How to Thrive in a World Without 30 Year Careers
This ain’t your daddy’s or mommy’s business world anymore. I’m sure you’ve figured that out already. First of all, people use cell phones. This is a fact I’m constantly reminding my father of…
“Dad, turn on your cell phone when you’re not home.”
“Why? Then it will ring. I’m retired and I don’t want to be bothered by everyone.”
“Dad, the only people who have your number are me, Mom, and my sister…” He still doesn’t get it…
The career world he lived in has changed as well. Dad had a first career for 17 years at a large company that rhymes with AT&T (which makes his aversion to phones even more bizarre). After those wonderfully predictable pension-based years, it was a series of smaller “careers” – 6 years, 6 years, 3 years, 5 years, retirement. For him, it was no big deal. 5-6 years is plenty of time to get settled in a home and community. It’s not a huge issue to demonstrate progression in a “career” at a company in 5-6 years and to move after that. But the world continues to change. For those of us in the workplace, we’re part of a new dynamic.
Let’s spend a little time with Roger Daltrey “talkin’ bout my generation.”
I had a very close friend call me yesterday. He has known our family for more than 20 years. He’s been through some of the same career dynamics as Dad. Many years in one place followed by several shorter “careers.” He’s now out of work as the result of a reorg and corporate politics. It happens. He posed an interesting question to me as we talked: “What do I do now in the current environment?” Wow – that’s actually a pretty deep question and I’m not Confucius. Nonetheless, I offered the following:
First, accept the world has changed and the constant layoffs or self-induced job changes are now a way of life. It’s not you, it’s the world. You’re going to change jobs. Often. Get over it. It’s not necessarily a reflection on your skills – it’s a reflection of an increasingly dynamic workplace whose needs evolve and change rapidly.
Given that change, the skills of its people either have to change as quickly or people need to be replaced with those who have those newly-required skills. Accept that business is out for two things: profit maximization and risk mitigation (which in turn enhances profits). Sure there’s some altruistic behavior out there but even that can always be linked back to profits in some way, shape, or form. If your skills don’t fit, you’re not enhancing profits as much as the corporation would like and you will be replaced with someone who is better suited to fit that specific role.
So what’s a fella or gal to do?
1. Know where you want to go and chart a course there. You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a destination and directions, would you? Why would you do that with your career? Ask yourself honestly right now if you know what the endpoint is. Where’s your destination? If you can’t answer it clearly and succinctly, take a day off and figure it out. Once you know where you are headed, it’s a heck of a lot easier to get there.
2. Understand your environment. Watch the organization change. See where it’s heading. Assess the skills that will be required in that new world order and either go get trained and build those capabilities or polish your resume. Your call. If you want to stay, you have to find ways to stay relevant to the needs of the organization. The best way to do so is to always have the skills they’re looking for. If your destination from point 1 above involves staying and retiring from that organization because you love the work, love the community, etc., then brush up your skills. If not, brush off the resume.
3. If your destination is geography and company agnostic, evaluate what the next role you’re looking for requires in terms of skills and find ways to build them. Take on a new role at your current company. Get trained. Get a mentor. Identify the skills you’ll need to land that next role that takes you closer to your destination and acquire them NOW at your current organization. Some of you reading this are saying “Mike, you disloyal %#&^%$!#@#!!! How can you advocate learning new skills at your current company so you can take those skills somewhere else to further your career?” Okay. Here’s a dose of reality. Check it out… at the end of the day, the only ones looking out for you are you and your family. The paternalistic corporation is dead. Some would say that paternalistic company is still alive and well but it’s more like the Black Knight in Monty Python… “It’s only a flesh wound! I’m not dead yet!” “You soon will be…” Either take care of yourself or slowly fade into irrelevance. Is this Machiavellian? Maybe… (By the way, you’re not authorized to use that term unless you’ve read The Prince. Click to the right on my Amazon Favorites to buy a copy… It’s a great read). See the next point – companies that “get it” won’t mind you building your skills while you’re part of their organization. Why not? Because they’ll find ways to make use of them. It’s the companies that don’t get it who lose in this scenario.
4. Most companies are waiting for you to make the investment in yourself. Be an adult, take the initiative and grow. No one is going to make you do it. You have to do it yourself if you want to reach your destination on your terms. Companies understand turnover. They understand people building their skills to improve their career opportunities. The best companies find ways to create career-enhancing challenges to keep you around and moving toward your destination. Other companies see you walk out the door and wonder what happened. Their loss…
Net net, the world is changing – fast. Change with it and achieve your goals or stagnate and wonder what happened. My 0.02 – these days, the only way you’re going to get that retirement Rolex is if you buy it yourself…
– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
– If you want to define where you’re headed in life and clearly articulate what your passions are, grab a copy of my book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership
Hi Mike,
I’m a firm believer that when you’re passionate about something, you tend to self-upgrade automatically. You listen to the updates, you are on the lookout for the news, you take the courses, you go home thinking about it. You know the stuff and you’re riding the wave.
