How to adjust your professional career and not die trying

I truly believe that any professional grows when supporting others to grow. Therefore, by defining myself as a man of service, I am always ready to help others by being a resource for them when needed.  Few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend and he mentioned that he was planning to open a LinkedIn account because he needed to find a new job. My friend has 25+ years of experience in the energy sector and he recently ended his professional relationship with an international company where he spent over 20 years of his life. Now, he sees himself facing one of the most challenging episodes of his professional career.  

I truly believe that any professional grows when supporting others to grow. Therefore, by defining myself as a man of service, I am always ready to help others by being a resource for them when needed.  

During our conversation, we spoke about headhunters, LinkedIn, professional networking, direct reference, and more. During this talk, I had the opportunity to share with him some experiences about how to manage this type of situation, and even though I do not normally write about this subject, I trust that these thoughts could be also valuable for you.

You must face a new job search as one of the most important career challenges ever

Most of the experienced professionals I know normally underestimate a job search. They say that “because I come from a very well reputed company and I have decades of experience, there is going to be a queue of companies willing to offer me, perhaps tomorrow, a better job, with a better salary and in a better work environment”. But the ugly truth is that today’s job market is super competitive and attributes like experience, training, or diplomas, which were a must have in the past, nowadays have become a “nice to have” in front of soft skills like communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem-solving, creativity, work ethic, interpersonal skills, time management, or attention to detail, which only can be proved by the reputation you have built, by recommendations coming from previous jobs, or from your professional network. The best two ways of succeeding when facing this challenge are either by, being self-taught, or finding a professional advisor to guide you in the process of finding the new job

The best two ways of succeeding when facing this challenge are either by, being self-taught, or finding a professional advisor to guide you in the process of finding the new job.   

In the world of information we live in nowadays, it will always be possible to find on the Internet articles or videos, which teach you how to find a new job. There are millions of reliable sources of information related to this topic, and learning about it could take months or years in some cases, as well as an important number of trials and errors.

In the other hand, considering that the know-how and history are with you, it is always possible to hire an experienced advisor to support you on how to master a resume where you will be highlighting your background, skills, and achievements, as well as crafting an attractive history that headhunters, hiring managers, and HR persons will love. These advisors will also help you to be prepared in how to succeed in job interviews and can help you on tailoring a set of resumes depending on the type of job you are aiming to apply.

The obvious difference between these two options are time and cost. To be self-taught, you must be aware about the time and dedication you will invest and be observant to the potential loss of opportunities associated with it. In contrast, hiring an experienced consultant will cost you money but it will give you the chance to be ready in a few weeks and your chance of success will be higher.  

Invest time and money in the construction of your personal brand, because It will pay off when the time to search for a new job arises

Another very common situation I have seen is that most experienced professionals, let say 15+, 20+ or even with more years of experience, have been working in the same environment or have barely changed employers during their entire careers. This used to be perceived as a very good approach in the past, but nowadays, it is perceived as a “lack of soft skills” like, teamwork, adaptability, or even leadership. I know that this is not fair, but again, it is nothing but the world we are live in today.      

The complicated part about this is that those experienced professionals have been moving through their career paths within the boundaries of the companies that employ them, disregarding what has been happening outside in the real world. The direct consequence of this is that they are “complete unknowns” in the job market out there.

My recommendation, for those experienced professionals is that they must start as soon as possible to work on building their personal brands. I know that this used to be perceived like a “conflict of interests”, but not anymore. Everyone has the right of having a known name in the market, and eventually, why not, become a person that positively influences others. I know that most of you may be thinking that this is only for people in commercial roles, but, let me tell you that such perception is wrong. From salespersons to factory manager, machine operators, field technicians, finance or HR persons, every professional needs to have a presence in the super connected world we live in today. The main reason for having a known name in the professional world is that, perhaps, tomorrow you could become available to the job market, and if no one knows you, then you are nothing but a small fish in the sea of resumes out there

The main reason for having a known name in the professional world is that, perhaps, tomorrow you could become available to the job market, and if no one knows you, then you are nothing but a small fish in the sea of resumes out there.

Please, do not take me wrong, I am not saying that your studies, experience, and background are not important, what I am stating here is that a good history without a reputed and very well established name in today’s job market is like the “yin without the yang”.

There are many ways to build a personal brand and one of my favorites is LinkedIn. There, you literally have virtual access to almost every company worldwide. In this professional social network you can freely write articles, make posts related to your area of expertise, give professional opinions, and support other’s publications with the priceless opportunity of establishing yourself as a subject matter expert, as well as exposing your history as unique and impactful as you consider. The most interesting point here is that the openness of this networking environment and the relationship you have with your close contacts will force you to keep your history as genuine as possible.

There are other ways to build reputation in today's connected world. Some of those are networking events, participation in technical conferences or discussion forums, publication in technical magazines, and so on. Any professional display case you choose for the construction of your personal brand could be helpful, if you take it seriously and put enough time and effort to make it. 

