Outside the Box: Mid-career? Your job is at risk — here’s what to do now – Investing Chatter
Outside the Box: Mid-career? Your job is at risk — here’s what to do now
• Adopt an “untitled mindset.” You are not your title. You are not defined by your job. In fact, in today’s world, it’s useful to think of your job as a project. Hopefully, it will be a long-running project, but it is a project, nonetheless. And understand that projects begin and end. Rather than thinking in terms of a career growth path, try defining a series of projects within your organization. Form a team, accomplish a project, disband the team, and move on to the next project and the next team. In this world, job titles and even job descriptions are less relevant than your contribution and your ability to draw on the right resources.
• Develop a portfolio of projects. What is really important that you get from your work? Is it structure? Prestige? Access? Money? Impact? Companionship? Purpose? Something else? Get involved in outside projects that can provide some of these things. And, not incidentally, use those projects to develop new skills, to expand your external network and to test ideas. You will find yourself energized in new ways while you hedge the risk of being completely dependent on your employer.
• Save for the worst case. Be ready to provide your own financial security for longer than you might think should you find yourself unemployed. Start an emergency fund that can extend your severance. It will give you the flexibility to try new things, to wait for the right opportunities, and it can keep some of the stress of the situation at bay.
Read: How one millennial managed to save almost $1 million in 10 years without ever earning a salary of more than $75,000
• Embrace ambiguity. Disruption, volatility, restructuring, new business models, new partners, agility – all these bring with them real ambiguity. And with ambiguity comes the opportunity to stretch, to innovate and to develop your own skills.
• Always be learning. The world is moving fast. Keep up. The knowledge and skills that got you this far are just the ante. Read everything. Try emerging technologies and platforms. Admit what you do not know and acknowledge that what you do not know can be important. Rediscover your curiosity.
• Know your story. There was a time when your title and your company name were your story. Your job title was your calling card, your identity, a source of pride and a shorthand that everybody understood.
Read: You’re miserable at work. You have other options besides quitting
• Tell it. Over and over. Make the time to network. Do not wait until you must. Rather, one of your projects should be meeting with people purely for the purpose of hearing more perspectives and sharing yours. Too often, the day-to-day work overtakes the things we think of as “nice to do.” Networking is not a “nice to do.” It’s a must do. It will make you more valuable to your organization and it will make you better prepared for change in every form it may take.
Also read: You’re likely to be out of a job in your 50s — 4 ways to prepare and minimize the pain
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