Career Planning: Finding "IT in Today's World
Career Planning: Finding ‘It’ in today’s world
In 1972, I finished my master’s degree. I grew up in a ‘nuclear’ family, meaning my father worked outside the home and my mother worked inside the home raising 4 sons. My father worked in 1 industry after WWII for about 36 years and changed jobs 1 time. When I began my career my then wife did not work outside of the home. This is hardly today’s world, is it?
In today’s world:
+Average job tenure today is about 3 years and declining.
+The average person working today will hold 3 careers.
+Odds are over 6 in 10 that a person over 50 will change jobs, if not careers.
+Today’s graduates are being told to expect a minimum of 5 careers and 10 jobs!
+35% of the work in the US is now being performed by a contingent workforce.
+75% of all firms now outsource at least 1 function and over 90% of large firms outsource.
+About 6 in 10 of us will seriously consider starting our own business.
+75-80% of all new jobs are being created in small businesses (a generation ago we worked for big firms).
+About 1/3 of us will seriously consider resigning our jobs this year due to job stress.
+Odds are over 8 in 10 that you will lose a job at some point in your career for whatever reason.
Alarming? Scary? Perhaps, but these are today’s realities. A generation ago we worked for large companies in traditional jobs. We sought job security and did not move around. Career planning was mostly something our employer did for us. What about career planning in today’s world by today’s realities?
There are 3 elements that have to converge for successful career planning--- The job market, your talents and you. Typically, a person looks at the elements in that order.
Let’s face it, most of us do not like change and so something forces us to look at a job or career change (e.g. downsizing, a new boss, a reorganization or personal reasons). So, usually we begin to review want ads or check out Monster.com and try to find what is hot and where the jobs are. We then look at our talents, the ones we have and the ones we might acquire, to see if they can fit in there. Then, we determine if it suits us.
For successful career planning in today’s world, let me strongly suggest that you fundamentally reverse the order of the elements. In other words, start with you, then consider your marketable talents and then worry about the job market. Common sense says you are more likely to be satisfied in your occupation. You will also come to the job market more focused (lack of focus is the # 1 job search mistake) and you will be more efficient in your search. The bottom line is you will likely land a job 2-3 times more quickly this way! How do you do this?
Beginning with you entails assessing what I call your VIPS--- your values, your interests, your preferences and your situation. A great way to begin is to take a personality profile and a vocational preference inventory. There are strong correlations between personality types and occupations and a vocational preference inventory will give you some specific occupations to research. The Career Office at LCCC will administer both for a modest fee and provide you with helpful feedback. If this is not practical, there is a free vocational preference inventory elsewhere on this site and a personality profile available for a nominal fee.
Looking at your also requires looking at a number of other factors. Do you prefer to work with people or work on tasks? Do you prefer any particular industries? Do you prefer products or services? Do you want to work for a small or large firm? Will you travel? How much? What hours will you work? Will you relocate? How far will you commute? What salary are you seeking? What is most important to you? Will you commute longer for more money; will you sacrifice some job security for more autonomy in the job; is work/life balance more important to you that a challenging position? These and other questions are easy to ask but often difficult to answer. It is crucial that you set your priorities early in career planning. Also, remember that circumstances can change and so can career goals.
Do not overlook the importance of really thinking about your core values, because they may well help determine the type of work you do and where and for whom you do it. For example, continuous learning and intellectual honesty are very important to me. I could never work in a place that practices, “We have always done it that way.” Not surprisingly, I truly enjoy teaching college part time and training people.
Identifying your talents is usually not that difficult. There is a Transferable Talents exercise elsewhere on this site and we encourage you to complete it. To put it simply, think about the things you are good at, as objectively as you can. Think about what others, such as loved ones, teachers, bosses and colleagues, have told you that you are good at and, better, yet talk to them now. Many people knew I should be teaching and coaching before I did. Also, think about your major accomplishments in life and determine which talents you used most to achieve them. Finally, and most importantly, understand the difference between a skill or competency and a talent or strength. A skill is something you do well and you may have many. A talent or strength is something you do well and that satisfies you. Maybe you even enjoy it. If you want the greatest chance at long term career satisfaction and success, focus on your true strengths. Most of us have 3-4 major strengths. Identify yours.