Do not see LinkedIn as a simple job search engine, see it as a powerful tool that can help you build or increase your professional network

I have met many people who think that LinkedIn is just a social network like Facebook or Instagram, others think about LinkedIn as a job search engine, and others consider it as a place to find technical information. The truth is that all of them are right and wrong at a certain level. LinkedIn is, by far, the most powerful professional display case created in recent years where you can brand yourself, attract connections, customers and investors, and even find your dream job

LinkedIn is, by far, the most powerful professional display case created in recent years where you can brand yourself, attract connections, customers and investors, and even find your dream job.

A friend of mine recently asked me “what do you think about opening a LinkedIn account to find a new job?”, I answered him that he was going to commit a mistake because he was about to start a competition against millions of job seekers that were doing exactly the same thing and chances of success were very low. What I recommended to him was “why don’t you open the account and use it to start building your personal brand in it?” He told me “I do not have time for that”. Well, as I explained in the previous points, this a very common slip-up. If someone wants to look for a job on LinkedIn, that person must have opened the account years ago, started to build a name in it and then, when the need to find a job arises, the potential employers, who already know this person, are going to be willing to open their doors to such very well-known person.  

Like any powerful tool, LinkedIn can be useful or useless depending the way it is utilized. Please, be informed about the right way to use this influential professional network.  

Never stop looking for the dream job, but meanwhile, be open to accept a good one that connects you with your dreams. The stories of Tom and Becca

My friend Tom, a 35+ year of experience professional, lost what he used to call the job of his life, around three years ago. He used to work for a multinational product company, which merged to a service company seeking for more competitiveness. As a result, Tom was separated from his role, as well as 50% of his team. Tom used to be the region leader and his region was the most productive one during the last five years.

After this separation, Tom, who had good savings, though that it was the time to start searching for the job of his dreams, because he had money and time for that. He updated his resume and sent it to his friends. After six months nothing happened. I recommended to contact Linda, who is one of the best job consulting professionals in town. She worked with Tom on rewriting his resume, trained him on how to succeed job interviews, and how to improve his searches. After twelve months, Tom told me that during the last year he applied for like five-hundreds jobs, he participated in about one-hundred job interviews and in dozens of times he was in the final two candidates for a job. But in none of them he was hired. Tom was super disappointed. During the conversation he confessed to me that many of the jobs he applied and was called for interviewing, he simple declined, because those jobs were not aligned with the job he was looking for.

My other friend Becca, a 10+ years of expertise professional, lost her job from a multinational telecom company, for similar reasons to Tom. She contacted me the same week she became available and I recommended her to contact the same job consulting professional I recommended to Tom. After four months working with Linda, Becca got a job in a small B2C company. I asked her why she changed from a telecom company to a B2B company, and Becca gave me one of the wisest answers I have ever heard, “while I am looking for my dream job, I need to pay my bills”. Six months after that, Becca was called by the biggest B2C and retailing company in the world, and she accepted what she calls her dream job, and having accepted the job in the not so big B2C company, coming from a telecom one, opened her eyes to a new world that connected her with her real dreams.

I know that someone can think that perhaps my friend Tom is an old school professional trying to connect with the new professional era, and perhaps, my other friend Becca is a young and agile professional fully connected with today's reality, but the truth from their stories is that finding the dream job is all about "mindset and having the feet on the ground"

Finding the dream job is all about "mindset and having the feet on the ground".

While you are growing your professional network and working on building your personal brand, you must never stop helping others

My professional journey started in 1995 at the age of 20, working for what was considered back then as the third biggest energy holding in the world. I remember that in those days, I used to see myself like retiring 40 years after working for that company in a top management position. However, many things have happened in my professional journey since then. The huge energy holding, where I started my career, is almost gone today. I started my own company in the wrong place and time in history, but it taught me the greatest business lessons of my life. And finally, I worked for two of the biggest multinational companies in the history, which took me to work in Europe, South America, Middle East, and North America. And the journey continues…

From that experience, I can say that among the professional knowledge I have added, the languages I have learned, and the business cultures I have gained, there is only one common element: the people. You will find only two types of professional out there, the ones that focus on their jobs and build their own careers like there is nothing else, and the other ones that while focusing on their careers, can also see outside and are willing to support others. I can’t say which one is right or wrong, but I have experienced that the ones with the capability and desire to help others have built greater careers and have worked for more than one single company and in more than one country.                       

I don’t know if this a matter of luck or a combination of hard work and kindness and caring of others, but I am totally convinced that the more I have supported others, the better my career has been. This is, by far, the best advice I can give to some who is intending to grow his/her professional career: have integrity, prepare yourself, be ready and willing to help others, connect with people even outside your area of expertise, and try to add value every time you perform a job. You will see that the growth will come accordingly.

The best advice I can give to some who is intending to grow his/her professional career: have integrity, prepare yourself, be ready and willing to help others, connect with people even outside your area of expertise, and try to add value every time you perform a job. You will see that the growth will come accordingly.