Career Practice: How to Create Career Opportunities Before You Need Them

Most people start thinking seriously about their career when something has already changed.

The restructure has been announced.

The contract is ending.

The promotion didn't happen.

The new boss has arrived.

The company is cutting costs.

Or you've realised that the role you've been doing for the last five years isn't where you want to spend the next five.

And that's usually when the applications begin.

Resume updated.

LinkedIn profile polished.

Job alerts switched on.

Recruiters contacted.

Applications submitted.

But there's a problem with this approach.

You're asking your career to produce opportunities at the exact moment you need one.

That's a lot of pressure to put on a system you haven't been maintaining.

Think about your finances.

You don't wait until you need $20,000 to start saving.

You don't wait until you're sick to decide that your health matters.

And you probably wouldn't wait until you lose your job to suddenly start building relationships with people who could help you find your next one.

Yet that's exactly how most senior professionals manage their careers.

They do a great job.

They get promoted.

They deliver.

They get busy.

And their external career activity gradually drops to zero.

Until they need something.

Then they have to start from scratch.

That's the reset.

And senior careers become increasingly expensive to reset.

Because your next opportunity isn't simply about finding a job.

It's about finding the right level.

The right scope.

The right organisation.

The right people.

The right compensation.

The right timing.

And increasingly, the right reason for someone to choose you.

Career Practice is the idea that your career should be something you maintain continuously, not something you repair when something goes wrong.

It comes down to four things:

1. Position

Can someone quickly understand what you are known for, the problems you solve and the value you create?

2. Signal

Is there evidence of your expertise outside the four walls of your current job?

3. Target

Do you know which organisations and decision-makers you want to be relevant to?

4. Relationships

Are you building useful relationships before you need anything from them?

None of this requires you to spend your life "networking".

It doesn't require posting on LinkedIn every day.

And it certainly doesn't require applying to hundreds of jobs.

It requires something much simpler.

Keep your career in motion.

Because when you do, something changes.

You stop having one option.

You start having options.

This is the part I think gets missed.

The objective isn't simply to become better at job searching.

The objective is to create a career where opportunities can reach you.

A former colleague thinks of you when a role opens.

A CEO sees something you've published.

A board member gets introduced to you.

Someone in your industry forwards your name.

A hiring leader says:

"Actually, I know someone you should speak to."

Those opportunities don't usually appear because you submitted the perfect application.

They appear because your reputation, relationships and relevance were already working in the background.

That's Career Compounding.

And it's why the question I want you to ask yourself isn't:

"What should I apply for?"

It's:

"What am I doing now that could create an opportunity later?"

Because the best time to build your next opportunity isn't when you need it.

It's before you need it.

Don't reset your career. Compound it.

Cheraine

Founder, Approached

P.S. If you're a Head of, Director or C-suite leader and your career currently depends heavily on applications, recruiters or being discovered by chance, that's exactly the problem Career Practice is designed to solve.