We’re in recession – it’s a golden opportunity! If you are master in your craft industry then don’t wait for the recession to end, now is the time to move. This advice might seem counter-intuitive because in hard times it’s natural to want to feel secure in your organization, and certainly take advantage of any severance payments that might be handed out. But this is a victim mentality. There are major opportunities out there.
Why? Well for precisely the same reasons you might be thinking that way – organizations will be looking at reducing their headcount, particularly in non-core activities. But business must go on, so organizations ensure that they attract and maintain the best people who are effective and efficient. They also look for fresh blood to stimulate innovation and get more for the same or less. You could be one of them.
During a decline, one of the first thing an organization will do is to look at reducing external spend by ridding themselves of freelancers. Often, organizations will seek to replace 1, 2 or more freelancers with a more capable body. If you have broad experience and are a master, then you may fit their bill. Days after 911, I replaced two freelancers who between them will have costed over 3 times my own package.
The other thing that happens during a decline is that headhunters begin to call on organizations where layoffs might be likely, so why not get in there first before the calls begin? If you start building your relationships with recruitment consultants early then you’ll be at the top of their list. Like any kind of business, it’s not what you know it’s who you know. Cliche: yes. Correct: you-betcha.
Obviously, your confidence in yourself is key to you making this move. If you lack confidence then this might be a risky challenge for you as this move is likely to involve you selling yourself as *the* candidate your new employer must have. It’s time to be brash – it’s time to win. You must believe you are s**t hot before anyone else will.
What lies beneath thinking like this is a positive attitude and outlook on the current economic climate. It’s also a use of the Law of Attraction.
I agree that confidence is key. Over the years i’ve gone from a very patient newbie who was unsure of himself to a super-pro who knows how it works and what’s best. I’ve lost a lot of my patience over the years but I’ve made up for it by being VERY confident in myself and my work. It’s pretty interesting how I get further by NOT giving the customer all the information and just telling him what to do instead of listening to all their choices that make no sense and trying to make them happen. Bottom line : People have confidence in you ONLY if YOU have confidence in yourself.
@DigitalMind: so right – confidence is something that is projected and also contagious. It is reciprocated. The other thing is that confidence is something that is remembered by others – it stands out in memory. This is how sales people are so successful, even when the product they are selling isn’t what you really want!
This makes sense must really look into it. Thanks for the info.
@SFP – let us know what you think when you’ve thought about it more. It will be great to hear some real success stories
Simon – It is easier said that done. Some of us work in such specialist environments. Short of leaving the country, there’s pretty much no one else to work for locally. The decison also because difficult when you are married and a whole lot younger.
Let me just put it this way, if I could move, I would move…
@GM: If anything is easy, it isn’t worth doing – well that what my Uncles used to say. The essence of the post is that if you resign yourself to the challenges you face, failure is the only way forward. If you create and maintain belief, there is aways a chance. S**t hot people are rare, so if opportunities are created in whatever pond you fish in, you’ll be the prime candidate to seize it!