The Business Within

“I am the best. I do not need to advertise myself. People know my track record. People come running after me.”

Except now.

Unemployment in the UK is topping 2.5 million and rising. Even at the top of the tree, people who would move effortlessly from one highly-rewarded job to another every few years are looking over their shoulders anxiously. Careers on the upward plane are stalling. Personal networks don’t work as they used to because people are focused on retaining their own positions on the ladder rather than helping their friends. New members are flocking to LinkedIn to try and find “new friends”. For goodness sake, Sven-Goran Eriksson is working at Notts County. But more about football later.

More than most, expatriate managers and executives in the Middle East know a thing or two about the simple twists of fate. Has there ever been job security in Dubai, in Riyadh, in Bahrain? Back in the UK, many of today’s high-flyers were at school or University last time a serious recession bit. Not for nothing do economists describe events like the Saudi oil embargo of 1974 and the meltdown of the banking system in 2008 as “shocks”. And on a personal level it’s shocking to find the stable foundation of a lifestyle or a career shaken.

Interesting times demand interesting solutions. Michael Owen, scorer of 43 goals for England, found himself in a personal recession of the mind and body. He was becalmed at Newcastle in a losing team, and struggling to resurrect his career after string of serious injuries. His advisors came up with a bright idea. Why not produce a 16-page glossy brochure extolling Michael’s skills, his track record and his newly-restored fitness, and send it to all the top clubs in England and the Continent? So they did. The result was increased press coverage and an expectation among managers that there would be competition for Michael’s services. Is that what caused Sir Alex Ferguson to sign him to Manchester United? Probably not. But what created a stir was the fact that a high-profile player like Owen was packaged and marketed like a product or a company – features, benefits and all.

We in Career Advantage think that it’s an approach worth considering. In the UK there has been a flourishing market for freelance consultants, interim managers and technical specialists who operate through personal service companies. They may be one-man businesses, but they market themselves as businesses, not as people. The successful ones know what they are good at, they know what markets they are in, and they are experienced at presenting their features and benefits in front of their clients. Should people who hold down senior positions within their organizations be any different? For all the reasons we discussed earlier – economic uncertainty, corporate volatility, increased competition for fewer opportunities – we suggest that everyone on the corporate ladder should recognize that they are involved in two businesses: the organization that employs them and the organization that provides the services – themselves. And each should receive the fullest attention.

Is this stating the obvious? Perhaps, but our experience suggests that many people in senior corporate roles put their hearts and souls into the cause that employs them. When the time comes for a move they find themselves woefully underprepared to launch their personal product on the job market. So they dredge up the CV that got them their last job ten years ago and add a couple of paragraphs to bring it up to date, instead of thinking “what do I have to offer an employer now?”, “which of my skills are valuable today and in the future?”, and “who is likely to want to employ me?” . They forget that an interview is a multimedia experience – interactivity, tone, body language, learning, listening, questioning. That takes practice and preparation. And what about research? Finding out about the potential employer – their business, their culture, their finances and their challenges?

The time and effort needed to manage a career is often the reason why very capable and experienced executives find themselves in a rut, or worse still, in a hole. Career Advantage provides a solution.

We don’t find people jobs. There are thousands of companies in that business. What we do is act as personal marketing team for people who don’t have the time to attend to their personal proposition. We help our clients to hone their marketing collateral (more often a carefully prepared CV than a 16-page glossy brochure), prepare themselves for interviews by coaching and practice, research the market for their services, provide profiles of companies who are interested in them, and for people who are looking to work in the Middle East for the first time, we provide personal introductions to people who are already living and working here.

Career Advantage is not just a resource for expatriates. Saudis, Emiratis and Bahrainis are just as concerned about their careers as everyone else working in the Middle East. They have additional challenges: the need to market themselves in two languages; the need to show that they are ready step into roles with increasing responsibility in a market that sometimes values qualifications over capability.

With the CEO of HSBC warning of a double-dip recession in the UK (hang on, we haven’t emerged from the first one yet!), and other sages warning of increased political and social volatility likely to spill over into the Middle East, it’s easy to retreat into gloom. But we would suggest that there is no better time for executives to make sure that they are fit, ready and focused on their personal propositions if the worst should occur, or indeed to take advantage of the upside when it arrives.

And that means attending to the Business Within.

Steve Royston – November 2009