Sell Yourself as Two for One

A jobless programmer entered the office of a computer science professor in Southern Methodist University. He wanted to know how he could improve his career opportunities. After listening to the programmer explain his resume, the professor gave his advice.

"You need to study psychology," the professor said. The programmer was surprised. It was not the advice the programmer expected. She had years of experience as a programmer. She did not understand why the professor was suggesting a different career.

"You don’t understand," the programmer said. "I wanted to improve my abilities and career opportunities, not to replace it."

So the professor explained. "There are very few programmers who understand psychology. But knowledge of psychology is always an asset in the workplace. Your resume in programming is impressive. If you study psychology, you could sell yourself as two for the price of one."

Many jobs today are two positions for the price of one employee. The engineer who does drafting. The programmer who knows accounting. The systems analyst who knows marketing. The accountant who knows paralegal.

The administrative assistant who knows project management. The project manager who can program. The secretary who can create web pages. The waiter who was a cashier.

If you are already competent in what you do, work on learning something else. When the job market is tight, like it is now, most employers are looking for ways to save. Survival is the main concern. If you can do the job of two persons, you have an edge over other employees.

But do it without losing your core competence in your primary career. When the job market improves, survival is not the primary employer concern. Competitiveness becomes paramount. Employers then prefer to hire those who are very good in what they do. As more employees are hired, the rule become one for the price of one.

Published by PinoyTexas.com May 9, 2003
Copyright (c) 2003 PinoyTexas.com and Ray Colorado