Steve's Blog (for Jobseekers & those hiring)

Hi folks,

Thanks for reading up on my posts here.  Things have been busy of late, what with a new job and much doings on the community involvement front.

I thought I would try getting back to putting up some advice I can pass on to candidates.  In this article, I want to focus on candidates knowing their “niche” and how to leverage that knowledge to augment their career search.

From my experience, the majority of us (living, breathing people) tend to organize and compartmentalize our experiences and stimuli into easily identifiable categories (hence the term “niches”).  The intent is usually to organize and prioritize what we pay attention to.  In this sense, I believe that we do the same with the people we meet.  With as much chaos as we have in our lives, it helps most of us to be able to determine who friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances ,etc. are so that we can plan for how to interact with each, and how to manage our expectations of how we are treated.  This may not be universally applicable to all people of every walk of life, but my personal belief is that it applies to the vast majority of us.

Let’s start with definition of “niche” so that readers can understand where I’m coming from (excerpt from Dictionary.com).

niche (noun, adjective, verb, niched, nich·ing.)

–noun

1. an ornamental recess in a wall or the like, usually semicircular in plan and arched, as for a statue or other decorative object.

2. a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing: to find one’s niche in the business world.

3. a distinct segment of a market.

4. Ecology . the position or function of an organism in a community of plants and animals.

–adjective

5. pertaining to or intended for a market niche; having specific appeal: niche advertising.

–verb (used with object)

6. to place (something) in a niche.

Origin:

1605–15; < F, MF, back formation from nicher to make a nest < VL *nīdiculāre, deriv. of L nīdus nest

—Related forms

un·niched, adjective

—Synonyms
2.  calling, vocation, slot, berth.

The definition that I find most striking of these refers to an ornamental recess or space where a decorative object like a statue can be placed.  In some ways this very closely correlates to the connotation of jobseekers finding their place or position within the grand scheme of the job seeking landscape.  In other words, how do I as a candidate position myself versus other candidates, versus the working environment, and even versus previous and future version of myself?

Going back to the recessed space for a statue, this strikes me mainly because in order for this space to exist, planning must be executed to determine how much space is allowed, is there enough support to bear the weight of the object placed there, is it level, is the object exposed to enough light, is it visible, will the object left there draw attention, etc.

Determining one’s niche may help a candidate to establish credibility in one’s field of expertise.  For example, when attending a social function (party, wedding mixer, etc.), people are often asked “what do you do?”.  When I ask this question of someone, I am looking to determine the following about others:

– Who they are in relation to others (sibling, parent, friend, etc.)

– What their occupation is or is desired to be (professional, jobseeker, hiring manager, etc.)

– (Sometimes) political affiliation (voter, non-voter, party affiliation, etc.)

– Personal likes or dislikes (sports fan, favorite movie, music, venue, pastime, etc.)

As a recruiter, responses to these queries helps me build rapport with others, which in turn, allows me to dissect details that may later prove useful.  Specifically, I want to know if this is a potential candidate whom I may want to recruit, is this a potential hiring manager that I could gather business from or refer a friend or colleague to.

On a separate note, while many of us accept the space we “fall into,” there are some that through careful planning, care and attention, can carve out a niche for themselves, even going so far as to adapt new niches for themselves to adapt to either current market conditions and demands, or their personal preferences.

My advice to jobseekers is to be aware of where your strengths, interests and career choices take you.  The same way a resume and career history should follow a logical progression that details how you have built your career, your niche helps to validate the decisions you have made, the career goals you have and the direction(s) you plan to go in.  It should not be seen as a means to confine yourself, as it should be a means to define how best to leverage past experience and all your hard work and effort to putting you where you need to be.

Your “niche” should be a way of checking in on your status and helping you to keep your career on track.  If it turns out you are not exactly where you want or need to be in your career, then it may be time to get to work at making some changes in your career planning (new skills training, job changes, etc.).  There is always a possibility to change course, but this needs to be down thoughtfully and with some care.  Too many shifts, too much change may seem to indicate instability, which may not lead a hiring manager to want to risk bringing you on if they are unsure that you will stick around.

I am very interested in hearing from others on how their experiences with finding their niche has helped (or hindered) them.  Please consider responding and I will do my best to ensure that it is uploaded in a timely fashion.