^[1][Employers] are all looking for the same kind of people — people who not only have the critical thinking skills to do the value-adding jobs that technology can’t, but also people who can invent, adapt and reinvent their jobs every day, in a market that changes faster than ever. Tom Friedman, 7/12/11] 

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Succeeding in today’s global, fast-changing employment market requires a consulting mentality. Traditionally, recent graduates entered the labor market with a “football” mind-set – start from your own goal line and go down the field. As people aged, they expected to move towards the goal by climbing the corporate ladder. Organizational charts were fixed, just like football fields’ dimensions.

This strategy does not work for today’s world. From corporate finance to consumer products, most goods and services are available worldwide. Political demonstrators communicate via Facebook, instant messaging, and U Tube.

Spurred on by an ever growing, technology-savvy adult population and the recent challenging economic environment, businesses are rapidly revising their business models to maximize what technology affords them. The result: meeting younger customers’ expectations and reduced operating expenses, a double win.

What Does It Mean
Tom Friedman recently wrote: “This is not your parents’ job market.” Given the rapid automation of human capital tasks, managers are re-assessing people versus technology’s value-add.  Friedman’s response: take charge of your own career.

I agree with Friedman’s advice.  However, the mind-set is not new. By the 1980s, managers preferred investing in technology over people.  Before the 1987 crash, some industries, such as advertising and Investment Banking, were known for boom hiring, bust firing. After the ‘87 crash, no segment afforded white collar workers lifetime employment. Instead professionals had to take charge of their own careers.

What is new is a global labor market enabled by technology. Job categories are changing; some are being obliterated while others are being added. Companies can now locate work wherever is most attractive – even if thousands of miles and multiple time zones from headquarters. 

What It Takes To Succeed
Today, new positions are being created, albeit not at the pace jobs are being eliminated. Flourishing in this environment requires a consultant’s mentality.  Six suggestions to maintain your employability, regardless of your current job status or age: 

1.  Ensure you are adding value in everything you do. Look for opportunities to contribute.  Do not wait for work to be handed to you. Just showing up will not cut it. Keeping busy will not insulate you from being terminated. Be able to articulate your value in qualitative and quantitative terms.

2.  Keep your skills current. Many of the long-term unemployed are now regarded as less than desirable candidates for new positions. No rationale is explicitly articulated; however, in today’s fast-paced world, skills and contacts can quickly become outdated.

3.  Expand your skills. Ensure your IT skills are equivalent to those of elementary school children. Consider gaining fluency in another language. Take on new challenges. Use volunteer work to broaden your resume. 

4.  Work smart, not hard.  Technology allows us to always be working. However, the brain needs time to re-charge.  Productivity slacks off after prolonged usage with little rest. Take up activities that exercise other parts of your mind, giving the professional quadrant a little much needed down time to re-charge. 

5.  Maintain your network.  Help your colleagues, if you can. Do not expect an immediate quid pro quo.  Opportunities for others to help you will present themselves.

6.  Be flexible and resilient. Step outside your comfort zone. No one is handing out new assignments on a silver platter. Change will be a constant.

Maintain Your Employability
Jobs are changing at an ever increasing pace. Organizational charts are fluid. To succeed in this landscape, participants must constantly reassess their employability strategy – the experience and skills they bring to the table.  The days of using a football mentality to manage a career are over.