How To Determine If You're Valuable To Employers

If you have a job currently, and plan to continue to work for at least the next few years, then you should be knowledgeable as to how valuable you are to employers. Today, every job is temporary. If you aren't making sure you're an in-demand candidate, then you're putting yourself at professional risk. Ask yourself this, "If I unexpectedly lost my job today, would I be able to easily get a new job?" If you can't answer with 100 percent confidence, it's time to figure it out.

Are recruiters reaching out to you?

The easiest way to tell if you're in-demand is to look at how many recruiters have proactively reached out to you about job opportunities in the last six months. Right now, we're in a tight labor market. Employers are stepping up their recruiting resources and proactively contacting candidates they'd like to hire. Who are these people? They're accomplished individuals who are too busy doing their jobs to contemplate a career move. So, employers make the effort to introduce themselves. If recruiters aren't contacting you, this could be a signal your skills aren't being seen as valuable enough.

4 reasons you're not getting considered by recruiters...

There can be some reasons why you aren't getting called. They include:

1) You haven't optimized your LinkedIn profile so you show up in recruiter's candidate searches.

2) You haven't differentiated yourself from a sea of other professionals with the same skill sets as you.

3) You aren't leveraging a networking strategy that ensures people know what value you provide to employers.

4) Or, you simply might not know what value you should be promoting. [i.e. This free quiz can help you see how you prefer to create value in the workplace.]

If you can identify with one or more of the above, you should think seriously about how to improve your situation. The law of supply and demand is in play. There's a shortage of talent today. The question is: Are you considered talent? And, more importantly, are you thinking, "What can I do to be seen as in-demand so I can stay employable?"

Author, J.T. O'Donnell is a HR and career expert with 18+ years experience. She is the founder and CEO of Work It Daily, a site dedicated to helping people solve their own career problems. Sign-up for one of her free webinars today (click here) to learn more about getting out of your career rut.