Stay Marketable in a Tough Economy
A compilation of key points.
Everybody is marketing something today.
And you know it!
Products and services, skills, education, connections, family, character, and so on; everything is up in the market. We’re always telling the world what we’re all about. Doesn’t matter what/who we want to attract (or not attract), we are always communicating about our personal brand to the world, and how they should interact with us. In this write-up, we talk about being aware of our perceived value, and enhancing that value in the eyes of others. In an economic marketplace, if you don’t market anything then you are by default choosing to market yourself as someone who does not care/know about their value. In this context, specifically, in the job marketplace a growth-oriented individual is more intentional and aware of how they are perceived.
I had a great time talking to a few executive-level professionals, who see a disproportionately high number of individuals not caring about staying valuable in the industry, until it’s too late for them. The reality is that it’s harder for college graduates to get a satisfactory entry-level job, people change jobs more rapidly and frequently in their lifetime now than before, and 2020 saw decade long careers end within weeks, never to return back to normal. In this economic climate, staying marketable is a challenge for most people, but a selected few have figured it out.
The exact steps towards enhanced marketability vary across industries and depend on several factors. This write-up delves into the underlying mindset behind the process. For more on what I learned from several successful mid-senior level professionals about life and fulfillment, here’s an article I wrote a while back.
Below are a few points with an easy-to-remember framework to act on.
You cannot offer what you don’t have
To be marketable means that you have value to offer, and more importantly, that you are able to communicate that value to others. People involved in the hiring process need to perceive that you can add the right amount of value at the right time and place. The best way to do that is show real examples from your experience that prove your point. To do that, you need to identify a need (a gap) that you can (and will) fulfill.
1. Attitude of gratitude
Knowing what you have is special and being grateful for it makes you want to express it with self confidence and esteem. What you deem valuable is naturally what you also maintain and improve with sincere commitment. This helps others see the value behind what you’re offering. If you don’t love what you have or who you are, then others will not appreciate it either. Remember - people start to respect what you bring to the table only after they see you respect and commit to what you have.
2. Attitude of servitude
What value are you offering to others before you seek to gain something from them? Wanting to serve more value to your decision-maker than you expect in return, is the best attitude to carry in any elevator pitch, interview, or performance evaluation. When was the last time someone asked you, “Hey, let me learn more about you and your needs, to discover how I can contribute to your success.” When someone brings that attitude to your table, it makes you feel wanted and heard.
Watch this video for the 5-Ds framework -
DISCOVER, DESIGN, DEPLOY, DOCUMENT, DREAM
that were shared during one of our discussions. When it comes to discovering one’s strengths, these pointers can be handy.
3. What did you learn in the last 12 months?
What new skills did you develop?
What do you know about the current trends in your field?
Which industry expert did you build a rapport with in the last 12 months?
Can you hold an engaging conversation with an expert in your field?
4. What’s your research?
When you choose a profession, you largely choose
The kind of jobs and professional opportunities that come (or don’t come) your way
What the market will deem you worth monetarily
Any socioeconomic volatility around that career
Everything else that revolves around that career, your job, and your salary bracket.
Do something on the side so that your identity does not revolve around your career or just a job. Develop new skills beyond your career, meet more people outside your field, be strategic with your spare-time and hustle. Run your life like it were a corporation and you are the CEO.
Every 6-12 months, we must ask ourselves this question, “What is the one thing that will make me more valuable in my core strength?”
You will soon see, if you haven’t already, that many go-getters and ambitious young professionals plateau early on in their roles. This brings frustration and leads to dissatisfaction in their professional and personal lives. From that point, few choose to continue to nurture their abilities and push forth to seek out other avenues of growth. Most people lose their innate fire to grow and eventually settle with the “same-old same-old” jaded lifestyle. (I don’t want to paint a negative picture here, but I think we all know how it goes.)
Leaving Remarks
Like I always say, life is multi-dimensional, where most of us have diverse passions and interests. Gone is the era when you could limit yourself to one arena and expect to build your professional and financial success out of it. Today, you have to know more, do more, try-fail-adjust more, and learn faster. So do yourself a favor and just GROW.
Live more.