Here is a question:
What in your opinion will be some of the major shifts in careers/jobs as we move through this century?
There are major changes in the winds in this the Internet age. Here are some of the shifts:
1. Concept like career self-sufficiency or career self-reliance now have primary focus. These concepts will be of paramount importance and they suggest people should take responsibility of their own careers.
Gone are the days when you joined and then stayed in an organization for a long time. A life long career in an organization is a thing of the past. You have to consider yourself as self-employed all the time. This is clearly the mind-set that people need to adopt during these tough economic times.
You have to take charge, manage your own career choices and not rely on any single organization for your career aspirations. Self-marketing will be a key Skill to learn and develop in the coming years.
2. Behavioral competency as opposed to hard skill and knowledge will become more of a key career determinant. This will be the emphasis as opposed to positions held and companies you worked for. There will be a movement from hard skills to soft skills. People who demonstrate success in a behavioral competency framework will have continued job success and stability. This maybe a result of the softening of the workplace, where effort put in can have equal value as results achieved. Competency based career stability along with career self-reliance will lead to success in managing your own career.
3. Entrepreneurship will also be a sought after career. Working for one's self is far more desirable these days compared to twenty years ago. People who take risks assertively will do well in careers. Risk taking, a self-employed orientation are all highly desirable traits for career success these days.
Then there is the new concept of buying a job. People who remain chronically unemployed can always consider buying a small existing business or a franchise. And if you stay focused on these ventures, then surely there will be career independence and career security. The Internet has created many "At Home" business opportunities. Trust me; running your own business does have many advantages but also many disadvantages. But in the long run with a "stick to it attitude" there is much more success and stability. But you have to develop a daring and risk- taking attitude.
To tell you the truth I for one, if forty years ago had considered running a small business and had stayed focused on it, then at the end of my career I would have been much happier. I have friends who migrated to the US worked as a dishwasher in MacDonald land, saved as much as they could and then became a minor owner of a franchise. They learnt every bit of the business and through government sponsored loans bought franchises and now they manage and own seven or eight franchises. They are happy campers. On the other hand I see people who have worked for others and are under constant pressure to please someone else. They land up becoming physically sick through constant stress exposure.
4. I have observed in my consulting and in house work that because of the uncertainty of the economic times with the persistent threat of down-sizing, lay-offs, restructuring, de-layering, reorganizing, top management changes and what have you (a totally unstable work environment), there is a particular skill one has to develop in order to stay alive. This skill is called organizational politics. I think this competency or skill needs to be learnt as a prerequisite for successful organizational existence. The need to possess this skill has markedly increased in my view in the last fifteen or so years. And now in some organizations this competency is more required than job knowledge and job related skills. I have found this new attribute all over the world.
I advise most readers to read a book on this subject called "End of Work" written by Jeremy Rifkin.
