How You Can Build Your Client’s Resilience During Tough Times

By Lori Jazvac.

The labour market is increasingly competitive. Employer and recruiter expectations, changing technology, and shifts within certain industries are forcing job seekers to stay relevant or reinvent themselves.

None of us wish to go through challenging career transitions. But, the reality is that we do not have a crystal ball to forecast career changes, and career transformations can arrive quickly – at a moment’s notice – and often without warning.

Ironically, the one thing that we can count on is change. Whether change involves our role, company, team, industry, field, or even the way we perform our jobs, change can be empowering when approached with a positive mindset.

Clients have a choice in how to react to and manage career changes. By evaluating career choices, considering career development strategies, continuing professional development, and revising their brand, clients can create stronger outcomes for themselves.

As a Certified Employment Strategist, this is a motto that I share with clients.

“In the face of great uncertainty, there is only one certainty – knowing, valuing, and articulating what sets you apart from others.  Honour and maintain Your Unique Value Proposition.”

Here are seven effective strategies to help build your client’s resilience during tough times:

1. Create a focused career development strategy. Work with your clients to help them understand their driving factors and unique value. Support them in establishing short- and long-term goals and action plans. Professional development and training are important aspects of increasing marketable skills.
2. Help your client stay ahead of current labour market developments. By researching labour market developments and changes clients can forecast and understand the dynamic impact of trends on their own career development. Keep your clients informed.
3. Help your clients understand how they fit into the big picture. Ask your clients about problems they resolve in their workplace. This will get them focused in a meaningful direction. Employers and recruiters value employees with analytical and creative thinking skills who are able to formulate results-focused solutions to challenging issues. Help your clients to understand and leverage their purpose.
4. Encourage your clients to think like entrepreneurs. I advise clients that they are the “CEOs of their own brand.” Help your clients to become resilient and to maintain a laser-focus on their goals. Exercising emotional intelligence is essential to thriving in today’s competitive labour market. Drivers of career success include the ability to manage a career, proactively take steps to identify and scope out rewarding career opportunities, and tap into creative resources.
5. Encourage your clients to have a “Plan B” in place. Career strategies and plans are not set in stone. The Chaos Theory of Careers has shown us that life transitions and choices often shape our career choices. Job seekers need to remain flexible and take stock of their skills, passions, hobbies, and evolving interests.  Have a “Plan B” in place – in case “Plan A” proves ineffective.
6. Remind your clients to continue actively networking. For job seekers to thrive, they need to tap into existing networks and build new ones – not just throughout the job search, but beyond. Tapping into the hidden job market is one of the most efficient ways of securing rewarding opportunities. Joining associations, attending job fairs, seminars, and events are effective networking methods. Encourage your clients to talk to other professionals and research targeted roles and companies – it will save them time, and eliminate potential surprises such as a mismatch between their values and an organization’s culture, or major, impending organizational changes.
7. Create powerful brand marketing collateral. A compelling resume reflects a powerful brand marketing tool when used with an effective job search strategy. When combined with an effective LinkedIn profile and supporting marketing collateral, a job seeker’s visibility and marketability are enhanced, positioning the job seeker for rewarding career opportunities. Encourage your clients to keep their resumes and social media profiles consistent and updated.

Spend time helping your clients identify and leverage their unique value proposition to maximize their career success.

To learn how to build each client’s resilience during tough times, take the Career Transition Consulting course offered by Career Professionals of Canada.

Photo by Štefan Štefančík on Unsplash