Self-powered Careerist? Is this another new fancy term to which we now need to become accustomed? Yes – if you are looking for selecting top performers for your organisation!

Are you looking for people who:

• Take responsibility,
• Have learning agility,
• Are explorative and innovative,
• Are “big picture” minded, and
• Enjoy taking on new challenges?

Then you are looking for Self-powered Careerists. People who understand the changes that are affecting every facet of the organisations, and understand what they need to do maximise the opportunities of the changes – and do it!

So, what then is a “self-powered careerist”? Research undertaken by Career Systems Inc has identified 5 critical attitudes typically found in Self-powered Careerists. These are:

1. They step up and take responsibility for what they want and what is needed and don’t blame the “system” for what goes wrong.
2. They are “talent rich” – they have a potpourri of skills and abilities and know instinctively of new talents necessary and go about developing them.
3. They are inquisitive, they ask questions, and they understand the learning needed to power both themselves and the organisation.
4. They don’t see just their aspect of the organisation. They see the “bigger picture” and understand it and know their contribution.
5. They put up their hand when challenging situations arise and are not afraid to take a calculated risk.

But there’s a quid pro quo. Self-powered Careerists need an environment that allows them to be “self-powered”. They need an environment that:

• Has a clearly defined career lattice throughout the organization with no limitations or restrictions,
• Facilitates career conversations and enables people to achieve their goals through achieving organizational goals,
• Allows people to work in areas that taps into their passion, strengths and personal goals,
• Enables people to build a “personal brand” and market that brand as an asset to the organization,
• Creates career opportunities that makes peoples work and lives in the organization a truly win-win situation, and
• Provides the necessary work environment and tools that enable people to perform at their best.

It is up to managers to create this environment and this in turn would ensure:

• Improved productivity,
• A more innovative organization,
• A more engaged workforce, and
• Better retention of critical skills.

That sounds like a “win-win” to us. How about you?

If you would like to create a career lattice for your organization or know more about creating an “engaged” workforce, call us.

Who would have guessed? Of the top six best paying jobs for the period 2008 to 2018 – two are in the IT field! Two out of six – that’s quite amazing.

The research was conducted by 24/7 Wall St on behalf of the USA Bureau of Labour Statistics. The Bureau’s 750 major job categories were analysed to identify the jobs that are going to add the largest number of new positions — at least a 20% increase — and from that list the jobs that had a median annual income of at least $60,000 were identified. These reflect the best-paying jobs that will also have the highest demand for new workers in the future.

And two out of the final six are from the IT industry. Which are they?

• Number 4 on the list – Computer Applications Software Engineers (known in South Africa as Developers and/or Programmers). The anticipated increase in demand for these skills is 34% (between 2008 and 2018) with a median income of $94,180. With the new technologies entering the job market (Cloud, Mobile, etc.), this is going to be one of the most sought-after skills in the IT market. Generally a Bachelor Degree with some considerable experience will be required to get to this level, however, those entering the industry should persevere – the rewards are going to be good!
• Number 6 on the list – Computer Systems Analysts (known in South Africa as System Engineer or Network Engineer). The expected increase in demand for these skills is a little over 20% with a median remuneration package of $77,740 (from 2008 to 2018). With the proliferation of networked applications (including Cloud and Mobile), the need for skills to design, build and implement complex and secure network solutions is key to success for organisational business processing. Although a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science is preferred, it is possible to grow in this IT field with a Matriculation (Grade 12) Certificate, a Diploma or Certificate in IT and specific system and networking certification.

The really interesting aspect of this is – these jobs are actually over 30 years old. Yes the technology is changing, but the jobs remain high demand and well paid. So, if you are considering your career, or you are a parent or teacher guiding a young adult in career selection, and you think that IT is a “dead-end”, think again! A job in IT is not only exciting, vibrant, and dynamic, but you can get paid a top salary for the pleasure – and it is a lot of fun – of getting up and going to work each day.

If you would like more information or you would like advice from one of our Career Coaches, contact us – gails@talentalign.com.