The economy is in a terrible state; a state of which we haven’t seen the likes since the Great Depression. Employers are slashing jobs at a record pace and jobless offices are overcrowded with humans now forced to reconfigure their lives. During these tough times we all want to refrain from being the one to get the proverbial “pink slip”… having little impact said than done when you are at the mercy of your employers. Hard work may no longer be enough; it’s time to step up your game. You need to show that you are not only worth hanging on to, but that you are a contributing fellow member of the team that will support the company survive. The question on everyone’s mind–how?
So what is the right mix, the right solution to stay above water for the duration of tough times? They say change is coming. I say alter is here. It’s time to wake up and cope with change.
This has been my experience:
I left a good occupation that had long given up on the promise of supplying me prospects for growth in my respective field of info security. I was looking for a challenge; the next stepping stone in my career. I worked as an Information Technology technician for almost ten years. I had of a sudden realized the company’s engineering science scheme didn’t fit with my understanding and aspirations around heightening the discipline of Information Security. In 2007, I accepted an offer from IBM and over the course of the next year plus, I learned a outstanding deal which provided me with broader cognition and experience. Soon after, I accepted a occupation offer from a healthcare insurance provider which offered a heap of challenges and a promising future. But it wasn’t all as I thought it would be – not right away anyways.
During my basi year of employment my occupation felt like a waste of my time. I was not contributing, not because I didn’t want to or couldn’t, but because in my sentiment things happened tardily and very little interest was given to my skillfulness and purpose. I tried my best to stay busy and bestow even when the rewards were little and few and far between. As work begun to come our way and much was expected of us, we necessitated a plan, we necessitated a strategic plan to handle data security. However, a plan was never entirely invented and a imaginativeness didn’t without delay flourish. Work became an every day feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized of “putting out fires” and we were never put in a position to show value and results. One of the toughest things to do in the industry of selective information security and assurance is show ROI and we plainly didn’t put ourselves in a position to do so. I saw this as a problem and raised the issue. I raised the issue again and again until it got me in trouble. I didn’t get in trouble because I was pointing out the obvious, but perchance because of complex politics and because I didn’t totally grasp how the establishment worked. Despite all that, I felt it was my obligation to my employer to raise issues of concern since this is why I was hired. So I backed off and went into feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized and motiveless mode. What a terrible way to work. Everyday I looked forward to being late to work and leaving early even though I never acted on it. I remained strong to my commitment to my employer. My occupation became a burden on me however, and to top that off, the economy started to hit us, huge time.
For the firstborn time in years this strong performing company was faced with the tough decision of lay offs. This affrighted me, or at least got me thinking. I asked myself: “If I was asked by an executive to describe my contributions to the company, what would I say? How may management warrant my job?” Wow! Wake up call!
1. I realized that I would, like everyone else, likely struggle to find work if I lost my job. Not because of my capacity or marketability, but because there’s a lot of contest out there and finding a better occupation would be in truth tough. So I decisive to modify my current attitude and focus to fit my style – the turning point.
2. I wrote down what gains my occupation offered. When I say gains I mean what challenges, learning opportunities, chance to get involved, prospects to invent my professional status and knowledge. I wrote down the things that I may find at work that would show results for my employer.
3. I looked for areas or projects where my past experience could be of use in an effective manner to support others while helping myself establish a better reputation and improve my brand within the company. This was crucial to me because in each occupation I’ve ever held, I have always been involved in rewarding projects and activenesses and I wanted to maintain that.
4. I invented plans on how I would bestow to these projects. I didn’t want to only contribute, I wanted to stand out and be noticed. So I had to invent ways that I could be generative and be a leader. I thought out my ideas and put them on paper so that when I staged them, they would make sense and gain stakeholders’ interest.
5. I took charge. I became a merchandising talent of my own work and myself. I sought out people that would be on my side and back my ideas. In a heap of cases I gained people’s input on my plans before I staged them. Input from humans that have an conventional reputation in the company is an undervalued asset. If you may find allies, go get ‘em.
6. Positive attitude. My attitude changed drastically. I have always been a beauteous optimistic and positive person but for a while my attitude was down the toilet. How did I stay positive you ask? Simple, I just stayed unfeigned to myself and to my strengths. I figured, if I get laid off, I didn’t want to walk away thinking I could have done better. I’m at my best when I am true to myself and when I maximize my intensities and abilities. Find them, we all have them. That’s why you were hired in the primary place.
7. Get noticed. There is not one thing wrong with letting persons know that you did something right. You’re expected to own up to your faults so why not take credit for your good work? I begun walking into my boss’s office 3-4 times a day to let him know what I’ve accomplished therefore far. I held him informed of each detail of my work and how it was being received by other departments.
8. Finally, I made my boss look good. When you do good work in cross-functional actions and teams, your capacity will shine and everyone will know your worth. But it is your boss that holds your success and occupation status in his or her hands. If you make your boss look good, he or she will want to retain you because your work in truth provides him with occupation security as well; you’re share of his or her imagination and helping achieve that. Eventually you will outgrow your occupation and perchance look to leave, unless you’re content where you are and with the growth you’ve achieved, but while you’re at your job, making your boss look good will get you more projects to work on, and more probabilities to shine and create yourself professionally. Make your boss your ally.
So after all that, where am I today? Today, I’m leading two of the company’s most critical data security activities. I’m fabricating the company’s Information Security Incident Management and I’m also heading the selective information security risk assessment for a high priority project. My boss and others, have shown outstanding appreciation for my work and each day now my work has major rewards with those rewards coming more often. The cash is the same, but my life is less sophisticated and my occupation is a happier place. My positive attitude seems to be contagious as others look forward to working with me and taking part in my meetings. I normally stand by the group discussion room door as humans leave my meetings so that I may get feedback. Positive feedback is great feed for self confidence.
In all, I feel that I have further solidified my occupation status and most importantly, I have engaged myself in promising actions that will have great rewards in the future. Information Security has a promising future, so this will only heighten my probabilities to grow professionally.