With 2021 well under way it is evident that things aren't going to be getting any easier. There is a growing sense of concern from certain people in my own network that prospects of a flying job are diminishing the further into this pandemic we get. I don't pretend to be a wizard at offering advice, yet my opinions in this area remain the same now as they did early in 2020. You have to market yourself and your skills a little better to have a chance of being noticed.
Last week an ex-colleague asked me to please hold on to his CV in the hope that I can pass it on to a few more people widening the scope of his job search. It just doesn't work like that anymore, personal marketing is on the web and preferably attached to a personal brand. The brand doesn't have to be anything ground-breaking but how can anybody employ you if they don't know who you are? Someone with the reach of 500 people on Linkedin in your preferred industry vs 3 people in the neighbourhood you live. The guy with the reach will get the job - simple as that.
I was incredibly fortunate to have my Bryan Air Podcast in full swing last year, it offered so much to me on a personal level and allowed me the opportunity to build a personal brand all-be-it on a very small scale in the aviation industry. The most important part of that journey was the learning process in content creation and being able to unapologetically promote myself on video and social media. I think it's only human to feel self-conscious about these things at the start but it certainly did get a lot easier particularly when I started to see the results and shed the inhibitions of that age old question - What will my friends and colleagues think?
Conscious of standing still and not pushing myself and the podcast. Simon Sinek's "Infinite Game" comes to mind, I plan on expanding the scope of the show this year into a few other areas of interest. I benefitted tremendously last year by upping my productivity - I started using various apps and platforms to do this and got a big kick out of seeing positive results. A lot of these may be obvious to some people but foreign to others. I benefited by listening to other podcasts like Modern Wisdom with Chris Williamson. Chris started a segment called Life Hacks offering advice on everything from using the correct training shoes to breathing techniques. Things that are obvious to me now weren't so obvious twelve months ago.
I plan on expanding the YouTube channel to offer a few tips and tricks of my own. Not all of the things we learnt on the podcast were success stories, some of the ideas were total disasters and not to be used again. I cant even bring myself to watch or listen to some of the earlier shows, the sound and video quality makes me cringe but I guess most podcasters have the some opinions about their earlier shows.
One area that I will be taking seriously is the ability to connect with people a bit better. I am leaving a link in the show notes each week that will allow anyone to schedule a zoom call with me. Podcasting advice, aviation questions, productivity hacks or just to make a connection. Collaboration and connections are going to be critical moving forward and I am jumping on this train.
Thanks for indulging me and look forward to a year of new connections.
