Updated: Sep 25, 2019
In September 2019, Michelle Kuo and I had the privilege of speaking with attendees of the Google Dev Group at MasterControl about Maximizing your Market Value, this article summarizes the major points of our presentation/workshop.
All of us trade our skills (our problem solving abilities) and our experience in the market place and are compensate for it. As employees, contractors, or entrepreneurs, sometimes we are compensated well, in other cases we are not. As a recruiting partner that's worked with thousands of candidates, we discussed three distinct levers anyone can pull to maximize their value in the market place.
1) Manage your Career
2) Negotiate
3) Make Meaningful Career Moves
1) Manage your Career
This lever is about taking charge of your career. Your job is NOT your career. In addition to your professional jobs, your career also comprises your education (formal and informal), your diverse life experiences, your extracurricular projects, your volunteer work, your family, your side gigs, your start-ups. All of this comes together to give you a perspective and nuance to become more effective at problem solving. After all, we are compensated in the market place to solve problems.
Your [current] job is but a puzzle piece in larger mosaic that is your career. YOU are responsible for taking charge of managing your career, designing a vision for your career. How do you do this? One thing we recommend is writing your resume for the future, not just the past. Think of this as a vision for your career, a Career Roadmap if you will. This roadmap will get you through the difficult times, it will give you the confidence to weather the storms or to seek another port.
In any given job, you are likely able to rely on your manager(s) to define your job success, however you cannot rely on your manager(s) to define career success. Rather, enlist the help of Mentors and Sponsors as you craft and execute on your Career Roadmap. What is the difference between a Mentor and a Sponsor?