Job Security, Pt. 2- Then and Now

Remember summer vacations back in high school? Parties, sleeping in, lounging around all day, dreaming about "what you'd be when you grew up". As I prod my 17 yr. old son to get a job and decide which colleges he's interested in while he savors his pre-senior year summer vacation, I can't help but remember my own father's admonitions: get good grades, go to college; get a good office job; work at an established company. Some of it sunk in, some of it didn't, but what was dad really saying? After hearing his mantra in subsequent lectures over the years in hindsight what I believe he was trying to convey was put yourself in a position where you can make good money (good office job) and do it someplace where you can be securely employed for years (established company). Not a bad game plan right?


JOB SECURITY THEN: Dad started our family in the 1960's and his world view reflected that of the time in America- a post WWII economic powerhouse with little or no economic competition from the rest of the world. When dad was raising us kids, there were big US corporations where many individuals worked a lifetime (he worked at Honeywell) and got the gold watch and big party when they retired. Back then, all you had to do was get a college degree, save, live within your means, and the American dream was yours for the taking. Globalization was an abstract concept discussed only by futurists and those in academia. Who could conceive that American dominance would ever be challenged? In a world like that, why approach a career in any way other than what dad had recommended?


JOB SECURITY NOW: the Pax Americana that we've taken for granted is being replaced by economic parity among nations. Globalization has become an ongoing central theme in our day to day lives as our international brethren give us a run for our money economically speaking. US corporations once a paragon of stability and long term employment have diminished in stature and become environments more conducive to lessening our security than what we find in considering organizations progressively smaller in size. The B.S. in Comp Sci you earned (that you're still paying off) doesn't seem to have that magical quality it once had to ward off unemployment. Competing resources in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe are redefining your value equation in ways once thought unthinkable. Saving seems to be harder and harder as ever increasing taxes and rising prices pinch your lifestyle. Globalization has redefined our world view and dad's advice doesn't seem to be relevant anymore. What's going on here?


WELCOME TO AMERICA 2009: As Rebecca Metschke, author of the new book The Interview Edge says, "the only job security you have are the skills you bring to the marketplace". Re-read that quote and contemplate the paradigm shift she refers to: Security can no longer be derived from employers, government, unions, etc. etc., it can only be derived from ourselves and what we bring to the table in terms of marketable skills. Metschke goes on to explain that "most of us don't pay attention to our own marketability" and that we need to "continually measure your effectiveness; analyze your key competencies; assess those areas in which you have gaps in your knowledge and/or experience; develop and refine your unique selling proposition". Metschke has truly hit the nail on the head with her analysis. Being cognitive of these factors plays an important role in determining whether we wake up in the morning and go to work or wake up in the morning to look for work. There is however a piece of the puzzle missing from the self-analysis that Metschke advises. It's a piece that's absolutely imperative to achieving security and MUST be taken in to consideration when formulating a career path: analysis of the marketplace itself. What good is closing a knowledge gap if employers aren't willing to pay you for that particular knowledge? How can you refine your unique selling proposition if you don't know what sells? Making career decisions in a vacuum is akin to throwing darts at stock quotes taped on a wall to determine where to invest.

The ability to remain viable in an evolving marketplace will be largely based on identifying niches where you can provide value and maintain leverage.

Stay tuned for Job Security Pt. 3- Finding The Leverage Niche