Once you have identified your VIPS and your talents, where they overlap with the job market becomes your objective. A good way to think through your options is to do The Octopus Exercise.
Take a piece of paper and draw an octopus. The center is the nucleus. Write your 3-4 strengths in the center of the octopus for they are your nucleus. The legs of the octopus represent specific occupations that would seem to heavily utilize these strengths.
Before you begin to write down occupations, bear in mind 2 things. First, it is understood that you may not know enough about an occupation to be sure if it really plays to your strengths. Write it down anyway. You risk nothing in writing it down. You can and should research it before taking a leap and we will later give you a tip or 2 on how to do so. One of the greatest mistakes in career planning is foreclosing on options prematurely, without accurate or enough information.
Second, you have 4 basic, strategic options. You always have and always will. They are:
1. Same Job, Same Industry--- For example, you are an accountant for a public accounting firm and you join another accounting firm.
2. Same Job, Different Industry--- Many functions are generic. For example, you are a buyer for a retail store and become a buyer for a manufacturing company.
3. Different Job, Same Industry---Many industries, such as health care, find it easier to redeploy people rather than hire from the outside. For example, a staff nurse might become a health educator.
4. Different Job, Different Industry---Sometimes a fundamental change is in order. Perhaps your circumstances have changed or you simply want or need some new challenges. For example, you retire from a corporate position and decide to work for a nonprofit agency or open a crafts store.
Now, write down occupations on the legs of the octopus. An octopus has 8 legs. Yours can have more but write down at least 8 and if some ideas are similar, write them all down. For example, you might write down teacher as an option, but you could also write down tutor, trainer, coach, instructional designer and more.
However, make sure that you have at least 1 occupation in each of the 4 strategic categories. We humans tend to be creatures of habit and seek out our comfort zone (“I have been doing carpentry for 20 years. That is what I know and that is what I will do.”). Force yourself to think outside the box.
While thinking of occupations to write down, this is also a good time to recall what you dreamed about being as a kid. Why didn’t you pursue it? Is now the time to rethink it?
The last part of this exercise is to imagine that you have won the lottery big time and money is now not an issue. It is a year or so later, you have taken all of those trips that you have always dreamed about and you have wrapped up your financial planning with trust funds, etc. for all your loved ones. What would you do with your time?
I have found that often when people answer that question, they often find at least the beginning of an idea. For example, a client told me that he’d golf all the time. Now, he is not good enough to be a golf pro, but he is very happy working in a golf pro shop. Another client was not able to simply tour wine vineyards and write about and collect fine wines, but he is quite content working in a wine & spirits shop, giving advice to novice consumers like me.
After jotting down 8-10 occupations, let it sit for at least a day or so and think about it. You might also share it with your spouse or a sibling or anyone who really knows you and get their insights. Then pick 1 as your tentative Plan A and 1 as your tentative Plan B.
They are tentative because you need to research them to verify whether either is right for you and achievable. The best way to research an occupation is to talk to people who do it or at least know the field. If you think you want to be a web designer, go talk to 5-6 web designers. Don’t make assumptions. Ask about what they do, what it takes to be successful, what the demand is, what wages are like and how you get into it and more. Usually a person knows after talking with 5 or 6 people whether the job or field is for them. If it is not, move on to Plan B, but better you know before leaping.
Utilize your contacts to identify people for you to discuss this field or job. Most of us know more people than we think. If you were to go through your vendors (your banker, insurance agent, barber, dentist, etc.), it will not likely take you long to identify 5-6 web designers to see, for example.
As you can see, there is a methodology to modern day career planning, a method to the madness. It is not always easy, however. Finding ‘it’, what you are really meant to do can be hard work and usually requires a great deal of thought.
In the end, however, it is worth it. As a wise man told me, “If you find something to do that you really like, you never have to go to work.”
Dick Cipoletti
RCC Associates
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