I’ve spent the last five or six years in various senior marketing and management roles for start-ups (software) and an agency. With all the job losses in the past year, including mine, I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone is, in essence, self-employed. With little or no real job security, we have to treat the work part of our lives in a very different way.

Job security no longer exists

Why do I say there’s no job security? Well, if you’re about to graduate from college it is estimated that you will have had 15 jobs by age 35. By my count that’s a lot of job changes. Even us 40+ people are now experiencing career changes that were unthinkable to many only a few years ago. There are many who are shell-shocked by the loss of the ‘only’ job they’ve had for many years. In a meeting of the recently unemployed I attended as part of my benefits it was apparent that fear was the dominant emotion being expressed.

Skills replace job security

I’m fortunate in that I never believed in job security unless you were doing something indispensable and I can’t think of any examples of that. I have a lot of skills and I’ve kept up with the constantly evolving trends in my discipline (online marketing and communications). I also have a mindset that tends to move forward rather than hold onto cherished beliefs. In my change message here I’m going to assert that this is not only a desireable way to look at things, it is an inevitable one.

How do you accomplish this flexibility? First look at your skills, not the amorphous ones, the real ones. Building a successful web site is a skill, managing a meeting is not. In these times you need tactical skills as opposed to strategic skills. That’s because tactics deliver sooner and recession business management is first and foremost survival management. What can you make? What can you deliver? What specifically can you do to help people now? If you cannot answer that with measurable outcomes (numbers, not concepts), you need to develop some skills pronto.

Connecting is more important than networking

You also need connections. As the founder of two very successful networking groups, I’m not going to slam networking but…you’re wasting your time networking with other out of work people with one exception. The exception is if you are looking for ad hoc project partners. Successful networking means going where the people who can use your skills are. One of my groups has evolved into primarily unemployed folks seeking ‘connections’. It fits all the conventional requirements for networking. I no longer participate because these people are not able to help me move forward- it’s not personal.

Connecting is sharing value mutually

The other group is a group of area CEOs of small to mid-sized businesses. It is totally private and job seekers and vendors are not invited. This is important because this is a peer group. We started it because of a shared interest in the economic development of our region. I’m an organizer and a former senior management person so I sort of qualify, sort of. I wouldn’t miss these meetings for the world because the discussion level is very interesting.

Connections are not people you exchange business cards with. They are people with whom you’ve found an engrossing mutual interest, one that will continue beyond your initial meeting. They are people who will return your calls and whose calls you will gladly take. One of the prime skills of thriving during change is understanding what you have to offer, finding those who value it and making a connection that shares value equally.