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WORKFORCE PIPELINE


and work on a relatively small number of assignments—ex- pecting to work there until retirement. Today, good engineers can have their pick of engagements. And in fact, a growing number of professional/technical work- ers are now free agents. Many choose to work on a contract basis because it affords them the opportunity to take jobs that best fi t their lives. A project-based focus helps them round out their skill sets, encounter new technologies and engineering challenges, upgrade their resumes, and ultimately make them- selves much more attractive and valuable to future employers. But navigating this new world successfully means building and then demonstrating these hard-to-hire essential skills.


What the Hiring Experts Say


At Kelly Services, we’ve studied this situation extensively as part of our Kelly Global Workforce Index. We discovered that six out of 10 hiring managers across technical profes- sions say they have diffi culties fi nding candidates with the right combination of hard and soft skills.


t Treat your career like a business by developing a per- sonal brand. What are your career goals and objec- tives? Develop a portfolio of work, keep your social media space clean, and network in the circles that can leverage your skill specialty while expanding your circle of infl uence. Engage with organizations with employer brands that best match yours. You cannot underestimate the signifi cance of your credibility and how that speaks for you.


t Take responsibility for yourself and your growth by being brutally honest with yourself. What gaps are there in your skill set and experience? Once identi- fi ed, use and extend your network to fi ll those gaps with industry certifi cations and/or direct experience. Gradually and systematically develop complementary and supplementary skills and experiences that align with your career objectives.


t Be collaborative with your colleagues. How well do you collaborate with others? Collaborating is about sharing work, sharing experiences, and learn- ing from each other—not about being the smart- est person in the room and inviting them to that room. Sometimes it’s about creating the room for everyone to be smart in together.2 individuals to be your next referral.


You want these


t Leverage social intelligence. What soft skills do you need to develop? What feedback from colleagues or mentors have you not put in place yet? Social intel- ligence is being able to analyze your own behavior and create defi nitive actions to improve it, from LinkedIn to each interaction.


These hiring managers cite social intelligence—the ability to get along well with others and get them to cooperate with you—as the heart of soft skill development. Of fi ve key soft skills, PT hiring managers most frequently cite the ability to lis- ten/comprehend (81%) as highly important, and 72% claim that teamwork/ability to collaborate is critical (signifi cantly higher for engineering talent, at 85%). For underqualifi ed candidates, 27% of PT hiring managers report a lack of teamwork/ability to collaborate—again, especially for engineering talent, at 40%. Clearly, underestimating your need for soft skills is a bad move if you want to get ahead. So here are fi ve good rules to follow that will help you augment and hone those skills as you go forward:


98 AdvancedManufacturing.org | July 2016


t Go beyond your comfort zone. This economy requires some risk-taking in order to have resilience—are you ready for that? Only reinforcing expertise in a spe- cifi c industry or technology at the expense of gaining knowledge, skills, and experiences outside your core area could put you at greater risk for becoming irrel- evant in the long term.


Ultimately, as an engineer and as a professional, you need


to be prepared to manage your own career—now and down the road. But trust me, that path can be easier to navigate when you avail yourself of available resources and services, such as working with professionals at workforce solutions agencies who can help you to network, fi nd engagements, and effectively market your services.


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