Your career curve - part 2

This post deals with strategies you should consider while your career curve is still going up. All of the advice that follows assumes that you are giving your job every thing you have got.

If you read my last post, you might be thinking, "Why is David cheerily laying about with such bleak news? Don't we have enough trouble coping with waffling managers and impossible deadlines? Why should we be looking forward to old age and reduced circumstances?"

Because you can do something to ensure a more satisfying future.

Gravity does not let up because you ignore it. Neither does the law of supply and demand.   You will stay employed as long as you have skills that are in demand AND IF you are still attuned to the rhythms of the group you work with. No matter how well off you are today, either one of these can go wrong in a relatively short time.

Your hard-earned skills can become expendable in several common scenarios: a takeover occurs, new operating procedures are introduced, the technology you know is replaced, etc., etc.

Your affinity with your group can go down the chute when any of the following occur: a new manager arrives and brings in her own people, you are transferred because of a reorganization, successful actions are discarded in order to reduce costs. You feel increasingly out of step and everyone realizes it.

Staying employed is becoming much more like whitewater rafting with Captain Ahab than working as a galley slave. You spend most of your time watching for submerged rocks and you are often forced to move at a pace you cannot control. When something goes wrong, you will catch hell for it even if your group leader chose the route. You rarely get worked to death because the company goes down and you all go with it. The pressure is so intense that you don't realize how miserable you are until after it is over.

The analogy breaks down because in whitewater rafting, you feel you have accomplished something as a team. In today's employment, you may be the only one who knows what you have accomplished.

When you are at the beginning of your career curve, you must be willing to look for another job as soon as you feel that your career progress is being blocked. Just as your company considers you expendable, you must treat your employer as expendable. If you are not being given assignments that challenge you and not being rewarded for your efforts - get out of there and get a job that does both.

Yes, you might make a few missteps, but you will learn quickly what kind of employers need and want your services and will pay well for them. You have a relatively short time to learn technical and management skills that will allow you to earn good money. You cannot waste your working life waiting for your boss to become an enlightened manager.

Yes, you will probably keep your job if you don't make waves, but you will slip further and further behind until you end up working for someone who has no business managing you. If this doesn't make sense to you, ask one of your coworkers to explain it.

Work is like that rock, paper, scissors game. There is no long-term winning play. You need to stay alert and look for the strategy that will allow you to produce results for your company and get well-rewarded for it. It will change over time, so you must be ready for the next shift if you are to continue successfully.

Good luck!

Comments

[Kim Berggren]

David,

You write about what I am living right now. My career has hit its apex--it is stalling and sputtering. A reorganization eliminated my dept and I am now working for someone who has no business managing me.

For three years I was totally absorbed in my job and asleep at the wheel when it came to managing my career. Now I wake up at 3 am wondering what to do next. At 50, my options are far fewer than when I was 30.

I am considering starting a blog about this and work/career observations about life inside a big corporation. Do you think there would be interest in such a blog?

[David St Lawrence]

There is interest in this area, which is why I write about it.

You will also find that the introspection required for blogging will also help you focus on what is essential and what is not.

You might also brouse through my posts on Working for others and Doing what you love. I have covered a number of solutions for someone in your position. They are studies from life, as I have been in your position several times.

The good news is that you can recover from this slough of despond. Just keep your head and start working on an exit strategy. My old posts should give you plenty to think about.

Good luck!

[Sam]

Your very acurate about career curves.

[Wayne Hurlbert]

David is right as usual. Follow your heart and success (in many more ways than one) and happiness will follow.

David, your blog is one of the truly inspirational sites on the internet. I never get tired of saying that because you constantly keep proving that assessment to be highly accurate.