it was obvious. No one wants to hire a wounded animal – they want to hire a competent, capable person! Even though I considered this to be a conversation between buddies I realized that anytime I talked with anyone during my job search I could not let them “smell blood.”…
from Jason Alba’s JibberJobber blog 2006 here: http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2006/10/11/i-smell-blood/
(this is an excerpt from a previous article I wrote entitled: Think Like a Free Agent)
More and more of us are discovering the variety of ways to be “employed”, and significant numbers of workers aren’t employed at all. We work as temps, subcontractors, free-lancers and consultants – on a permanent, part-time or temporary basis. Whether you get a W-2 or a 1099 (or both), there is one thing we all have in common: no one else will manage our career for us.
In today’s fast-changing world, job security is not guaranteed. Our resumes need to be updated our first week in the new job. We need to watch the trade journals for our industry, so we know who the players are. Do you work for a major player, or is your employer about to be acquired by the next industry power? Is my company leading the way, or are we barely a blip on the radar screen? If changes are coming (and believe me, they are), I’d prefer not to be taken by surprise.
Free agents are more entrepreneurs than employees. We must manage our careers in the same ways we would a business. We must establish multiple, diverse sources of income, and we must find ways to establish our own personal branding. If we market ourselves as a commodity that can be found anywhere, we will tend to be treated as such. If we discover and promote our unique experiences and accomplishments, prospective employers will see us as unique candidates that can make profound contributions to their team.
(for more, click here: www.turningpointsresearch.org/media.php.)
Recent Comments