Staying visible in your profession
Ken Pelczarski | TLT Career Coach March 2016
These 14 recommendations will improve your industry visibility.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / kasto
HAVE YOU ASKED YOURSELF LATELY what it will take to achieve your ultimate career goals? In all likelihood your goals will change many times throughout the course of your career. Accomplishment of these goals is an ongoing, challenging and dynamic process and is dependent upon a number of factors.
Hard work, success and determination go a long way in helping achieve career goals, but you also need to be visible by keeping professionals in your field aware of who you are, what you have done and what you want to do. Staying visible is akin to consistently marketing yourself within your industry, including to your current employer.
There are numerous benefits to be gained from heightened visibility. You will potentially:
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Receive more job opportunities
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Earn faster promotions
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Increase your monetary value
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Increase the size of your network
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Reconnect with old contacts
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Be found easier via searches on Google
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Be viewed as an expert and thought leader in your field
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Raise the status and visibility of your employer
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Earn additional honors and awards
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Raise industry awareness of your background, interests and goals
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Be offered STLE leadership and presentation opportunities.
With the advancement of the digital age, there are more and more ways to maintain a high level of visibility for yourself within your field. Examine yourself to see where you can improve your industry visibility. Here are my top recommendations.
1.) Get connected and keep your network active. Networking comes in many forms and is a primary avenue to enhanced visibility. The foundation of a plan to heighten professional visibility is to have a solid and broad network that you keep in touch with regularly. Keep your name in front of others, emphasize that you value the relationship, offer assistance and information and ask for career assistance when needed. Building your network can be done through phone calls, emails, in-person contact and through LinkedIn (the best social media site for professionals). Connect as much as possible with industry leaders and executives who may be more likely to offer you valuable career guidance.
2.) Attend trade shows and conferences. The STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition, which frequently draws in the range of 1,500 attendees and 90 exhibitors from around the world, is an example of an excellent conference venue to achieve high visibility among a great number of peers. It is an opportunity to conduct business in one location with many fellow lubricant industry professionals. Education and networking are top reasons that individuals attend conferences. Take advantage of this venue by participating in education programs and social functions, actively networking and taking on leadership and volunteer roles.
3.) Attend industry meetings. Attending industry meetings and technical sessions, often held monthly, is an outstanding method to stay visible among your peers in the best possible way: in person. Such meetings usually consist of a social hour and dinner, which allows plenty of time to network, discuss career developments and industry news and exchange ideas and information. If you attend such meetings frequently enough, you will build close relationships where you can rely upon others for career guidance and reciprocate when others need your assistance.
4.) Volunteer. Numerous opportunities exist to volunteer in technical societies such as STLE. At the local section or national level, you can join a committee or become an officer. You can chair a session or help with planning at a technical conference. With each of these volunteer roles, you will expand your networking opportunities. You also will develop close relationships where you might gain ideas for career advancement or even obtain a specific job opportunity. Overall you will gain visibility and recognition for your time commitment and dedication to the industry as well as for your specific knowledge and leadership capabilities.
5.) Get published. Having a technical article or professional column published in a print or digital magazine, newsletter or other venue will provide you with a great deal of recognition among your peers. If you have not previously been published, offer your writing talents to your employer, industry leaders and technical societies in your field. Your expertise will likely be welcomed. You also will gain positive recognition from being quoted and assisting with article content in publications such as TLT and other industry magazines. If you’re a researcher, peer-reviewed journals like Tribology Transactions and Tribology Letters will raise your profile.
6.) Give presentations. STLE provides many opportunities to present at local and national levels including annual meetings, technical conferences, education programs, Webinars and section meetings. Your efforts will be noticed by many professionals, even those who have not listened to your presentation. Most important, you will be recognized as an expert in your field and an individual who gives back to the industry. Once you begin to make successful presentations, you will receive regular offers to present, especially if you include yourself in the STLE speaker database.
