You know the drill: out of sight, out of mind. If you don't keep up with your contacts, they forget about you. Staying in touch takes some extra daily effort, but smart careerists do it.
It's good to be included in the circle of information-to know what's happening. While networking requires a higher level of social alertness and more concentrated energy, it doesn't have to be drudgery. You just need to find ways to make it enjoyable. Try pairing it up with another activity like going to church, attending a lecture, or playing on a softball team. Shared activities make for shared friendships, and friends make pleasant networking partners.
Some of it will still feel like work, particularly if your strategy includes returning to school for more education or taking on new responsibilities for which you're not getting paid. Still, the effort will be worth it. Just remember that desperate man who has to resort to wearing a sandwich board that announces his bottom-line price. Where are his friends and contacts now? Where are the people who know his work and appreciate it? Why is he forced to announce his plight to a million harried commuters?
Or consider the doorman who makes himself believe that his age is his problem and not his personality. Is this an attitude that would make you feel better about yourself?
Think about it: Wouldn't you rather be eating dinner with colleagues at a monthly meeting of your professional association? Wouldn't you rather be building both competence and goodwill? Or would you rather wait and take your chances on the "kindness of strangers"?
It's been nearly 40 years since William Whyte wrote his classic, The Organization Man (1956, New York: Simon & Schuster), in which he warned that rigid hierarchical corporate structures would stifle initiative and breed stultifying conformity.
If you've lived in that world a long time, you may find it hard to accept that it's a whole new ballgame now. For organizations, and the people who staff and manage them, the only real security lies in the ability to grow, change and adapt.
You can fight this new reality. Or celebrate your liberation.
Achieving Security in Turbulent Times Thought-Starter Worksheet
- On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being least secure and 10 most secure, how secure is your job?
- Is this more secure or less secure than it was five years ago? Ten years ago? Last year?
- Looking toward the future, do you think you'll still have your job next year? Five years from now? Ten years from now?
- If your job security is diminishing, what can you do to make yourself feel more secure?
- Do you have an aggressive investment strategy?
- If you don't have a good investment strategy, have you consulted with a financial planner?
- Do you consider yourself marketable?
- If your skills aren't marketable, what can you do (or are you currently doing) to upgrade them?
- Do you think you're too old to go to school? If so, why?
- Do you fear age discrimination?
- Which of the following "age-discrimination fighters" should be part of your plan:
i. -Dyeing your hair?
ii. -Increasing your energy with exercise and healthy eating?
iii. -Updating your skills?
iv. -Fixing your attitude?
v. -Networking with friends?
vi. -Expanding your network?
vii. -Perfecting your job-search skills?
- Do you know how to conduct an effective job search?
- If your resume is outdated, can you start revising it now?
- How strong is your network?
- If your network is too limited, how can you begin to expand your contact base now?
- Does self-employment interest you?
- What do you see as the obstacles to self-employment?
- Have you asked others who have made the transition to self-employment how they accomplished their goals? If
not, why not?
- Do you consider yourself employable?
- What can you do now to improve your employability?
- Do you consider yourself an aggressive person?
- Are you being too passive about your future?
