EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Market Yourself for Career Success
“Your burning ambitions, or even your hard work, won’t make you successful. What will make you successful are those people higher
up who have power over your career.” – Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer
I have always believed that one’s career success is the result of hard work and ambition. Success comes to
those who work hard, have a positive attitude and never stop learning. Just about every successful person I have met over the years has those traits. But is there another key factor I failed to consider when it comes to career success? Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer says so in an article titled “The One Thing You Need to Get Ahead” on
BNET.com (the CBS interactive business network). Pfeffer, author of “Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t,” tells columnist Christine Lee that people higher up in the workplace have power over your career. “Your job is to make them want to make you successful,” Pfeffer shares. “And part of that is hard work and good performance, but part of that are the relationships that you build with them. That’s why hard work isn’t enough.” OK, so maybe my beliefs weren’t necessarily wrong, just incomplete. I had never really considered the power that those above us have in shaping our careers. Someone can be the best and brightest helicopter mechanic on the floor, but if they aren’t recognized by their superiors, the rise up the career ladder will likely be slow and tedious. You can think of it as marketing. We are all influenced
by marketing messages. Helicopter Maintenance magazine’s advertising partners know that. They want you to be familiar with their products and services. They want to get their message in front of you on a regular basis. When it comes time for you to choose a new product or service for your
maintenance facility, you will already be familiar with what they have to offer. They will have a head start in front of their non-marketing competitors. It makes their sale a little easier. Whether you are a mechanic on the shop floor or a manager, why not market yourself? If you are the best engine rigger on the shop floor, you are a valuable employee. If you volunteer to put together a training session to help your peers become better engine riggers, you have marketed yourself as a valuable employee. If you are a Level II eddy-current inspector, you are a valuable employee. If you volunteer to take extra training to become a Level III technician, and save your company money because it doesn’t have to hire an outside Level III for its NDT re-certification efforts, you have marketed yourself as a valuable employee. If you are someone who is extremely knowledgeable on FAA and other government regulations that affect your maintenance facility, you are a valuable employee. If you share your time and talent to help others by volunteering on industry committees, for example, then you have marketed yourself as a valuable employee to your company and other companies in the industry. Do you think marketing isn’t necessary? Consider the following: Eight hundred, five eight eight, two three hundred (jingle). It’s so easy, even a caveman can do it. What’s in your wallet? I bet just about every one of you knows these messages are
from Empire Today, GEICO and Capitol One, respectively. And don’t forget, all the positive marketing efforts in the
world can’t easily overcome the damage done by negative actions. A wise man once said, “One ‘Aw S%*t’ takes away a whole lot of ‘atta-boys.’” Marketing yourself isn’t about brown-nosing your way to the
top. It’s about working hard, creating value and marketing that value to those who have a large influence on your career success. Thanks for reading! – Joe Escobar
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HelicopterMaintenanceMagazine.com October | November 2015
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