A big message in a recent career management conversation has been the importance of perspective. How it is essential to career success that your view of yourself is one that the job market can agree with.
Differences in perspective are sometimes needed - particularly if you are seeking career progression and development - but there should also be fundamental agreement between the way you view yourself (experiences, strengths, challenges, etc.) and the way other people see you.
Where there are differences in perspective, we need to be aware of them to deal with the questions and responses they provoke. Differences between perspectives can become ideal talking points, explored together with recruiters, potential employers and our network of contacts, feeding valuable information to both sides.
[You haven't lost perspective. Pikachu really is that big!]
Managing perspective in this way helps you to actively bridge the gaps between the things you know you can do [with the right support, in the right environment, etc.] but have yet to prove yourself in.
Career management steps in to help you manage perspectives by providing strategic and evidential support to your conversation with the market. The job market is too mature to take long-odds bets on hiring people without relevant experience but it is flexible enough to promote the right aptitudes & attitudes and make joint commitments - between employer & employee for example - to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
So how might we prepare ourselves to manage perspectives positively?
✪ It is up to each of us to know the skills & experiences we possess
✪ To clearly communicate the direction we want our careers to follow in the future
✪ To take the initiative in seeking out the partnerships where opportunities can be created on both sides
These are examples of strategic career management in action. Individuals who manage career perspectives well are finding success even in this challenging employment market and - as was alluded to in an earlier post on this blog - the barrier to adopting these practices and attitudes for yourself, exclude none of us from making a positive start!
Links with more on perspective & your career:
All the best for now,
Paul
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