During these uncertain times our levels of anxiety caused by stress, worry, perhaps even health concerns can have a huge impact on our state of mind and body, never mind our careers! So after taking a good few deep breaths, being present and appreciating all that is positive in this process, getting some exercise & eating healthily, my next advice to you is to sit down and start to think about how to ensure current job stability, prove your worth to your present boss and or team and increase your appeal in the market for future possibilities.
Here are 10 insightful tips on how to go about this:
Toughen up. Learn how to bounce back from difficult times. Become more resilient, don’t take things personally. Try and be more flexible when it comes to new tasks or different ways of doing things.
Upskill. Focus on skills you don’t yet have and take baby steps to acquire them. You know your industry, study it and discover what skills you are missing that are relevant to it.
Seek new soft skills. Compassion, empathy and true concern are all soft skills that are in demand nowadays. “The spirit of Ubuntu; a person is a person through other people”. Undergo a psychometric assessment like the one we offer https://www.sabinabotti.com/mentoring-packs to learn what your core motivation in life is, discover your strengths and your blind spots. The more self aware you become the more aware you are of others and in turn the higher your emotional intelligence will be.
Creativity. Use your left brain to benefit your company. Don’t be afraid to make suggestions, propose new ideas, pass a constructive opinion. This will put you in a different light in your employers eyes as someone who is innovative and open minded.
Give concrete information. Use facts and data to back up your opinion, your experience and your achievements. Become someone who is determined to shine and ultimately, to survive!
Beef up your cv. HR Managers and Headhunters spend no longer than 10 seconds scanning a cv. Make sure you catch their attention by presenting a graphically appealing one pager CV with relevant information and most of all highlights about you. The training pack that is most popular with my clients is the Job Hunt Pack: https://www.sabinabotti.com/mentoring-packs
Hot spots. Seek out potential industries, new business models, ideas that are still to be created and then discover which companies and industries could need someone just like you!
Smash the online interview. By now we are all used to the new virtual way of doing business and conducting individual and group meetings. But we still freeze when it comes to the job interview or international call. I have helped many a manager gain confidence through preparation and role playing to ensure they came out top of their game: https://www.sabinabotti.com/mentoring-packs
Network. The very best thing you can do during times of uncertainty is to learn how to utilise and expand your network. Share ideas, admit vulnerability, open doors, give some, take some…we are all doing it and now more than ever, we are highly in need of it!
Find a Mentor. This could be someone internally, highly skilled in your industry who you respect and admire, whom you’d like to shadow. Or it could be a professional like myself who serves as a career advisor and consultant providing guidance, structure, ideas and feedback. Either way, identify that person, set up regular meetings, accept feedback and constructive criticism. Know you are worth the investment.