In today’s episode, Thom Singer and Craig Brown are joined by Vantage Associates CEO and CCO Kevin Wright to discuss ways to effectively manage career transitions during a pandemic and beyond.  In his career Kevin moved from engineering and sales to CEO and he knows the steps that it takes to advance a career in any situation.  He shares ideas for developing professional resilience and networking advice that can take you from the job you have to the job you want.  He also explains the importance of promoting your skills rather than your job titles, and recommends the tools and the mindset that will increase your productivity and your marketability, even during a pandemic.  

 

On today’s podcast, you will learn:

OEM limitations in a time of pandemic

• The pandemic has amplified the challenge of bandwidth limitations. 
• Limited availability among users creates a problem with getting work done during business hours.
• Physical security tokens can limit the ability to transfer work to another person. 
• Answers to these limitations can be found in the cloud. 

 

Developing professional resilience 

• Look to the more advanced professionals for tried-and-true advice. 
• Managing transitions requires building on the work that you were doing and applying it to the work you want to do. 
• Resiliency comes in knowing how to assign value to the problems you have solved. 
• Talk about your skills rather than the details of the positions you’ve held, and distill those skills and strengths into the value that you can add to any position.
• Secure a mentor who can help you identify your skills and strengths. 
• Translate your skills into what your new employer is looking for.

 

The next step on your journey toward CEO

• Seize the opportunities that appear on your career path.
• Network effectively by talking to as many people as you can in every setting. 
• Collaborate in groups wherever possible, even in a world of social distancing.
• Be willing to get out of your comfort zone. 

 

Career advice during COVID-19

• Secure the digital tools that can increase your productivity during the pandemic.
• Emails and texts are not enough — connect with coworkers on a more personal level with phone calls and small gatherings.
• Don’t let masks get in the way of having conversations and making connections. 
• Intentional collaborations can happen just as effectively in a digital space. 
• Continue preparing for the next change because it is always coming. 

 

Do you have an example of extraordinary efforts or innovation during these unprecedented times? We would love to hear your story and possibly interview you for an upcoming episode. Please reach out to us at www.DigitalEnterpriseSociety.org