Continuous Improvement: The Key to Marketability

by Kate Wendleton

Job Hunters Sometimes Stay With Their Present Employers -- But in a Stronger Position

Although employed people come to The Five O'Clock Club because they want jobs elsewhere, a surprising number end up becoming more valued by their present organizations. That's because these workers start exploring what is going on outside their organizations, pick up new skills that make themselves marketable, and often take that information back to their present employers. Because they no longer feel dependent on one organization, they develop greater self-esteem and become more assertive in developing ideas and programs for their present employers. Their employers start to treat them differently.


CASE STUDY: MARTIN

On His Way Out: Then Promoted

Martin is the head of the direct-marketing arm of a major not-for-profit. He felt that he was undervalued, and perhaps even being squeezed out. He wanted to get into the for-profit world. To learn more about this target area, his counselor and group at The Five O'Clock Club suggested he read the trade journals, join associations having to do with direct marketing, and get to know people in the field. Martin learned so much in his intensive research that he went a few steps further: he spoke at the association meetings, began writing for the trade journals, and even appeared on the cover of one prestigious trade magazine.

This caught the attention of his current employer, who began to value him much more than before. Coincidentally, Martin's boss moved elsewhere in the organization. Martin was surprised that he was asked to take his boss's job. That promotion eased Martin's pressure to find a new job quickly. In addition, his r¸sum¸ was looking better and better.

If he decides to look for a new job again, his new title and experience will be a help, as will his new visibility as a guru in the direct marketing field. By the way, he continues to stay involved and improve his career -- as well as his worth -- at his present place of employment. And he continues to attend The Five O'Clock Club to stay sharp in his field.

Remember the new definition of job-hunting, which The Five O'Clock Club developed in 1978:

Job-hunting in a changing economy means continuously becoming aware of market conditions inside as well as outside your present organization, and learning more about what you have to offer -- both inside and outside your organization.


A New Way of Thinking

Any assignment (or job) you get, is a temporary one. You're doing work, but you don't have a permanent job. It's like an actor who lands a part. He or she does not really know how long it may last. Furthermore, actors tend to worry about whether or not a role will typecast them and potentially cause them to lose future roles. Or they may intentionally decide to be typecast, hoping it will increase their chances going forward. Actors understand that they will most likely have to land another role after this one, and they constantly think about how a certain role will position them for the future. And so must you. Your next job is only a temporary assignment.

This process of staying aware and marketable is what employees have to do to keep their present jobs longer, or to make career moves inside or outside their present organizations.


Old Goal: Job Security

New Goal: Marketability

In the old days, if you simply did a good job, you would be okay. These days, you must think and act like a consultant:

• Keep up with what is happening in your industry: Join professional associations; read trade journals; take courses; network with people outside your organization.
  
  
• Keep up with what is happening outside your industry. This will prevent you from becoming insular, and you may come up with ideas that will apply to your industry as well.
  
  
• Acquire the new skills that are in demand in your industry -- and in the workplace in general.
  
  
• Bring these new skills and the new information and ideas back to your present employer -- as a consultant would. You will do better in your present job, and get to keep it even longer -- just as Martin did.
  
  
• Think of yourself as an investigator on behalf of your present employer. Meet people outside who do what you do, and bring that information back.
  

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Kate Wendleton is the founder of The Five O'Clock Club, a job-search strategy group that helps job hunters and career changers of all levels. This article is courtesy of The Five O'Clock Club. Copyright 1998, The Five O'Clock Club. All rights reserved.