When I completed High School, I went straight into the workforce because the thought of university just didn’t appeal to me.

I wanted money and independence right then and there.

After a brief casual job, I joined a 100-year-old company that ironically was called Modern Printing Company!!! It was a very old-fashioned company full of manual processes.

I worked in the office in the stationery department - we were responsible for manufacturing the Spirax branded notebooks, notepads etc. My initial 3 weeks was spent checking entries in the stock cards were correct which wasn’t quite riveting stuff but a task that needed to be done and I found $600,000 worth of errors….

Business conditions weren’t great and 7 months into my employment 15% of the workforce was let go. I was sure I would lose my job, but I didn’t because I was paid what amounted to peanuts for the work I was delivering.

Unexpectedly I got a pay rise & a promotion!!!

I felt relieved & guilty at the same time as I saw colleagues pack their personal belongings into boxes as they departed.

Productivity, return on investment, lowest cost etc. whatever you want to call it is what saved me from losing my job.

If we fast forward to the March to May this year, 800,000 to 900,000 Australian jobs were estimated to have been lost due to COVID-19.

What’s more, the ING Future Focus Report projects 3,300,000 Australians will be looking for a new career after the pandemic.

That’s an awful lot of competition for jobs. Unfortunately, everyone won’t get a job or the role they want.
Now is the time to stand out from the crowd as a valuable doer.

🙋 How will you differentiate yourself in a tough economic climate?