Nurture your network, know your advantages & make yourself visible: Moving forward after redundancy
Amanda Behre, founder and CEO of recently launched coaching platform Dear Thrive, shares some advice for media professionals who have recently been affected by redundancies and cost cutting.
When frequent announcements of redundancies and cost cutting measures are being made across various sectors and the ABS mobility report 2024 revealing an almost 10% YOY decrease in those moving jobs, we are seeing a workforce that’s increasingly stressed but too apprehensive to move. It makes for a tough environment for the average working professional.
While this can be a brutal reality for those that are overwhelmed or finding themselves out of work for longer due to “employer” market conditions, there are a few pieces of advice to consider:
Figure out your unique advantage
A little bit of homework on yourself will go a long way – understand your unique advantage and what it is you stand for. Define your key messages ie. be clear on what keeps you satisfied.
Ask yourself a few questions:
What reputation do you want to build for yourself?
What have been the most enjoyable parts of your career?
When do other people come to you to ask for your advice, bounce ideas off or problem solve?
Having a succinct story about YOU will help you build confidence and surety. The clearer your conversations and the better your storytelling will expand your circle of influence and impact.
Make yourself visible
Expecting your hard work to be noticed is not enough. It’s even harder to build your credibility when you are working from home.
Visibility and self advocacy is OPPORTUNITY and requires purpose and intention and is another skill in your tool kit that requires nurturing. It could be packaging your projects and sharing the details with your boss, offering feedback to a leader after they delivered a presentation, it could be sharing something you’re passionate about to a colleague, it could be reaching out to get a coffee with another leader in the business.
If you can start ‘putting yourself out there’ in a confident and consistent manner, your impact will be more visible to others, you might get your name mentioned in rooms where you are not, and get tapped on the shoulder for career defining projects or new opportunities.
Nurture a network
Doesn’t the saying go, the best time to network is when you don’t need to? Particularly if you’re an introvert or just out of work where your confidence is shaken, networking is hard. Don’t think of it that way, change your perspective and think about each engagement as an opportunity. Take an old colleague out for coffee, be a plus 1 for a colleague to an event, start commenting on interesting posts on LinkedIn that shows people what you care about. Have an opinion!
Remember generosity, particularly in tough times, is a two-way street. Show kindness to others with positive intent – it will come back to you.
It’s been so heartening for me to see people in my network supportive of my founder journey. I don’t have a huge network but those relationships are strong and memorable. Hopefully I’ve built a reputation of generosity over years, that now when I’ve needed it, so many have said to me, ‘Sounds great. What can I do to help?’.
Get yourself organised
Particularly if you are on the job hunt, once you have worked out your Unique Advantage make sure you capture your values so it’s clear what you are willing to bend on and what your non-negotiables are. I also use the SOAR framework (Situation, Obstacles, Action, Results) to capture all the great projects and activities I’ve achieved in my roles. Do this consistently so you have a bank of great examples to share with your boss, other leaders for thought leadership presentations. Your clear examples will always be ready for when you need to interview for your next role.
Amanda Behre is the founder and CEO of Dear Thrive.
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