Jobs aren’t a dime a dozen like they used to be during the dot-com bubble. These days the unemployment rate is heading to territory that hasn’t been seen in decades. With some states seeming unemployment rates as high as 15%. It becomes more important with every interview to differentiate yourself from the pack.
Differentiate Yourself
To help people differentiate themselves from others, Microsoft is introduced a program called Thrive. This program is designed to help you align your career and goals with your skills and passions.
Part of the focus of the Thrive program is on certifications. I’ve discussed why I think certifications are important in other posts, so I won’t go into that here. But the program also focuses on the soft skills that sometimes more important that the technical skills that you have.
Have you ever wondered-
- Do I sell my strong skills? Or over sell my weak skills?
- Am I too focused on a specific technology? Or not focused enough?
- Do I know where I want to be next year? In 5 years? In 10 years?
- Am I choosing my career or letting someone else hand it to me?
- Do I know the right people in my career?
All of these questions are important and if you don’t know who you are in your career, you can’t expect recruiters and the person across the table from you in your next interview to know who you are either.
Get An Education
To aid in the all of this, Microsoft is currently hosting three webcasts (one of which already occurred but is available in their online library) that can help provide some great information and direction on building your career.
- Thrive Live! (Part 1 of 3) Create a Personal Marketing Plan for Career Success
- Thrive Live! (Part 2 of 3) Be Lucky! How to Discover Your Next Job
- Thrive Live! (Part 3 of 3) From Dressing to Dollars: Gain Interview and Negotiating Power
These webcasts will help you to develop a personal brand around your career.
But I Have A Job
A good argument against checking out the resources at Thrive is that you may already have a job. On the other hand nearly 10% of the country is currently unemployed and I bet a lot of them thought that as well. Becoming a statistic in the unemployment line is probably too late to start thinking about making sure you are a critical resource and in charge of your career.
Maybe you are completely safe in your career and there isn’t any reason at all to worry about losing your job and having to work with recruiters. Then none of this is for you, right? Dead wrong.
Everyday is an opportunity to sell yourself to your employer and at least once every year you will have some sort of meeting where you re-interview for your position. What?! You don’t do this? Or do you?!
Every year you will get a chance to re-interview for your job. Most people call this an annual review. In this meeting, you talk about what you offer, what the company offers, and if things go well there is some discussion on compensation. And to me this is an interview. It’s just one where the chance of having the job is exceptionally high.
So I’ve come across a little doom and gloom here, so I’ll wrap up with one last reason to check out Thrive.
There is Free Stuff!
Not only can you improve your position in the market but there are also some offers for free stuff on the Thrive site.
Enter to win a Microsoft training course worth $2,995(US)
Global Knowledge is a proud sponsor of the free training course giveaway on Microsoft’s Thrive website. At the end of each month, we’ll pick one lucky winner and giveaway one Microsoft Classroom or Virtual course valued at up to $2,995! That’s right, the winner will get to choose the Microsoft course of their choice and get training FOR FREE!
And who doesn’t love free stuff. Yes, I managed to place a bing search in this.
Strate SQL 