Employment Opportunity: "Job Mercenary" Without Knowing It?
Your employment opportunity and your job candidacy will fail if
you're perceived as a "job mercenary." Often the "mercenary"
attitude is so subtle that we're not even aware we're giving off
bad vibes.
So, what exactly is a "job mercenary?' Here are five hints.
Could this be you?
1. Believing the employer's cause is good only as long as the
money is good.
2. Harboring a resentment that you're dependent upon an employer.
3. Lacking an inner job motivation.
4. Holding back or being ambivalent about loyalty to the
organization.
5. More concerned about "what I get out of it" that "what I
bring to the table?"
Obviously these are not traits you would deliberately
communicate in an interview or in a face-to-face meeting with
the person who could be your next boss. But if you haven't taken
the time to identify them in yourself, they will surely creep
into your attitude. And employers' antennae are fine-tuned to
pick up on these subtleties.
There are three important attitudinal adjustments you should
make and demonstrate as part of your employment opportunity.
They can counter any of these "mercenary" tendencies and dispel
any hidden concerns an employer could be harboring:
* Loyalty. This does not mean that you have to agree with
everything an employer or organizational policy represents.
Loyalty means you share a common ideal with the employer. You
communicate that regardless of minor differences, you're
prepared to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with confidence in the
company's good faith.
* Values. Understanding what your personal underlying business
values are. And then showing how they are in harmony with those
of the company.
* Compatibility. Individuals can create a team. But compatible
individuals produce the best team. If you're touchy and
thin-skinned in an interview, the employer instinctively knows
you will be abrupt and abrasive on the job. On the other hand, a
go-along person attracts people like themselves.
Remember, what you communicate to an employer below the radar is
often more telling that what you say out loud. Putting a check
on your mercenary tendencies will go a long way to ensure your
employment opportunity success.