Are You a Work in Progress Or An Employee Who Has Peaked?

By Bill Donovan

There's a reason why books such as "Who Moved My Cheese" and "Our Iceberg Is Melting" sell so well They offer advice on coping with change at a time when change is all that seems to be happening in the economy

If employers are facing constant change, that means their companies need to be changing constantly, including their employees For many companies there are two questions to consider when interviewing - is this candidate able to do the job now and are they willing to change to do it tomorrow As someone who works as a permanent employee or someone who prefers the temporary staffing lifestyle, you need to be able to demonstrate that you are that person

It's not necessarily radical, overnight change that employers expect Certainly at many companies today employees need to be considerably more proficient in using technology than at the start of the decade, for example But that progression took place gradually, even if the pace of change picked up in the "00s" compared with prior decades Rather, it's a willingness to work at self-improvement

How do you prove to hiring managers that you are a flexible employee, capable of evolving as the job demands? It may be evident in the types of jobs you've held in the past and the work you've done in those jobs Ideally, you can point to a position, note the responsibilities you had and explain how you proactively adjusted within that job by spotting the changes ahead

Here are three other thoughts on establishing yourself as someone who works at change

Be passionate about your work In today's economy, with long-term unemployment a major problem, many people simply need a job to pay the bills But ideally if you care about your work you'll be more motivated and willing to evolve in it as change demands As Apple Chairman Steve Jobs once said at a college commencement "The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work The only way to do great work is to love what you do"

Continue your education Have you finished your growth or are you a work in progress? It's pretty obvious that an employer thinking about the future would be more intrigued by an employee or job candidate remaking themselves than one who believes they've plateaued The more you know the better you become

Work at the hard parts of your job In his book "Talent is Overrated," Fortune magazine writer Geoff Colvin writes that high achievers are devoted to "deliberate practice" It's a process that includes identifying the parts of their job that they dread doing, but which they frequently work at to improve and separate themselves from their competitors One example given is a golfer who spends hours practicing a difficult sand trap shot while his rivals work on their putting He may face that shot infrequently, but when he does he's more prepared than others Change in the workplace is often dreaded Be a high achiever by working to master the new demands of your job