MAPP Career Minute

Beware of Standing Still in your Career

Standing still is the old “going backwards.” You need to constantly upgrade your skills to keep your career on track.

Even those people who are lucky enough to have a steady, stable job in this economy have to stay on their toes. Resting on your “laurels” or standing still is about as dangerous as playing “Farmville” during your work hours.

Most people need to be constantly learning new skills in order to stay current in their career. It’s usually easy and often free to keep up in your field by reading the wealth of information that’s on the Web, attending seminars and Webinars and participating in industry and trade meetings.

Here are five obvious signs that it’s important to stay on the learning treadmill as long as you’re working:

1.     Today’s education will be obsolete tomorrow.  Just look at the TV ads for educational institutions that promise “degree programs to fit today’s marketplace.” The implication is that some programs – possibly the one you graduated from – are out of date.  For example, many top business schools are incorporating classes in social media in their coursework. Today’s courses look much different than the ones of only several years ago.

2.     Technology is evolving at warp speed.  As quickly as you learn new technology, it will change. Consider how often the technologies around music, gaming and all types of computing are evolving. Chances are good that you’ll have to learn several new technologies a year to do your job.

3.     Communications has changed. When was the last time you saw a pink message pad? Connectivity has not only changed how we communicate, it has changed how we conduct business, find customers, make purchasing decisions and even invite friends to a party.

4.     Entire career fields have vanished. No career is safe, really. Newspaper jobs, once a hot field, are disappearing. When venerable institutions such as big newspapers and newswires can be threatened, any career field is at risk.

5.     The players are constantly changing. Baby Boomers already know what it’s like to have to adapt to younger generations as they enter the workforce. Millennials beware! Newer generations, with fresh ideas, are right behind you.

 

 

Six Steps to Switching to a New Career

It’s rare now that people pick one career and stick with it for 30 or 40 years. 

Why? New technologies make some jobs obsolete – who takes shorthand any more? Industries shift – how many automotive workers have been displaced in the last 20 years?

And many people are physically not able to do the same job as they age. Think of your favorite baseball player: the average Major League Baseball career is just 5.6 years.

At the same time, new industries and careers are constantly emerging, driven by mega-trends, technology and advances in social media, health care, the environment and other areas. For example, green industries and clean technologies are expected to boom in the next decade.

So it comes as no surprise that most of us will have several different careers during our lifetimes. As a result, we have to be on a perpetual learning curve, acquiring new knowledge and skills all the time. Gone are the days when we went to school, learned what we needed to and stopped learning when we landed a job.

Switching careers requires an even greater commitment to learning and growing, and at a much-accelerated pace. It may be a steep learning curve but it’s worth it if you find a career you are passionate about (for help finding the career that’s right for you, take the free MAPP career test, available at www.assessment.com).

These six tips will help you quickly hop on the learning curve and a path to your new career:

• Dedicate a set amount of time every day or week to study your future job or industry.
• Access the wealth of online information about that job or industry. Become familiar with the “insider” vocabulary of the people in that area. Find out what issues are important to them and what challenges their industries are facing.
• News changes fast – subscribe to industry-related blogs and news sources to stay on top of industry trends, find out who the players are and discover where the job opportunities are expected to grow.
• Join job- or industry-related organizations and online groups. Follow or participate in the discussions, so your name gets known.
• Look at formal education options – seminars, conferences, degree programs. Descriptions of degree programs will tell you exactly what kind of training is expected for someone entering that industry.
• Once you’re up to speed, start networking with people who are working in that job or industry. You’ll be able to ask intelligent questions and speak knowledgeably with them. Stay in touch so they’ll think of you when a job opens up that fits your skills.