How to Plan a Career 1: The World Has Changed

This begins a multi-part series on how to plan a career in today’s chaotic workplace

The world of work changed significantly during the last 40 years. You find yourself in the middle of an economic revolution as large as the industrial revolution. Remember how history in school taught us about the cataclysmic changes wrought as the world transitioned from the agricultural age to the industrial age? Well, we’re doing that again, and while the changes are different, the chaos and turmoil parallel each other well.

Changes in Today’s Workplace

The following list outlines just a few of the issues you will need to adapt to:

• Careers consist of a series of 3-5 year jobs rather than staying at 1 place for 30 years
• Project teams and lateral transfers dominate career paths
• Corporations offer fewer levels for upward promotions
• Careers (not jobs) will change 4-5 times in your work life
• Many of the occupations you may work in have not even been created yet
• Job titles mean less and job descriptions correspond less to the actual work done
• Companies invest less in their employees & pay less for their education and training
• Middle class jobs disappear faster, pensions disappear faster, & raises don’t appear
• Salaries don’t keep up with cost of living & most families need 3 incomes to get by

Good things happen too

Today’s workplace also provides positive opportunities for career paths:

• People still get hired for high paying jobs
• Frequent job changes allow for upward improvement and more money
• You can control your career, your happiness, and your success more than ever
• You have more opportunity to pursue your occupation passion than ever
• Management accepts and rewards good ideas that improve a return on investment
• Ingenuity, self-motivation, and communication skills increase chances for wealth

Changes in the workplace confuse many workers. The sum of changes, however, indicate the need for each of you to take control of your career and plan your own future.

Join me Wednesday when I share tools and procedures to identify the skills you love doing