On the Job Market, Knowledge Isn't Power, Skills Are, Along with Intel

"The grocery store needs a good strategy on how to efficiently collect all of the shopping carts! Seriously tho, it's really rough out there right now, and might even be a good time to get out of consulting altogether (go to industry while the market improves)." Fishbowl Consulting, November 23, 2023

 

SO, WHO’S HIRING

The snippet is in response to a question about what organizations might be hiring for strategy experts. 

 

That particular assessment of the job market assumes demand for the abstract kind of Knowledge Worker will improve. Right now, in the history of business that doesn't seem on the money. Bloomberg is among those wary about the future of management consulting, a particularly erudite package the all-too-well-educated have gotten away with putting on the market for decades. The humor about that, especially by John Oliver, is quite harsh.

 

SKILLS-BASED ECONOMY

 

Anyone who has been engaged in a search for work, any kind, has noticed this: The focus has shifted to what very specialized skills can accelerate business earnings and, if a public corporation, boost stock price. In professional services such as practicing law it's about concrete results such as wins, dismissals, settlements and zeroing in on getting clients the advantage in transactions. Such a track record determines what lawyers get chased after for hire at Kirkland & Ellis, Cravath, Paul, Weiss and more. If hands-on achievements aren't sustained, the lawyers' brand equity plummets. 

 

So, in coaching, I tutor job-searchers to frame the interview as: This is what I can do for you. And better, faster and more affordably than all those other applicants. Here's what I did for other employers. 

 

KNOWLEDGE ISN’T POWER (gossip is)

 

The concept of Knowledge Work goes back to the late 1950s and early 1960s. That's when management consultants such as Peter Drucker and Fritz Machlup looked at the intellectual content of structuring and operating a business. The M.B.A., no surprise, became The Ticket. 

 

That's no longer the situation except as a credential for career change. The new ticket is the skills-oriented certification as well as licensing. When applying for a job those skills will likely be tested in multiple ways as part of the screening process. No longer do employers accept the resume statement: Three years experience with brandname companies X and Y in search engine optimization. 

 

Along with that is the power of being an insider. Success is coming more and more from networking and you are sought out to join if you are looped into what’s really going on. By time information reaches the media its utility has already hit up against the point of diminishing returns. 

Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp’s signature is for broad-based contacts in multiple sectors. That, not millions of followers on TikTok, is what business influence is about. 

At Jones Day, Mickey Pohl is the jovial quipster everyone loves around and they are all-ears for what he has to say. 

John Tarantino from Adler Pollock has unique insight into values and has become a Ted Talk and LinkedIn star.

 

STAY IN THE GAME

 

What should be obvious in this turbulent economy is that if you lose your job - quite probable - grab any kind of work in that field. Even unpaid. Sacked lawyers jump on pro bono opportunities.

 

Otherwise, you got it, your skills atrophy and likely become out-of-date. The technology will keep changing. To even land a low-paying content-creation temporary assignment you will have to prove you are fast with several software programs. Of course, those include smart prompting on ChatGPT. 

 

NEW WORK-SEARCH RITUAL

 

Takeaway: Every morning wake up and ask: What can I do to earn income from working? That assumes the doing is marketable. Also figure out where you can pick up intel.

 

Data or the gut for your careers and communications? Both of course. Complimentary consultation with intuitive coach, content-creator, and Tarot reader Jane Genova (text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com).