What are you learning today that your next employer will desire?
The title of this article is the one fundamental question I would ask聽everyone聽who is currently employed and expects to stay that way for more than another year or two.
What are you learning today that your next employer would desire?
Let鈥檚 break down this question a little bit.
First of all,聽it鈥檚 a mistake to assume that you will be with the same employer for your entire career.This may have been a regular thing fifty years ago, but that model simply doesn鈥檛 hold true today.聽聽that people hold onto jobs for an average of about three years. While some will come in under that average and others will shoot over that average, neither group will have very many people who have excessively long tenures at a single company.
In other words, you should pretty much聽expect聽change in your career.
Given that as an assumption,聽it is reasonable to also assume that you鈥檒l be going through a hiring process sometime in the next several years聽鈥� assuming, of course, that you鈥檙e remaining in the workforce.聽
There鈥檚 an obvious principle that also needs to be stated here 鈥撀�in a hiring process, companies often rely on standout resumes and personal recommendations.聽Both of those things play a role when you鈥檙e getting hired at a new place.
Add all of these things together and what do you get?聽Every single person working today should approach their work with an eye on their resume and their professional network.聽Each day, you should be doing something that either boosts your resume or boosts your professional connections in a positive way 鈥� and, ideally, you鈥檙e doing lots of those things.
There are a lot of ways to do that, of course.
Within the workplace,聽focus on tasks that lead directly to things you can write on your resume.聽Don鈥檛 shy away from big projects, as big projects are great resume material.
You should also聽take advantage of every educational opportunity.聽If there is聽any聽opportunity to improve your education and certification聽within the workplace, you should grab that opportunity quickly.
Unless you are completely opposed to the idea in every way, you should also聽take advantage of any leadership opportunities that you see.聽People who step up to the plate to lead projects and manage small teams always look good to prospective employers.
Another useful tactic is to聽do everything you can to maintain good relationships with everyone at work.聽Those people will be migrating to different employers, just like you are, and there will often come a time where you will find yourself applying to a place where one of your previous co-workers or supervisors is now working. A positive word or two from that person will make all the difference.
So, cut out the negative talk at work. Find ways to speak positively of people and, if you can鈥檛, say nothing at all. Save your frustration for times when you鈥檙e alone.
If you have opportunities,聽build professional connections with people outside your workplace.聽When you鈥檙e at work and you interact with people from other businesses, take that chance to get to know them a little and make their job a bit easier if you can. They鈥檒l remember 鈥� and that can often help you in surprising ways.
It all comes back to one simple question 鈥撀�what are you learning today that your next employer would desire?
Your next employer desires someone that comes with a good resume and perhaps a good recommendation, too.
What can you do today to build those things? Look for those opportunities every single day.
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