The system wants you to get a job. You need to work on cultivating skill

Not too many days go by before another announcement of mass job cuts hits the headlines. Big organisations laying off people in the thousands. What are the jobless going to do? Most likely find another organisation they can fit into by matching previous experience with what the new employer wants. But if many employers are trimming team sizes and if businesses are looking to run lean operations (i.e. more work piled onto a shrinking group of employees), then what is next for job seekers?

It can be a bit of a trap, starting from University, I found. Looking specifically through my experience in the world of banking. We are sold a dream of working for bank X. We're sold an idea of what a typical day could look like and it is usually a mix of work and social. This is (now) further glorified by Netflix and their plethora of work place dramas who sex up the world of deal making and trading. The big work machine needs you to fit into a particular slot and it doesn't matter if it's a paper pusher, someone who can advise on economic matters or a coder/ developer. And I get it - for the success of the organisation, they need people to do what they need people to do, but often, in good times, the big machine plugs too many of their needs with roles which outside of that organisation, or group of companies are a bit redundant. This is further compounded by being in a role for too long. Ego takes residence and it's a blow to do anything 'beneath' your status. What then?

It is good and well to 'lean' on an organisation to have an income while you strategise, but don't let comfort make that the norm. Your goal should be to cultivate a skill. Something that even if this job was taken away from you or you get fed up and decide to leave, will give you independence. Something you can go and charge someone as a self employed operator and cultivate your craft on your own terms. It's not necessarily sector specific. This could be carpentry, brick laying... web development.... Teaching pick up and game. Something that cuts across industries or groups of people. Something you might one day set up as a business.

Having a skill does not in itself stop you carrying out that craft for an organisation. You might be a bricklayer for a large builder. If you are let go of, there are many projects you could still get involved in elsewhere. It is also something you can write about, create an online community for and advertise your services.

So how do you select your chosen employer-independent skill?

You have to try things.

If you already don't like your job, then don't pick up a side skill in another thing you don't like. While you are still working, perfect your offering and it doesn't matter if you do your first jobs for free. Social proof is everything today so get those five star reviews. Offer incentive schemes to get past clients (fee paying or not) to refer clients to you. Should the day come to part ways with your employer, you have something to fall back on which might already have some traction.

You may love your nine to five and derive a sense of purpose from it, but the sooner you can start to develop another stream of income, the sooner to can feel a sense of freedom and non-dependence on it.