1. C o m p u t e r U s e r s e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 6 11 C o m p u t e r U s e r s e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 6
O
ver the course of the last year, I’ve
been offering career advice for those
who have considered career
transition. We’ve dealt with everything
from writing resumes to the value of
networking. Even if you’re not currently
looking for work, you never know when
the time will come for you start. The most
important characteristic affecting a current
or future job seeker, whether it is someone
looking for a promotion within the
company they currently work for, to
someone changing to a new job at a new
company, or someone changing to another
occupation or industry, is confidence.
Without confidence in one’s ability to
find new work, or to be successful in
their current work situations, it is
difficult to persevere, when looking for
work turns from days to weeks to
months. People pursue further
education because of their confidence
that their new training will help make
them more marketable. They pursue a
particular career field because they are
confident they have what it takes to do
well in that particular job. They pursue
a strategic job search campaign because
they believe by writing a great resume,
preparing for interviews, provides added
confidence that they can reach their goal
of finding the job of their choice.
Right Management Consultants, Inc.
conducts a survey done twice a year to
measure the career confidence of full-
time employees around the world. The
results of this study are called the Career
Confidence Index. The latest survey
findings were reported in May 2006. You
can see the full report at www.right.com.
The career confidence index is measured
by asking these questions:
• What is the possibility of you,
yourself, being laid off from your job
during the next year?
• How easy or difficult do you think it
would be for the average person who
was laid off from his or her job to find a
similar job at the same pay?
The Global Career Confidence Index
was at 57, with 100 being the highest
index score. This is 2.4 points higher
than it was in November 2005. Countries
included in this survey include: Australia,
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland,
UK, and the United States.
Overall, the career confidence of
employees all over the world has slightly
increased; although, for the past 3 years,
workers in Germany have consistently had
the lowest career confidence index at 46.1
this year. Norwegian employees have the
highest career confidence level at 75.2.
Workers in the United States measured
50 on the career confidence index. In
response to the first question asked in the
survey, 18.9 percent of US employees
believed it was “Very/Somewhat Possible”
for them to be laid off from their jobs
during the next year. This was down from
23.8 percent of surveyed, US participant’s
responses in November 2005. Almost 80
percent of Americans believe they will
not be laid off in the next year.
Interestingly, almost the same number,
79.5 percent of US workers felt it would
be difficult to find a similar job at the
same pay. So what is causing Americans
to feel more confident about keeping
their jobs and being able to find work in
their local job markets, but less
optimistic about finding similar work, if
laid off, at the same or similar pay?
With mortgages, college tuition, bills,
etc. to pay, people feel confident they can
find work, but finding work that
maintains or increases our current lifestyle
is a concern for all. To bring this closer to
home, are you feeling as confident about
keeping your job or finding a new job, if
necessary? Do you believe you could find
work at the same or similar salary? Tell me
why you do or do not believe your job is
more secure today or why you do or do
not believe you could match or get close
to your current salary.
Felicia H. Vaughn, M.Ed. (fhvaughn@
hotmail.com), is a certified career
management coach. She works as a
career consultant for REA Career
Services Inc. and is COO of
VaughnElite Corp.
Confidence keysyou’re good enough, you’re smart enough...
O N T A S K
C A R E E R A D V I S O R
by Felicia H. Vaughn