Taking Control of Your Career Path
Jason Alba at JibberJobber has a great summary of a teleseminar entitled “Never Look for a Job Again”, which included offerings from various industry leaders and contributors. Jason provides a fairly comprehensive list of notes from the seminar, but I have picked out just a few:
- People at work pay attention to the strategy of their companies while they neglect their personal career strategy
- average tenure of a CxO is 4.5 yrs (Chief Marketing Officer is 22 months! — CFO’s is 18 months to 24 months!)
- When you figure out your brand, then it’s time to network more effectively (with your brand – this is part of keeping your brand out there, and keeping yourself visible)
As I mentioned, Jason’s list is much more detailed (it consists of his notes from the seminar), but in just these three points, I think you can find some valuable information about how you can lay the foundation for a dynamic career in which you have control of where and how you work.
Most people don’t plot career strategy unless it is by necessity. We find ourselves thrust into a job search for various reasons: we get so fed up with our jobs that we have to find a new one for the sake of sanity; orr position is eliminated; conflicts with a superior lead to dismissal, etc. Ultimately, most of our career decisions are reactionary and that is almost always going to place us at a disadvantage.
By proactively addressing the fact that you are likely to change positions and employers several times during your working life, you can start to develop and implement a strategy that will help create opportunities throughout your career. So, rather than being forced to search for jobs when they are needed, job opportunities will find you even in times when you are not actively searching. Creating this dynamic for your career gives you much greater control over where and how you will be working – and you will be happier as a result.
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I fully agree. Job seekers need to proactively work on and manage their career to ensure that they receive the fulfillment from it they feel they deserve.