Last week we closed the four-move series. Position. Signal. Target. Relationships. This week we go one layer above the moves. What holds them together.
Most people only start thinking seriously about their career when they need something from it.
A new job.
A promotion.
A bigger salary.
A change.
And that is usually when they discover they do not have a strategy.
They have a resume.
A LinkedIn profile.
A list of recruiters.
Maybe a network they have neglected for three years.
So they start applying. And applying. And hoping.
This is The Application Economy. And at senior level, it has stopped working.
There is a better way.
Career Practice.
Career Practice is the idea that your career should be something you actively build all the time. Not something you manage only when you are looking for a job.
Just like you do not wait until you are unfit to start exercising, you should not wait until you need a job to start building your career.
The practice is simple. Four moves.
Position.
Be clear about what you want to be known for.
Not just your job title.
Your expertise. The problems you solve. The value you create.
Signal.
Make that expertise visible.
Share what you know. Demonstrate how you think. Give people evidence of your experience.
You do not need to become an influencer. You need to become recognisable.
Target.
Know where you want your expertise to matter.
Identify the companies, opportunities and decision-makers that are relevant to you.
Do not try to be interesting to everyone. Be relevant to the right people.
Relationships.
Build and maintain relationships before you need them.
Give first. Be useful. Stay connected.
Create genuine relationships with people who may become colleagues, clients, collaborators, advocates or employers.
None of these works particularly well on its own.
Position without Signal means people do not see you.
Signal without Target means the wrong people see you.
Target without Relationships means you are still starting cold.
Relationships without a clear Position means people do not know what to remember you for.
Together, they create something much more powerful.
Career compounding.
Every conversation.
Every piece of content.
Every relationship.
Every introduction.
Every demonstration of your expertise.
Every company you learn about.
Every person who becomes familiar with your work.
It all adds to the next opportunity.
That is the fundamental shift.
Stop treating your career as a series of jobs.
Start treating it as an asset that compounds.
The goal is not to become better at finding a job when you need one. The goal is to create opportunities before you need them.
That is what Career Practice is about.
The question worth asking.
Every senior leader can ask this once a week. Every week.
Is this compounding my career?
That is the whole practice, in one question.
If yes, keep doing it.
If no, either stop or replace it with something that does.
Members inside the Career Practice run this question against their calendar and their content, monthly. It is faster with peers because they point at things you cannot see. If you want that kind of practice, the Career Practice is at approached.co.
Otherwise, ask the question yourself. Once a week is enough to change the trajectory.
See you Thursday.
Cheraine
Stop Applying. Get Approached.
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