Blog Post: "Career Commandments" and Managing Yourself Like a Business

This week I attended the Montgomery County Society for Human Resource Management (MC-SHRM) monthly meeting to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on in H.R., recruiting strategies, and employment trends, in general.  Meetings such as this provide opportunities to hear employment experts talk about such topics and I think they provide extremely valuable information that you, as a job seeker, can benefit from.

This week we heard from Tracey Kearny, Regional Manager for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., an outplacement company.  Tracey spoke of taking charge of the job search process during career transition; being proactive and managing yourself like a "business".  In reality, you should manage your career in this manner even if you're not in transition...you never know when change will come about in your company or when the next opportunity for advancement will reveal itself. 

Managing yourself like a “business” involves:

-         Developing a written plan

-         Truly understanding the talent you bring to the table

-         Learning how to communicate your talent

-         Being willing to grow

-         Developing a network (this one is critical – another blog about this to follow)

-         Making a record of your performance

Seven “Career Commandments” guide you in managing your career, ground you during times of change in the workplace, and steer you in the right direction during career transition.  Write these down somewhere so you can see them everyday.

The Career Commandments

1.      You are the only person who can manage your career.  You must establish a vision of what you want in life.

2.      Your ability to succeed will be based on your ability to adjust your behavior to the appropriate environment of your firm/company.

3.      Change will be constant, and at an ever faster pace.

4.      You must constantly be acquiring new skills and knowledge to cope with change and be aware of new opportunity.

5.      You must create visibility within and outside of the organization and be prepared to demonstrate your skills through accomplishments.

6.      You must be able to articulate your accomplishments in an acceptable fashion for them to be of value.

7.      Your talents, credentials, insights, and friendships are you only source of job security.