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Introduction

There’s a lot of confusion, ignorance, and denial going on with society’s attitude toward today’s workplace. For people who are losing their jobs, or college/university students about to enter the workplace, accepting the reality of what is going on is difficult. For several generations the foundation of most people’s economic stability has been a steady job. Notwithstanding the fact that millions of people have been losing those jobs for several decades, the idea of having to earn a living in other, far less predictable ways is disconcerting to many people. The transitions occurring in the workplace today are among the most significant since the high unemployment during the Great Depression.

Disappearing Benefits

When you come from several generations who took for granted that their job automatically included things like a health benefit package and a pension on retirement, accepting the fact that these will no longer be included with your job is scary stuff. The cost of having to provide these things yourself has a major impact on your standard of living and how you will survive when your working days are over.

Some companies are eliminating benefits entirely. Some are offering health benefits but no pension. In the United Kingdom, 80 percent of the companies with pension plans have closed that option to new employees. Even in large successful companies like IBM, Motorola, and Lockheed Martin, a traditional company pension plan is no longer part of the compensation for new employees. In Canada in 2006, 38 percent of employees had a registered employer pension plan according to a Canwest News Service report on July 4, 2008. In Ireland, 54 percent of workers have pensions, according to a report in Business Plus Magazine, September 3, 2008.

You can see how much the workplace has changed in some of the agreements that unions and employers are signing today. Unions now commonly agree to cutbacks in benefits and even wages in return for some job security for their members. This would never have been acceptable as recently as ten years ago.

It’s not that the union representatives are any less concerned about the welfare of their members than they have been historically; it’s more a question of them facing up to the reality of what is going on in the workplace today.

Facing the truth

Adding to the anxiety and confusion about the workplace are the empty promises being made by some politicians that, in their eagerness to get elected, are playing on people’s fears. Some suggest they will reverse the outflow of good paying, steady jobs to countries like India and China. Their promises are always presented in very general terms with no specific plans to back them up. Their promises lack specifics because they’re not going to happen. Combine this with the misleading, official unemployment numbers we are being fed by governments and it’s understandable why people are confused.

In many respects, we’re now a two-tiered society: those who have a traditional job and all the benefits that come with it, and those who are earning a living in nontraditional ways. There’s a huge disconnect between those who have had steady jobs for years and those who are looking for work today. And the reality of today’s workplace comes as a major shock to people who have lost long-term jobs because of downsizing or because their employers went bankrupt.

It is in everyone’s self-interest to confront the reality of today’s (and tomorrow’s) workplace and that is largely what this book is all about. It will raise people’s awareness of what is going on in the workplace, show them how to find hidden work opportunities, and explain how to make the best of the employment options outside of a traditional job.

In this new era, it’s not a question of having a traditional job or not. The reality for an increasing number of workers will be that they earn their living sometimes from a traditional job and at other times from other forms of work. And moving back and forth between these two areas will become commonplace.

Another reality that downsized, experienced workers and college/university graduates have to face is that their best option may be to create their own employment. And the Internet is making this a more viable option than has been the case in recent history. In a March 13, 2009, article in The New York Times, titled “Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own,” Mark V. Cannice, executive director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of San Francisco called this phenomenon “forced entrepreneurship.” He went on to say that “it’s a Darwinian unleashing of talent into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

The article gave examples of graduates and downsized, experienced workers who have decided to pursue this option. Here are some of their comments:

“But it beats looking for work. I hate looking for work.”

“It’s incredibly nerve-wracking. I wake up nauseous everyday.”

“You can only send out so many résumés.”

“I love working, so I made work for myself.”

“This is as good a time as any to try something entrepreneurial.”

How This Book Is Organized

To show you how to cope with these realities and how to succeed in the workplace, the book is broken down into the following sections:

Chapter 1: How the workplace has changed

Before you can succeed in today’s workplace, you have to understand how it works. It’s not the same place your parents or grandparents worked in, and your approach to being successful in it will have to be different from theirs.

