Over 20 years in the careers world has taught me one thing for certain: nothing is for certain. Therefore, I believe it is everyone's duty to be in charge of their own career path. How many times have you heard, seen, or experienced a person putting their full trust, effort, and years into an organization and then, in one fell swoop, they are RIFed (Reduction In Force) and left with nothing to show for it?
The RIFing company isn't necessarily the “bad guy” (excepting certain corporate scandals which occur time and again). The company is just doing what a business does: investing its assets where it sees the highest return and cutting its losses where it sees the highest drain. Do they always make the best decisions, or handle things as scrupulously as one would like? Nope. But they are just making their best attempt to run a business successfully, and unfortunately the individual employee sometimes gets what they feel as the shaft.
That is a perception, however, based on a lack of responsibility for being in charge of your own destiny, master of your own domain. When you manage your career responsibly, like a business in and of itself (which it is, and you are President, Product Marketing Director, and Investments Manager all rolled into one), you fall prey less to the actions of employers and begin to chart your own course.
You can own your own business in one of two ways:
- Being someone who “leases” out their talents, skills, and services to another company (what has been traditionally considered as an “employee”).
- Actually creating your own enterprise of which you are in charge.
If you’re not the entrepreneurial type and choose to still work in the playground of others’ creation (nothing wrong with that—everybody needs a team to get something done), the trick is in the mindset. As an “employee,” you should still treat yourself like a business and do like any other company does: always seek to invest your assets where you see the highest return, and cut your losses where you see the highest drain. A key word here is “always.” That means keeping ever alert as to the best work opportunities out there and being willing to cut and run from your current situation when necessary to maximize your own return. Your personal return from any talent lease arrangement could be pay, but could also include other returns such as a positive work environment, flexible hours, or even sanity.
The entire corporate world is based on the mindset of investment and return. Don’t you deserve to utilize this mindset for the enterprise called your worklife? See this excerpt from my book, “Headhunters Revealed!” if you’re committed to bringing an “owner” mentality to your previous employee mindset.
The paradigm shift of owning your own business will expand you entrepreneurially. Whether you ever choose to literally own your own business or not doesn’t matter—the gains you’ll make from at least thinking this way in your job search and career management efforts will be enormous.
For those who are actually interested in going all the way—forming your own business or enterprise—beginning to think entrepreneurially is critical. It means the opportunity to be solely responsible for your own hours, wins, and rewards. The buck stops with you, both literally and figuratively. The trick is, again, in the mindset. One must convert from an “employee” mentality, where the paycheck is always provided (as meager as it is) and the hours are set, to an entrepreneurial mindset, where you enjoy the power to call the shots on both the size of hours and size of income.
Whether you want to make a corporate transition or build a company, the same direction applies. To effectively change your current situation, just like the old “Let's Make a Deal” show, you have three doors to choose between. Let’s see what's behind…
Door #1: The Front-Door
This is the age-old traditional way to make a standard job change. This is the same door 95% of people knock on: looking to see what is “open,” classified ads, online job boards, applying through Human Resource departments, registering with temp services, submitting resumes to recruiters, etc. This door puts you in the highest degree of competition with others for any particular opening out there. Not the most effective career-change method but, unfortunately, many people know no better.
I can offer you tips to distinguish yourself from the hoards and strategies for best approach, but know that the front-door is all about fitting a square peg in a square hole…with no deviation from that whatsoever.
Door #2: The Back-Door
This method, for the duly initiated, is the most effective and long-lasting avenue for effective career transition. This route takes you behind the scenes to the decision-makers, long before the throngs of front-door knockers are even aware of an open position. It also allows you to get all the facts and info necessary before committing to a new job or your own business. Effective back-door networking is the reason 80% of all jobs are filled before they are ever advertised.
Utilizing this technique, people are able to make jumps from one industry or career to an entirely unrelated industry or career because it focuses on the relationships that open those back doors. It’s those relationships also that enable someone to create a business out of nothing. Gaining this education allows one to not only most effectively find their next position or create an enterprise, but to truly manage their career for life.
Here is where I can help you truly shine! This is where you compete with no one in the job market, where you get to fully explore and cultivate your true interests and passions, and where you build connections that get you into places that no front-door trafficker could ever dream of.
Door #3: Out the Door
This route is for the absolutely entrepreneurial type that has grown tired of being bruised by each step up the company ladder. At some point, the carrot at the end of the stick luring you forward just got dried up, limp and wrinkled. The having-a-traditional-job way of life—whether you did it for yourself or to meet the expectations or obligations of those you care about—no longer holds the future you envision for yourself, be it income-wise or lifestyle-wise. You're now ready to venture out from the "safety" of your employer's home, excited to jump out of the nest and build your wings on the way down. This is the ultimate of being in charge of your own career path. Some folks come to me already knowing this is their direction of destiny, but fully a third of those coming for another corporate role end up hanging their own shingle. When you get into the mindset of really owning and being responsible for your employable assets, sometimes you just can’t bring yourself to let anyone except you and your customers benefit from it. If you’re considering business ideas, the back-door method can ensure a fit before financing. If you’re an entrepreneur without a product or service idea, I can support you to devise something out of your passions.
Do you wake up excited to work on your passions, projects and purpose? That’s an actual reality for many people…and a possibility for all. Download 2 Free Chapters (30-pages) of Finding the S Spot: Career Pleasure Secrets for Merging Skills, Play and Pay to have work so sweet you gotta smile!
Front-Door Folly, Backdoor Bonanza is a 16-page EBook that exposes the senseless way most people attempt to make a job or career change. It’s a “wake-up call” to begin to think differently than the masses and to start utilizing the power of relationships in landing fun and fulfilling careers.