I know I’m preaching to the choir for the readers of this blog, but I felt like I had to comment on Thomas Friedman’s latest New York Times column, “The Start-Up of You”.

In the article, Friedman explains that companies nowadays are looking to hire “people who not only have the critical thinking skills to do the value-adding jobs that technology can’t, but also people who can invent, adapt and reinvent their jobs every day, in a market that changes faster than ever.”

I think (hope) most people recognize at this point that our economy is going through a structural (not cyclical) transition, which means that the labor market has fundamentally changed.

We can’t continue to gloss over high unemployment numbers with statements like “We need to bring manufacturing jobs back to America to solve our problems” or “Companies will start hiring again when they feel more secure about X or Y”.

The type of labor that American companies need has changed so much in the past 15 years that I wouldn’t even use the term “labor” any more. “Labor” implies employees that are easily replaceable and undifferentiated cogs in the machine.

In this new, new economy, companies want to hire people who bring more to their job than a diploma and the ability to show up on time and work for 8 hours a day. As Friedman says,

Whatever you may be thinking when you apply for a job today, you can be sure the employer is asking this: Can this person add value every hour, every day — more than a worker in India, a robot or a computer? Can he or she help my company adapt by not only doing the job today but also reinventing the job for tomorrow? 

The part about “Can this person add value every hour, every day — more than a worker in India, a robot or a computer?” really struck me. This is the key to understanding how to succeed in today’s marketplace – whether you are 21, 31, 41, or 51 years old.

The skills and experience you’ve learned or acquired are certainly necessary, but they are now considered the minimum. What you are able to do with those skills (whatever they may be – design, programming, technology, problem solving, analysis, marketing, project management, accounting, etc.) to help the company you work for innovate is what’s going to make the difference.

When’s the last time you:

• Learned a new skill (on your own initiative) that complements your existing ones? If it’s been longer than 6 months, go find one and get studying!
• Came up with a new project or idea that would add value to your company? Something that’s not part of your “job description” but one that you could lead or work on?
• Attended a conference or event in your industry? There are two reasons I attend conferences: networking with others and learning what those on the cutting edge are doing. Both are invaluable to your professional advancement.

As Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, is quoted as saying in Friedman’s article:

“You can’t just say, ‘I have a college degree, I have a right to a job, now someone else should figure out how to hire and train me.’ ” You have to know which industries are working and what is happening inside them and then “find a way to add value in a way no one else can. For entrepreneurs it’s differentiate or die — that now goes for all of us.””

To borrow the U.S. Army’s slogan, it’s up to you to be the best you can be. No one’s going to do it for you and no one will care as much as you should about your own success.

Each one of us 300 million Americans now owns a start-up – ourselves.