This week’s blog is about a subject that hits close to home for me – the new media job market in today’s economy. As more companies are looking for ways to cut costs and scale down on staffing, new media professionals are sometimes easy targets. We are considered part of a group of professional workers who have what could be called “soft skills”, or skills that are “nice to have” but are typically not required for business. Other jobs in this category are corporate trainers, usability people, artists, and other people who typically have the word “creative” somewhere in their job description.
Most of us lucky enough to be in these types of roles already know how difficult these jobs are to attain. The competition is incredibly tough. For every creative job there are usually hundreds of applicants. There are so many people wanting those jobs that they drive the market value of those jobs down, and it is always an employer’s market. Creative types usually don’t have headhunters or recruiters banging on their door or ringing their phone off the hook.
In our current climate of corporate panic and staff cutting, the first people to go are usually in our category. Because of this phenomenon, it does bear asking the question as to whether we are truly bringing solid value to organizations, or whether our jobs are just “fluff” that can be disposed of in hard times with little or no serious repercussions on business. Where is the value proposition in what we do? Are the things we occupy our time with and the projects that we are involved with so fundamentally unnecessary that we are always going to be easy targets? The answer depends on what type of business you are in – but on average, the answer is yes, and that will probably not change any time soon.
Without going too far down this rabbit hole in asking why, just think of it from a budget perspective. Which position is more critical in tough times – a key position in the company that generates revenue, or one that is difficult to even demonstrate an effective R.O.I. for the organization? Which is going to save the company – a star developer who writes and maintains code that is vital to the proper running of the organization, or someone who videotapes corporate presentations and company picnics and puts them on the corporate Intranet? (I know some people will have a difficult time swallowing what I just said, but there is much truth in it – I have been tasked to do those very things, and it makes me understand my place in the corporate food chain far better).
I am by no means trying to belittle what soft skill professionals can bring to the market – however, it’s important to be realistic in this current job climate. In order to stay relevant and keep your job at a company, you’re going to have to prove that what you are doing brings not only good value, but OUTSTANDING value to a company. In other words, you’d better be making the company money. If you are not, you are first on the chopping block – every time. You know the expression “if you’re not part of the solution than you’re part of the problem”? Yep – it applies here very accurately. You must bring outstanding value to your company with whatever it is you are doing. And, if you haven’t figured out a way to show your R.O.I. numbers, you’d best be figuring it out – quickly.
These words may sound harsh to all of the young college grads who spent umpteen thousand dollars to get an education in media, entertainment, liberal arts, or whatever. They are not prepared typically for what is to come – a very difficult set of market circumstances awaits them in trying to land a position. Add to that the attitude of some graduates that somehow because they went to college and got their degree that it somehow makes their soft skills more valuable and that there is a sense of entitlement. They are in for a crude shock.
If you find yourself in this situation as a creative professional, there is really only one answer. You must work to add skills to your arsenal that are not just considered “soft”. Learn a programming language. Learn to do spreadsheet analysis. Learn to manage projects and become a leader. Always look at yourself from your employer’s point of view. Could they get by without you? No person is irreplaceable, but you know exactly what I mean – there are people you can always identify in every organization that are most likely never to be let go or laid off in tough times. These are the people who are always adding value, whether in their sales efforts, their management abilities, or in their hard skills that cannot easily be replaced.
Creative types usually cringe at the thought of having to continually learn new skills and new processes to stay valued. Isn’t it enough just to have incredible talent and be a good sport? Um… look around. No. Not in an economy where the unemployment rate is topping 10%, which still may be a low figure. You must add value or be gone. Ironically, creative types are not the only ones who continually have to update their skill sets – Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, Programmers, Nurses and all kinds of others have to return to the books regularly to update and maintain their licenses and abilities. In fact, there is hardly a profession out there that doesn’t require some ongoing maintenance to survive.
The bottom line is that it’s just not enough to offer creative services and expect to keep a job in a very tough economic climate. You must have arrows in your quiver that employers really need, ones that make the company money. If you aren’t doing that, you’d better watch your back. It may not be fair, but the word “fair” isn’t in today’s business climate. However the words “efficiency” and “outsourcing” and “value chain” and “Return On Investment” are all thrown around daily. Don’t let yourself be lulled into a false sense of security, especially when you may not have the skills that are most needed.
Make yourself valuable – and not in a “soft” way – but in a REAL way. It may not always save you from the corporate chopping block, but it’s much harder to cut someone who is making money for the company than someone who is costing the company, and that is just simple economics.
