The Hidden Step
www.necouncil.org/the
hidden
step
research
your strengths to
identify
their
r e l e v a n c e
in your locality
STEP TWO
Identify Your Career Path
Now review your Strengths list and search each one in your
locality. When you search each strength, you are determining
three things:
1- Job
Q
uantity
Assess the job quantity for each position.
Are there a lot of jobs for that position in your area?
An important question to answer is, “How urgently do you need to get
back to work?” If the answer is urgent, do you really want to search
for a position that is not being aggressively hired for in your area?
Suppose you hold a degree in Marketing and Advertising and are
looking for a job in that feld. Except you live in an area where the
closest agency hiring for that position is located 100 miles away. Let’s
further imagine that you have exhausted all fnancial resources, need
to secure employment immediately, and are not interested in driving
100 miles. What do you do?
You either
move
or
fnd another Strength
that Marketing and Advertis-
ing has afforded you that is sought after in your area. This is precisely
what we accomplished in the previous exercise. In this step, we are
going to identify the approximate number of jobs in your area to de-
termine the job quantity.
2-
S
alary requirements
Do these positions meet your minimum salary
requirements? Which position in your area holds
the highest job quantity and meets your minimum
salary requirements as well?
3- Viability Factor Within
N
inety days
Can you become an asset to employers offering these positions within the next
ninety days?
Suppose you determine that all positions in your area require skills you do not
have. Then your path is clear. Again, you either have to move to an area with jobs that match
your current skills, or stay where you live but acquire skills employers in your area want.
This step will allow us to make this determination.
An important
question to
answer is,
“How urgently
do you need
to get back to
work?”