Career (verb)

It’s the time of year when we assess where we are career wise and to consider whether there is a need for course correction. Unfortunately it no longer holds true.

 

 

Firstly, career reviews need to be almost continuous in the digital economy. Unless you are actively involved in disrupting your market, you are likely to be in the cross wires of someone or something else (robot or software). It is not uncommon for people to wake up to discover that their market value has been replaced, or largely obviated, by an app.

 

You may feel safe because you are deeply ensconced in a publicly quoted company. However if your company is weak on innovation and big on cost management, your employer is in effect residing in what might be called a corporate hospice.

 

 

Secondly, course correction implies that you have some control over the path your career might take. Never has this been less true. Market volatility is such that any attempt to enforce your will on nature, say by tacking against the prevailing ‘market winds’ will simply result in frustration and burnout. Those that allow themselves to roll with the market weather will have the most fulfilling careers.

 

 

The challenge of rolling with the market is that you will find yourself having to acquire new skills with each change in direction. Millennials appear to be designed for this degree of skills agility.

 

 

The rest of us need to realise that career might be better thought of as a verb rather than a noun.