Some are suggesting that some of the very tenants of our work world are likely to change as baby boomers retire and our system adjusts.  That may be years down the road, but talk of recession and lots of pink slips make talk about change a definite here and now topic.

How can you prepare for change?  Some thoughts…

 1.  Keep your head out of the sand.  You don’t want to engage in unsavory gossip, but make it your business to know the skinny in your area and the company at large.  Touch in with professionals in competing companies as well so you’ll have a finger on the pulse of your industry.

2. Make yourself vital.  Volunteer for projects.  Don’t complain.  Become an expert in a niche market.  Specialize in something useful and leverage your services when change comes around the bend.

3. Keep your eye on the prize.  What are your goals?  Plans?  Do you hope to move up the ladder in your company?  Move on to another industry?  If you don’t have plans, change will come and hit you in the face.  I don’t have to tell you that most people who are hit in the face aren’t going to be lucky enough to have much say in the directions they go.  Don’ t let that be you. 

Keppie Careers will help you prepare for your next career step.  We offer resume writing, career coaching, and an array of services to help you make the best change possible…www.keppiecareers.com

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Over the next several decades, as more sectors face the looming talent shortage, there will be a rapid increase in the number of people who work in cyclical or project-based arrangements—many with no fixed affiliation to one corporation. It’s even possible that project-based work will become the norm in several decades—with most workers operating as what some have called “intellectual mercenaries” assembled by project, as needed.

Essentially, these “cyclical” workers are what might today be called contractors…They come in to do a job, get the work done and leave.

Imagine if our workforce really adjusted to this type of scenario.  Many workers would be like cogs in an ever spinning wheel.  Benefits could go by the wayside, as only a select group of essential workers would be considered “full time” employees.  Presumably, some permanent jobs may be lost, but many would benefit from the flexible arrangements. 

Erickson suggests that this workplace may be decades in the future.  It’s difficult enough planning for next month’s workplace, let alone for something that may happen 10 years down the road.  However, the suggestions she makes to prepare seem timely and well suited to anyone in today’s workforce who hopes to influence their own career path.

In summary, Erickson suggests:

• Building and maintaining your professional network.
• Understand your skills and talents and where they can be put to use.
• Keep current on research and thinking in your field.
• Keep licenses and certifications up to date.
• Maintain a home office as a launching pad for marketing and selling your skills as well as maintaining records of billable hours.
• Don’t become so immersed in the “here and now” that you forget to take time to consider planning for the next thing.

This last point strikes me as particularly important.  In any changing or volatile work environment, don’t let yourself get so caught up in getting through the week that you forget that another Monday is just around the weekend.  We could all benefit by more involved planning and efforts on our own behalf to ensure that we are really driving our own career bus.

Keppie Careers will help you drive your own career bus.  www.keppiecareers.com

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