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There are four fundamental attitudes you need to take command of your job search. Together, I call them Monster's F.A.M.E. Attitudes. The first attitude you must take is to think like a Free Agent.
Having a free agent attitude in your job search is key, because it makes you view a permanent job as a contract by another name. You are not the permanent property of an employer, but you are managing a business relationship. The employer doesn't owe you a job, and you don't owe the employer your life. You are partners in a contract that has to work for both of you.
Let's see how the free agent attitude plays across the new job landscape:
Every Job Arrangement Is Considered Temporary
Your career is composed of jobs like a movie is composed of scenes. And like movie scenes, your jobs will take some twists and turns as the story unfolds. The average job tenure these days is 3.7 years. Odds are that your extended career will involve full-time, part-time and contract work arrangements.
Because every arrangement is temporary, a free agent mindset focuses on the current goal and the next one -- and the one after that. A free agent is always prospecting for new business, even while their current job is going great. If you're working full-time now, that doesn't mean job-hopping but learning now where your next opportunity will be -- by talking to management in other departments, reading journals, subscribing to targeted email newsletters, talking to experts, networking with peers.
Your Ongoing Value Grows with Your Relevant Skills
Skills are ultimately what you offer an employer. Free agents are always growing their skills, so they have more to offer. They also do a better job than their competition at articulating how these skills will deliver success in the job, today and tomorrow.
How does the free agent in you keep growing?
- Be nimble. Adjust your approach as you learn more about the job market.
- Be an incredible listener. Ask questions and try to listen twice as much as you talk.
- Immerse yourself in learning. Every job is a chance to acquire new skills.
- Get organized. Good job searching is a complicated process and you can get lost easily.
A Strong Personal Network Is Good for You and Good for Business
The relationships that surround your job are as important as your skills. Once you've established your credentials, your actual skill level may be less important (at least at the beginning of a project) than your ability to relate to others, ask questions, build alliances and gain respect. Free agents build a reputation for keeping their commitments and meeting deadlines.
Relationships go beyond your immediate environment. Meet people from other departments. Let the fun part of your personality show through. Someone with a free agent attitude never misses a networking opportunity. Someone with a traditional work attitude usually does. Advantage: Free agent.
With a free agent mindset, you can regard any meeting as the first step to your potential next employer. When someone in business asks, "So, what do you do?" spend just enough time on your accomplishments to establish credibility. Then move to listening mode: Ask about their business problems, understand their pain and, drawing on your work and life experience, begin to formulate solutions to their business problems.
Your Resume Is Your Sales Tool
Use your resume as a way to document and showcase your skills. It is, after all, your sales tool -- the critical showcase of your successes and your potential. Build a case for hiring you in writing, citing specific projects or examples. Focus on the growing momentum of your talents and skills. (There's a side benefit, too: As you update your resume, you're also reminded constantly to update your skills.)
With renewed and relevant skills, a clear view of the marketplace, strong work relationships and a strong network, the free agent takes his place as a partner with the employer, ready to grow, adapt and change with the marketplace. As your confidence grows, so do your opportunities.
