How being a Free Agent can boost your career
I’m sure you’ve heard the term before: free agent.
What probably comes first to mind are professional athletes or movie stars.
But really, those are just a couple of examples. The truth is that many people—probably even you—are a free agent, you just don’t realize it.
What’s a free agent?
The common thread that I see for all of the individuals I work with is that they want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their career. In order to do that, you have to become what I call an effective free agent.
A free agent, as I see it, is someone who is in control of their career destiny.
So, just what does that entail?
· Taking full responsibility for any career issues or challenges you may have
· Working proactively to address those issues
· Knowing exactly how you add value, and in what work conditions
· Negotiating from a position of relative strength, since you know your value
Another term I frequently use in my discussions about free agency is future proofing. That’s essentially what you are doing by becoming a free agent—future proofing your career. By focusing your efforts on constantly having options, you ensure your career is not side-lined by unforeseen changes in the job economy.
But I have a permanent job
Even if you have a full-time, permanent job, you can (and should!) act like a free agent. Why? Because the world of work is changing—fast.
When I was a boy, job security still meant something. Even when I was a young adult, many jobs were fairly secure. But over the past 20 years, a lot has changed. There are two main trends that are becoming more and more common.
· Companies are ditching the idea of full-time permanent employees and are instead hiring people on a contract basis. That is happening A LOT.
· Companies are constantly restructuring, resizing, reorganizing, and that means people lose jobs. That also happens A LOT.
What does that mean for you? It means that the job you have now, or the next one you get, has a reasonable chance of not being permanent. If you are currently unemployed, you know all about that. If you’re currently working temporary contract to temporary contract, you also know all about it.
What if you are in a permanent position? You may think you are set for the rest of your career. But these days, that’s becoming less and less the reality.
The career world is becoming more and more turbulent. And there are lots more changes to come. Post covid, those changes are expected to multiply—more work from home jobs, more temporary contracts, more hiring of freelancers, etc.
In order to successfully manage your career, you have to not only become comfortable with change, but proactively plan for it. When it comes right down to it, you don’t have anyone to count on but yourself. You can’t count on your employer to manage your career (or even count on them to ensure you continue to have a job with them). They are in charge of what works best for them, not you. So you have to be in charge of you.
The solution is to start behaving like a free agent. That means you look upon your current position as only being your current “contract”, and you actively search for the next opportunity to pursue. That opportunity may be needed either because your current job ends, or because you want to pursue other gigs. Those gigs could be in a different company, or they could be in your same company. But you have to always be actively planning to make sure you have options when the need arises.
Think about it: movie stars don’t sit around waiting for the next movie opportunity. They network, market themselves, and they hire agents who constantly try to find them their next gig. And they are selective about which roles they accept. They only want to work on what is meaningful to them and fits in their career plan.
Should I become a free agent?
I encourage everyone to think like a free agent. It’s increasingly becoming a necessary skill. But even if the job market wasn’t as unreliable as it is today, there would still be lots of reason to go the free agent route.
Here are a few of the advantages.
· You channel your career so that you work on teams/projects that truly interest and inspire you.
· You learn about your true value, and have some control in setting your salary/pricing.
· You can (sometimes) create your own work schedule/routine that meets your requirements.
· You have options.
Are there disadvantages? Of course.
· You’re always on the hunt for your next position/project. You have to continually spend time and effort keeping options for the future coming in.
· You aren’t part of a long-term team. You switch with each new project/job. That can be somewhat socially isolating, so you need to find ways to address this (such as joining a peer support group)
· Each new job/project has a new learning curve. You have to be comfortable with learning and re-learning on a repeated basis.
Are you ready to be a Free Agent?
I encourage everyone to start treating themselves like a free agent. However, in my experience, there are some signs that show a person is really ready, right now.
1. You are unemployed. You have a great skill set but have trouble finding a job.
2. You are underemployed. Your skill set is much greater than what is required in your current job.
3. You are able to manage your own time effectively and be productive.
4. You understand the greater value of your skills and how they would fit into an organization’s larger mission.
5. You are clear as to what you want to do, and what work engagements you want to pursue.
6. You have extensive work experience (10 years+), which has given you a strong sense of the kind of work and work situations that really engage you.
7. You strongly desire the ability to design your own flexibility/work environment.
8. You want to be in control of your career path.
If 5 or more of the above apply to you, you are probably read to take the first step to becoming a free agent NOW.
How do I become a free agent?
Here are my top tips for getting started on the road to becoming a free agent.
Declare your intention to yourself
Make up your mind that this is what you are going to do—I am going to be a free agent!
Learn how to future-proof your career
Download and read my free guide on future-proofing: The 7 steps to futureproofing yourself.
If you’re ready to get started as a free agent, consider investing in business coaching.
Join a support community
One of the best ways to learn how to be an effective free agent is to spend time with others who share and are living the same dream. They will help you learn, problem solve, and keep you accountable to yourself.
You want to join a group that:
· Consists of others who are at various points of the same journey;
· Meets regularly to discuss issues, problems, give advice etc.;
· Helps you sharpen your value proposition/positioning/branding;
· Provides hands-on experience and demonstrations;
· Acts as a sounding board for problems you may be experiencing.
(If you are interested in joining my support community, the Free Agent Collective, we’d be happy to have you!) Find out more about the Free Agent Collective.
Before I go, I want to strongly encourage you to give some serious thought to the whole free agent idea. It can be a career game changer!
Cheers,
Tim
Helping you engineer the business of you