Keeping Your Career on Track in a Down Economy …and Beyond Webinar # 2: “Managing Your Own Employability” The Alumnae Association Of Smith College Career Webinar Series

Copyright Barbara Reinhold, Ed.D.

www.barbara-reinhold.com

Obedience is out/ Courage is in…

• It’s counter intuitive but true: • When times are hard, you have to take more risks • Just make them smart ones

Forget job security—embrace the concept of “employability” instead • Stay connected, both inside and outside your current organization • Stay informed • Learn to expect and embrace change

It’s always about research, at Smith back then— and now: • What’s happening in various industries, locations, fields, organizations?

• Who do you know there?

• What current and future needs in those areas do you predict?

• How do your strengths and preferences fit those needs?

• What skills might you need to acquire or sharpen?

Remember to consult your “inside search” here

• How well does the information you’re gathering fit with what your intuition is telling you might be right for you now?

And don’t forget the feedback part—to see how others are perceiving your ideas… • Don’t miss the opportunity to do some reality testing with people who really know you and value your strengths…

After the inside search…

• and the outside search, • what comes next?

Learn to do your own S.W.O.T analysis

• What strengths do you bring to the situation or position you want?

• What weaknesses do you need to work around?

• What opportunities for you does this position or situation offer?

• What threats might be present to prevent success in this situation or undertaking?

Let’s do a short demo of the SWOT process:

• Here’s Emma, class of 1985 • She was a psych major, who somehow got hooked on technology in the late 90’s and became a software analyst for hospitals • Now she wants to go back to working with people, teaching tech skills to older people, maybe in a business of her own

S.W.O.T. yourself:

• Describe a job, promotion, situation, recognition you’d like to have: _______________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

What strengths of yours are important to this situation?

• ____________________ • __________________________ • ______________________ • _________________________ • __________________________ • _______________________ • __________________________

What weaknesses of yours will you have to work around in order to succeed?

• _________________________ • _______________________ • ___________________________ • ________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________ • ____________________________

Weakness management: What will you need to learn?

Who can you get to help?

• List below the resources or people to help you think through the relevance of these underdeveloped places—and what you can do realistically to keep them from impeding your success

What opportunities are present in this situation and/or for you?

• _______________________ • _______________________ • _______________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _______________________

What threats to the success of your campaign or the venture do you see?

• __________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________

Threat management

• List below the references and resources, either people or other sources of data, who can help you analyze the depth, breadth and/or seriousness of the threat • In the spirit of smart risks, decide whether to wait or proceed with the campaign at hand

Timing is everything:

• YES?

• NO?

• MAYBE?

• LATER?

Some goals, like Board membership, often take a long time to accomplish • Rita Foley ’75: “Be determined and visible, and let the people who could help know what you’re after and what you can do for a particular organization.”

Four critical elements of EMPLOYABILITY:

S- P- I- N

1) Skill development—continuously adding and honing 2) Possibilities—actively scanning the horizon for what’s changing or about to change 3) Information—constant and ongoing research 4) Networking—all the time, everywhere, high tech/ high touch

To give you an example to work with, let’s do a S P I N analysis on a new kind of work for you: • Pick out something you’ve considered doing, and let’s see how “employable” you might be in this kind of work right now:

What’s your SPIN score right now in relation to your fantasy target: (on a scale of 1-10) • _____Skill development • _____Possibilities—scanning for

new developments

• _____Information—high tech, touch • _____Networking • _____Total SPIN score: if it’s less than 25,

you have some work to do!

Get yourself a SPIN coach, who will do the following:

• Help you formulate clear and strategic goals • Explore what skills you need to buff up • Strategize about information and networking • Check up on your forward steps (and the inevitable backward ones too)

Your employability is up definitely to you

• Find some coaches for you, then be a coach to other women—and make it happen for all of you!

And now, Q & A:

• What do you need to do to ramp up your own

employability?

We hope you can join us next week for the webinar that talks about how to put all this together to get the work you want… “Presenting Yourself: Choreographing Your Own Career” • Time and date: Wednesday, May 6, 12 noon EDT • Check the Alumnae Association web site blog to share your ideas and ask questions • www.alumnae.smith.edu/career/blog.php