7.) Maintain a LinkedIn profile. About 94% of employers utilize LinkedIn to support recruitment efforts, and 79% of employers have hired someone through LinkedIn, according to a 2014 survey by Jobvite. LinkedIn has more than 380 million members in more than 200 countries and is the predominant social media site focused on professional careers. There is much information you can display about yourself in your LinkedIn profile, including (1.) availability for employment, (2.) experience, (3.) skill set, (4.) strengths, (5.) education and certifications, (6.) accomplishments, (7.) personal characteristics, (8.) passion for your work, (9.) references and recommendations, (10.) awards, (11.) volunteer efforts, (12.) connections, (13.) career goals and (14.) contact information. Whether you are actively job searching or simply looking to maintain career visibility, do not pass up the opportunity to gain wide industry exposure through a LinkedIn profile.
8.) Participate in LinkedIn discussion groups. STLE, with more than 5,000 current group members, is one of many lubricant industry related groups you can join on LinkedIn. Participating in or starting a discussion within a group is an excellent way to express your views and prove yourself to be a thought leader in your field. Post and respond to inquiries and news items to further increase your visibility. Create and build your own group to substantially raise your visibility level.
9.) Use Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Facebook and Twitter are among the largest social networking sites to offer valuable professional networking opportunities, albeit less than LinkedIn. According to a 2014 survey by Jobvite, 66% of employers utilize Facebook to support recruitment efforts while 26% of employers have hired someone through Facebook. Also 52% of employers utilize Twitter to support recruitment efforts while 14% have hired someone through Twitter. On Facebook you should (1.) include your professional history in your profile, (2.) post and respond to content and (3.) find networking connections at specific companies. On Twitter you should (1.) build your personal brand and (2.) network by creating content and being followed. Since over half of employers who use social networking sites have found content causing them not to hire a candidate, do not post negative, controversial, religious or political material.
10.) Maintain a personal Website. There is a tremendous amount of information that can be included on a personal Website that will convey to the industry who you are, what you have done and what you want to do. For starters it is a success in itself to put together a professional Website that will be viewed and admired by your peers. If you are actively job searching, post your full resume, list of accomplishments and recommendation letters. In addition, include links to your LinkedIn profile, Twitter and Facebook accounts and select publications and presentations.
11.) Manage a personal blog. Creating your own blog would be an invaluable resource to greatly increase your personal visibility and would be a big asset toward obtaining job leads if you were searching for a new opportunity. It would keep you in constant communication with professionals in your field. However, keep in mind that managing a blog requires a huge time commitment.
12.) Achieve honors and awards. Giving 100% effort and going the extra mile toward completing tasks successfully will naturally lead to recognition, honors and awards. These honors will typically be displayed and/or presented in places such as your resume, LinkedIn profile, personal Website, employer newsletters and Websites, trade publications, industry meetings, conferences and various press releases. This is the type of visibility to aim for: the kind that not only keeps your name out there but shows your peers that you are dedicated to your work and have been highly successful.
13.) Promote your business. Keep your name visible in the industry through your own business if you are currently (1.) running a company, (2.) actively consulting, (3.) an independent sales representative or (4.) between positions. If you are unemployed you are effectively running a full-time business with the mission to find the right long-term career opportunity. In this case it is more important than ever to promote yourself through networking, social media and job boards. If you manage a business be sure to keep the industry aware of major developments such as new (1.) hires, (2.) contracts, (3.) products or innovations, (4.) purchases and alliances and (5.) expansions. Accomplish this ideally through press releases in major publications as well as through social media.
14.) Post your resume on job boards. If you are actively or semi-actively searching for a new position, maximize industry exposure and cover as many bases as possible by posting your resume on sites such as CareerBuilder, Monster, STLE and LinkedIn. If your search is confidential, leave out information that could easily reveal your identity such as contact information and employer names. It is generally safe to openly display your professional experience on LinkedIn since it has become standard practice to do so. Even if you are satisfied with your current job, it may be a good idea to post your resume on job boards to learn about the types of opportunities that are available for your background.
In summary, work toward reaching your career advancement potential by maintaining high industry visibility for your knowledge, skill set, experience, accomplishments, strengths, career goals and motivation.
Ken Pelczarski is owner and founder of Pelichem Associates, a Chicago-based search firm established in 1985 and specializing in the lubricants industry. You can reach Ken at (630) 960-1940 or at pelichem@aol.com.