The 7 Facets of a Healthy Career

Career Fitness is based on a controversial idea. Its core tenant is that a healthy career depends upon seven facets of activity, not one. It acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and increasingly unpredictable job market, survival -- let alone prosperity -- requires that we attend to more than our expertise in our occupational field.

You can see ample proof of this concept's validity by simply looking around. There are countless numbers of well educated men and women who accepted the claim by academic institutions that a college degree -- or better yet, a graduate diploma -- would ensure their career success. They devoted themselves to that one objective, and today, they're out on the bricks looking for work.

They've made a fine start -- professional competence is the heart of a healthy career -- but they need to do more. They must, for example, "strengthen the circulatory system" of their career. Their network of contacts both in their field and in the broader workplace keeps their name and capabilities in circulation. The traditional term for this activity, of course, is networking, but networking is "notworking" if all one does is chatter away on a LinkedIn discussion group.

Research among employers clearly indicates that they continue to rely as much on traditional face-to-face interactions as they do on the virtual ones found online. In other words, the only way to strengthen your career's circulatory system is to get out of the house or office and into those venues where you can actually meet those who are online, as well as those who aren't.

Then, you have to practice the Golden Rule of Networking. It's as simple as it is powerful -- you have to give in order to get. If you want someone to be helpful to you, you must first be helpful to them. You have to share your contacts and knowledge of the job market with others if you would like them to share that information with you.

Good networking, then, is not a one-off proposition or a transactional experience. It begins with making connections to others, to be sure, but ultimately it involves establishing familiarity and trust. Those are the pillars of a sound professional relationship, and such relationships are the only network you can rely on to serve your best interests.

As this example makes clear, there's more to this one facet of strengthening a career's circulatory system than may at first be apparent. It requires both a knowledge of what's entailed and the skills to execute the appropriate actions in an appropriate way. That's why my regimen for Career Fitness covers four steps in each of its seven facets. The more of those facets you work on and the more constructive your actions in each, the better your prospects for finding a great job and, no less important, hanging onto it.

Thanks for reading,
Peter