Stay Ahead of the Curve: Keep Yourself Employable

By Debbie Lipton

In times of economic uncertainty, the tasks of both finding and keeping employment are more challenging than ever.  Many job seekers feel helpless when their efforts to find work are not successful.  Similarly, working individuals are often fearful that their jobs are not secure.  The sense of discomfort that accompanies these experiences is common but nevertheless sometimes difficult to manage.  When it comes to our employability, we have more control over our circumstances if we make it our personal responsibility to identify what makes us valuable to an employer.

Whether we are employed or between jobs, today’s world requires that we be personally responsible for identifying the skills we need in order to bring value to an employer.  This shift in responsibility for planning our own career paths has occurred in the past 15 years or so, following the recession of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  While organizations may be more willing to provide on the job training or a longer learning curve when the labor market is tight, it is still up to each employee to skill up and stay employable.

 “Lifelong learning” describes the process of keeping ourselves educated in the skills necessary to be productive employees. Unlike the work world of the early to mid-part of the twentieth century, rapid changes in the way that jobs are performed have required employees that want to remain active in the workforce to update their skills at an increasingly frequent rate. Computer skills are an obvious example, whether they are used to manage inventory, perform administrative activities, or track results of scientific research. Organizations value workers who make a commitment to keeping their skills updated. Conversely, employers that support the ongoing training of their workers are more desirable to work for than those that do not. Our commitment to our own lifelong learning is the key to how we can proactively ensure we have value to our current or future organizations.

If you are currently unemployed, take a moment to assess your current employability in your job or field of choice by asking yourself:

Do I have the technical skills related to my field to make me competitive?  If not, how can I access them?

Do I understand the needs of the organization or industry, the problems they are trying to solve?  If not, where can I learn about them so I can propose my value to a solution? 

Do I have adequate experience for the type of work I am seeking?  If not, how can I gain this experience while in “job search mode”?

If you are already working, you cannot afford to feel that you are “safe” from changes that take place in your organization. Take advantage of all opportunities to learn new skills.  Ask yourself:

Do I feel confident in all of the technology needed to do my job correctly?  If not, where can I access courses inside or outside of the organization in order to bring myself up to date?

Are there soft skills (communication, interpersonal, supervisory skills) that I need to work on to be considered for growth within my organization?  If so, how can I access the training necessary to grow?

Would continuing my formal education or pursuing an advanced degree help me maintain my employability?

Keeping ourselves employable is the work of every individual.  By utilizing the resources available through your employer or even taking classes outside of your organization, you are taking control over your employment destiny.

Debbie Lipton works as a Senior Human Resources Generalist for Operation A.B.L.E. , a Boston-based non-profit organization that specializes in offering employment and training services to mature workers 45 and over.  She has worked in the employment field for more than 15 years and her experience includes work with hundreds of job seekers and employment professionals as a career counselor, job search coach, corporate recruiter, placement specialist, and trainer. Debbie is a Certified Administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory and Certified Professional Resume Writer. Additionally, she is a former board member of the Boston chapter of the Association of Career Professionals International (formerly the International Association of Career Management Professionals) and former chair of the Career Counselors? Consortium. She holds a Master of Science degree in Human Resources Counseling from Northeastern University , as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Brandeis University .