Unemployment-proof

Over the summer we've been mostly vocal about sales and sales process. We've even shown a bit of our geeky side with some posts about social media. But in light some recent events we felt it was time to bring up the topic of career process again.

Just this week we've been bombarded with more recession defense talk, criticism for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and reminded of woes in Europe. Things were apparently so stressful at a Charlotte, North Carolina news station that they re-posted a March report announcing branch closures and layoffs for Bank of America, essentially doubling the damage and reminding us all of the difficult legwork many companies and the affected employees have in front of them.

While we are not interview or job hunting specialists, we do feel that the mantra at 2-Pros is relevant here. Build a career process. A career process is different from a company process. It is different from personal branding. It is different from education. Career process incorporates all of those things and more, and it uses your own personality and experience do it. People who diligently build their career process can quickly convert it to new opportunities when current ones change.

There's maybe a few of you doing a systems check right now. You may be between jobs or just conscious of the possibility. If you haven't considered your career process before, what do you do now? It's not too late. Follow this abbreviated checklist and you'll get an idea of what you can offer employers.

1) Check your motivators. What gets you going on a task? Do you use emotional energy? Or do you get energized by executing strategies?
2) Check your networking. Do people really understand what you bring to the table or does your work only get noticed for its completion. The "how" is just as important than the "what" in your career.
3) Check your mind. It doesn't matter if you're a part time barista at a coffee shop, if you're not learning, you're not ready for tomorrow. From social media, to the blogosphere, to books and magazines there is an infinite source of information for your field, soak it up.

How did you score? Is your career process defined enough to take you from job to job? Can you confidently explain how you do what you do to your current or prospective boss? Once you know who you are and what you offer its time to bring that to the battlefield. Whether your battlefield is tomorrow's interview or another day at the grind its time to deliver yourself.