I’ve said this a number of times but it bears repeating. “De-jobbing makes a prospective employer much more concerned about abilities and less concerned about education and experience than the old job-based employer was” said William Bridges, the career development sage.[i] So, your life/career/job success depends on developing Brand U core competencies and then displaying them in your employer’s or customer’s organizational processes and projects. These processes and projects are aligned with your employer’s critical success path or your customer’s profit strategy. This ensures internal visibility and marketability. Often, you’ll have to step forward and lead or participate in these projects and activities.
Then, there are the synchronicity or serendipity effects. You’ve planned, executed and are prepared. You’ve exposed yourself to new people, knowledge, processes, and projects. You may be ahead or behind the market curve. But, things recycle. When the timing is right for your new skills or ideas, then they’ll pop. Or, you may end up with a successful, accidental career.
[i] Bridges, William, Creating You & Co, Addison Wesley, 1997, pp. 64-65.