If you aren’t actually emotionally invested in a career, if you’re doing things for the career itself or the money alone, you tend to drag along.
I realise, obviously, that many of us aren’t fortunate enough to be in jobs, careers, or situations, we’re passionate about.
So that’s why, rather than strive to update yourself, the main objective should be, trying to find what moves you. What makes you tick. And the rest should, at least more easily, follow along.
Just my 0,02!
Nice blog and nice energy btw. Keep it up. Cheers.
Nice topic, although I believe there are places where a 30-year career is still a reasonable expectation if that is what you desire. It is important to constantly look at your skill set and see how it fits into an evolving role. Still passionate about my role after 30 years at the same company. I’ve posted to our internal social network.
Are the needs of companies in terms of skill mix changing THAT rapidly? Maybe in some areas, but I would like to hear concrete examples across industries before I render a verdict. I’ve been in academics and government, where the medium for skill applications (paper, chalkboard,overheads) have changed (computer file, webinar), but the essential skills are the same: critical thinking, listening to stakeholder/customer needs, clear concise communication, focus on core mission, developing and maintaining interpersonal relations. Sure we text and twitter more than we use the telephone to communicate and to maintain relationships, but if you don’t communicate clearly or listen, it doesn’t matter what media you use. If you cannot stay organized and focused on the mission, computers and wifi just make you fail faster.
While some people have skills that enable them to fix specific problems and then move on (rather than be retained underutilized “just in case”), most companies core needs do not change that quickly, and the skill sets to match remain rather stable. I think the quick job moves are more a result of a post-union workplace where companies are able to commodify more workers more easily. It only seems like businesses are evolving more rapidly because more workers are only paid when needed. It’s cheaper than retraining or retaining, and society has said it’s OK again to ignore social and moral goods in this area. Hence layoffs are again a fact of life (look back in labor history and you’ll see this isn’t new; in the 19th century it was commonplace for workers to get hired or laid off quickly depending upon business needs and to change jobs often; we only hear about the ones with the gold watches in movies and books though).
My brother has been with several private companies, but he’s had a relatively stable career because his skill set is always in demand, and he’s smart enough to ask his current employer for the training necessary to implement those skills in the current environment. Maybe it’s word play about what is meant by skills. But I would wonder about the BS factor if a company told me that the fundamenal skill sets needed changed so much that they no longer value the ones for which they hired me less than five years ago! Right now, in this country especially, we’ve told companies and politicians that it’s OK to focus more on the bottom line than social and family stability.
If someone stubbornly clings to C++ or a desktop when their skill set is actually programming or data management, then that’s not a rapidly evolving role in the company but someone mistaking what their skills are. A leatherworker can be making buggy whips or iPhone cases, but the skill is still working with cured animal skin. People working for the same company for 50 years probably had just as many jobs and changed skill sets as those who worked for 10 companies 5 years each.
I think you’re right that people should know what they enjoy and what their priorities are. They should pay attention to their immediate, and their current industry’s environment. They should invest in themselves. But are those not the same things a new job candidate should have been told in 1970? 1940? 1840? Plus ce change, plus ce la meme chose.
Excellent advice – from a person who has had to follow it!
The key lesson for me, after working at one employer for 28 years, is that one should never assume you have a job tomorrow. That may sound a bit crass, but in a world of “at will” employers, it is a fact. Keep your skill set current – for yourself. Set personal goals for yourself and move toward making them realized, whether at your current employer or elsewhere. Grow your network and keep it active. And above all, keep a positive attitude. Your next adventure may be the dream of your lifetime.
I think it is more important than ever to build up your sale-able qualities. When you acknowledge your career is likely going to require making many sales (probably of yourself to an employer, though possible to angel investors, employees for your startup, bankers…) that seems a key for your future.
Building skills is important. Building a network is important. Building a brand can be very helpful – a blog is a great way to do this.
I am much less a believer in a long term plan than most people. Fine if it works for you great. If not build up your capabilities to allow you to prosper in many situations (depending on the economy and how your interests change).
Excellent topic, Mike! The term “portfolio career” has been around awhile, and I think it perfectly describes what most of us need to be thinking. Here’s another take on the subject:
http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2011/08/19/how-to-create-a-career-without-a-full-time-job