Recently a candidate asked me to describe how I planned my career to do what I do today. He was probably very surprised that I was amused at the question and merely replied, “I never planned to do what I do today. I just took advantage of opportunities as they arose.”
If you are thinking of your career as something to be planned out and then executed, or if you are feeling adrift because you can’t find a job doing what you planned to do, it’s time to rethink your notion of a career.
Not that long ago, career counselors advised students/clients to understand themselves (skills, abilities, interests) through assessments like Career Maturity Index, Career Beliefs Inventory, Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making System, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, etc. After developing a self-profile or concept, you would try to find an occupation that would be a good match, often using the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Once you had chosen an occupation, you would follow the proscribed education, training and certifications needed for that occupation. Your career path was pretty well defined.
This approach to managing your work life worked well in earlier times, but various trends have created the need for a new approach.
Employment for life is history
It used to be that if you worked any length of time for a company, you would be assured of a pension. There was an assumed contract: “You be loyal to me and I’ll be loyal to you.” But, as we all know, layoffs, down-sizing, right-sizing, outsourcing have all caused many loyal employees to question their loyalty, or be forced unprepared into a job search.
A study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that individuals born between 1957 and 1964 have held on average, so far, six jobs post-college by 2006. This is very different from the days of our fathers and grandfathers when it was common to work for one or two companies in a career.
Everything is faster these days
Technology has provided many conveniences, but at the same time it has increased demands on our time.
- We are reachable anytime, anywhere via cell phones and PDAs
- Globalization has extended work hours for many as they try to participate on global teams meeting at all hours of the day and night
- The number of patents filed keeps climbing every year both in the U.S. and globally. In fact, the percentage of total U.S. patent filings made by non-residents is around 50% and has also been growing every year
For a startling look a how our world is changing, please check out this video. Although last updated in 2008, the message is unchanged.
Today’s workers are dealing with an unprecedented level and speed of change that our education and life experiences did not prepare us for. Technical knowledge becomes outdated so quickly today that government has placed an emphasis on training unemployed workers for completely new jobs.
Lifelong Learning is the Solution
The only way to stay on top of your game and avoid irrelevancy is to commit to continual learning, allowing you to shift positions, companies and industries as opportunities arise.
Make your new career strategy:
Chance favors the prepared mind.
- Louis Pasteur
Education is not limited to a college classroom. In Part II, I’ll have some suggestions on how to keep learning, at very little cost.
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Tags: career advice, lifelong learning, recruiting survey, Training
