Welcome back to weekend coffee chats, the Young Professional series.
This week we’re keeping it short and sweet, and going a bit macro vs the usual specific posts and discussing why we are more than just our current roles.
It’s easy after a while of working to associate our progress and place within the society’s hierarchy based on our roles and the organization that we’re a part of. You see it in people asking “so what do you do?” right after they ask for your name, or how certain roles are valued higher in a society than others due to being seen as prestigious or respectful regardless of what the day to day tasks are.
Yet the danger lies when this image is built upon for years and then when change inevitably happens, people are left squandering thinking of what could be next when they are “person who’s always been doing x” ?
What could cause this you may ask? Well it happens when the market isn’t doing so well. When someone has to take on a job that’s not ideal but needed. Or when someone gets a pay reduction instead of a pay raise due to the company’s fiscal situation. Or even worse a company completely closing down and its specialized roles going down with it.
These are all unfortunate but normal challenges yet how they’re faced can make the difference between a career thriving or ending completely.
So what can we do as young professional looking at this somehow bleak outlook bound to happen one day?
Well, I think first and foremost we should think and talk about it and support each other. We cannot afford to wait, we have to be as we’re always told “proactive” and consider different career options or backup plans as early as today, especially when things are going well. We also need to remind ourselves we are more than our current roles, we could be somewhere great but ambitious for something better, or in a dead end role working hard to find a new one, both of which are admirable and there shouldn’t be the current stigma and shame discussing either of them
We need to be mindful before rushing to conclusions. Working in a small business doesn’t have to equal boredom or lack of ambition from someone, just as working in a corporate is not a breeze where you just make money as some people think. For example, L is an ambitious writer who’s currently building his understanding of the industry in a small family owned business, just because the current environment isn’t ambitious doesn’t have to mean the same applies to the individual. Let’s try to separate the individual from the environment.
Sit down and work on a pitch for our skills, irrelative of current role or organization. Something such as problem solver, creative writer, insights researcher and processes developer, status quo challenger, exc. This helps as when you’re mentioning to someone let’s say as an example that you’re an insights researcher and processes developer, they’d think of you if something comes up in their TV agency when they need such a skill. However if you’ve mentioned you’re a supply chain junior even though you have those skills, you won’t cross their mind cause they won’t know. So, homework for all of us is to think of this, write it down, and share it in next week’s post.
We need to understand and accept the challenges and strengths the workforce is facing and how that affects us. Studies show that the average individual will approximately have 12 different careers vs the heard of 1 or 2 years ago.(1) This is a US study on boomers mainly, but we can see such similar patterns in other countries and with friends and family. How does this affect us? If you’re someone looking for stability it will be a tough one and you have to brace for changes happening frequently, or sacrifice other perks for stability if the opportunity presents itself since you’d know it’s not the norm. If you enjoying new challenges and change, then you can capitalize on it and switch roles or organizations when good opportunities arise. What sounds as a no brainer can be a tough decision depending on where you live, who is your support environment or network, and whether opportunities around you are abundant or scarce.
Specialization probably served a purpose 10 and 20 years ago, however it serves as a disadvantage today especially in the business world where there’s dynamic change constantly. That’s why we need to focus on cross-disciplinary skills, constant learning, and keeping up with rapid changes in the industry.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments which “skills pitch” you’ve wrote vs current role. Ps. Tune in next week where we discuss whether businesses and young professionals have something to learn from F1.
Till Next time 🙂
References: 1.”Fuzzy definitions aside, the average number of jobs in a lifetime is 12, according to a 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey of baby boomers” from: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-often-do-people-change-jobs-2060467
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