You have to understand the difference between looking for work and applying for a job. Unlike yesterday’s workplace, you won’t find work in your local newspaper unless you get lucky. Your approach has to be very focused, and you have to learn how to make it easy for employers to hire you. Finally, you have to become adept at self-promotion by being very clear on what you have to offer and how that benefits potential employers.

There are many misconceptions around the idea of contract work. One of the more ironic of these is that some of the people who want to find a stable job think that by taking on contract work, they will be cutting themselves off from finding that job when, in fact, the opposite is true. Contracting offers flexibility and advantages to both the employer and the contractor, and these will be explored.

You need to unload some of your historical notions about how to earn a living and broaden your understanding about what is going on in the workplace. Why is it that some people are constantly in demand while others with equally marketable skills are spinning their wheels?

Chapter 2: What exactly do you have to offer?

Knowing yourself and what you have to offer potential employers takes on a whole new dimension in today’s workplace. It’s no longer enough to identify yourself as an accountant, graphic designer, librarian, or whatever; you have to identify the specific skills that you have to offer and how those benefit the employer with which you want to work.

For most people, before they move forward, they need to take a step backward and analyze and identify the things that are important to them in their lives and careers. Many people make the mistake of rushing from one job or contract to another before they have even defined the type of work that makes sense for them and the type of companies with which they would enjoy working.

This phase is critical if you want to succeed in the workplace of the twenty-first century, but unfortunately it is one of the most neglected areas when defining effective career strategies. That’s because it’s not easy and it may be uncomfortable for you, but it’s the foundation on which every other aspect of being successful in today’s workplace is built.

Chapter 3: How to market yourself

Today’s workplace demands that you become adept at marketing yourself. Otherwise you will miss out on work opportunities or be bypassed by less qualified people who are doing a better job of marketing themselves than you are. The myths around selling yourself will be dispelled, and you will be given strategies and tools for selling yourself that will make the experience more effective and therefore more enjoyable and gratifying.

You know more about selling than you think you do, and most people have false notions about how to successfully sell themselves. Many people are uncomfortable with this area, and the reasons for that will be explored. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how effective you can be at selling yourself once you understand how the process works.

Chapter 4: The role of the Internet and social media tools

For many employment seekers the Internet and social media are becoming indispensable tools. But there are many misconceptions about how to effectively use these tools, and the changes going on in these areas are hard to keep up with.

This chapter will describe, in a nontechnical way, what role these tools play, the rules you must follow in using them, and some of the pitfalls associated with them.

Chapter 5: Getting started

This section lays out the steps you have to take to begin to earn your living outside of a traditional job, and it provides strategies for increasing your chances of finding work. These strategies will increase your effectiveness and reduce the frustration that comes from an unfocused approach.

Chapter 6: Guidelines for post-secondary students

College/university students who are about to enter the workplace need to prepare themselves by being very cognizant of the changes going on in it. In this section, they will be given an action plan showing them how to market themselves with an objective of finding work before they graduate. They will also be given sample marketing tools specifically designed for college/university students.

Chapter 7: Career counseling in secondary schools

The place to begin preparing students for success in today’s workplace is in our secondary schools. This section provides secondary school career counselors with ideas on how to raise students’ awareness of what is going on in today’s workplace and what they should expect when they enter it.

The section includes sample marketing tools specifically designed for secondary school students. These can serve as examples for students to follow in creating their own marketing tools.

Chapter 8: Managing your career

Taking charge of managing your career is something that you must pay more attention to in today’s workplace. In the past, your employer may have done this for you as part of the package that came with having a traditional job. Now, whether you have a traditional job, or you are a contract worker, it is in your own interest to take responsibility for this area.

This chapter will outline what you have to do to successfully manage your career. It will focus on changes going on in today’s workplace that affect your career and personal life.