Career advice for a changing world
Strategy+Business, 2020-06-30
MK: A very-very shallow article with more or less interesting start and a devastatingly poor second half.
Challenges
Finding, keeping and developing talent is always hard – crisis or not.
Better to understand who the employees are to help them adjust.
4 Vulnerable Groups
The Young: just leaving uni, likely with student debt and unclear future.
Mid-Career: (a good shot at middle class) Financial obligations without ability to adapt to new tech changes. [MK: actually, this is driven by their companies, not employees]
Close to retirement: may not have sufficient savings/pensions, have to keep working.
Workers on the Margins: hard to get by, job prospects are slim. Need government support in acquiring new skills.
Maybe, all these four groups can benefit from the government’s intervention.
The Career Ladder is Dead
Problem solving (vs career) is the skill to seek, as the skill is transferable regardless of tech.
A platform (in the local context) is a place where people learn new future-focused skills; interesting problems —> future employability.
The future is about moving between platforms (i.e. problem domains) utilizing the skills and methods of solving problems. Companies recognize people’s skills, not titles.
STEM is the measuring stick. [MK: No STEM – no future.]
New Fads
Local First – hiring people in the community being served.
Unscaling– dismantling old structures to optimize and reorganize.
Agile adjacency – apply skills from a different industry to a new job. Nothing new, though. The question is not how to apply skills, but how to successfully apply for a job.
Make it even if you fake it
Building a network [and relying on it later] requires consistent communications about yourself.
The usual B.S. of starting a company if you’re good at something, or upskilling to keep up with the job requirements. Really????
MK: Conclusion (sorry, no news here): start figuring out what you’re good at now, or start lowering your standards of living now, too. You can’t have both.