How to market your new self
What will you do differently? It seems the lockdown that’s followed the Covid-19 pandemic has us all navelgazing. Lock us away from our workmates and social lives and we’ve found ourselves reassessing our values.
In some unscientific research I asked Facebook friends what they’ll do differently in the future and was gobsmacked by the volume of responses, but not surprised by the content.
My friends want to work from home more often, have a better work/life balance and ensure that everyone has work but no-one is overworked. There are some real challenges there for organisations to address, but there are also some great opportunities.
Many talked about doing more meaningful work; they want society to put a higher value on new ideas and creativity; to feel like their work is really making a difference.
Most talked about major changes in personal consumerism: being more sustainable, buying less but of better quality, and supporting local businesses.
Many are enjoying eating from their own gardens and cooking with leftovers, but also unearthing local delivery services: cheeses, fruit and vegetables, meat and bottled milk. They also want to spend more time exploring New Zealand.
If you add the desire to support local with lifestyle changes, there are surely some opportunities for those wanting a career change, or who have lost their job or business.
In my view, if you want to seize that opportunity you’ve got a small window before everyone slips back to their old ways.
Just in the past week I heard some great stories of people totally changing direction: a woman who jumped from IT sales to interior design, a lawyer who’s now in operational policy and a hospitality manager who switched to human resource management.
One fellow communications professional is setting up a business selling period pants which she sees as a meaningful product to ease the monthly nuisance of menstruating.
So how do you reinvent yourself to live, purchase and work differently? Firstly, if the last time you went to a careers adviser was at school, it’s probably time to get professional help. About 20 years ago I did a values assessment with a careers adviser. It showed that my career choice didn’t match any of my beliefs, which explained why I was miserable. It also explained why I wasn’t getting the roles I wanted. How do you market yourself for a job you don’t really believe in?
Often we’re so busy working toward what we think we’re supposed to be, we never focus on what we enjoy.
Sadly, none of this is easy and those examples of reinvention took energy, persistence and a personal investment in retraining.
If you’ve lost your career mojo, then think about what’s missing and research what roles or business opportunities will tick that box.
If it’s a job or business you’ve lost, or your previous roles are less relevant in today’s world, then explore where the big demands are in the job market and do an analysis against the roles that interest you. It’s a simple rule of marketing: make sure your product is what the market wants. In this case, you are the product.
Change your life and, if you listen to Gandhi, you might even help change the world.