Soul-Searching vs. Shrewd Market Analysis

I’ve been meaning to write a posting on this for a while now — and I think it’s time to do so, since I’ve had three clients call me today with questions/concerns that relate closely to this issue.

Basically, here’s what’s on the table.  Millions of Americans have been thrust out of work over this past year and have been profoundly frustrated to discover that the typical job search process isn’t working very well right now.  Despite years of documented career success, and little or no trouble in the past at finding employment, many of the folks I encounter (mostly white-collar, middle-aged professionals) are finding it extremely difficult to land a decent interview these days, much less snag themselves a viable job offer.  But to be fair, it’s not like there’s zero hiring going on right now.  As bleak as the picture may be, compared to historical hiring levels, there ARE still people getting jobs out there.  I’ve had several clients land opportunities just this past week alone, in fact, which has been wonderful to see.  On the whole, though, there’s no question about it: things are tighter than they’ve ever been and there are tons of worried souls out there trying to figure out how they’re going to weather this recession in one piece, both emotionally and financially.

So where are these current conditions leading some folks?  To the idea of career change.  I’m getting an increased number of calls from people who have convinced themselves that the best avenue to getting hired is to break completely from the past and re-invent themselves into a new occupational niche.  And many of these people are channeling week or months of time into taking assessment tests, hiring coaches, reading books, and “following their passions” in the hopes that this is going to lead them to the promised land of a new job.  While these introspective activities can be valuable, however, I honestly believe they represent only half of the equation.  To me, the solution for many individuals in transition is to not think so much about jobs, careers, or transferable skills, but to think in terms of MARKETS.

What’s a market, exactly?  A layman’s definition might be something along the lines of “Markets represent things (products or services) people are willing to pay money for in the hopes of achieving want/need satisfaction.”  Some markets have existed since the dawn of time and will always be around to a healthy degree, such as the market for food, clothing, or housing.   Or even sex, since I’d imagine the pornography industry is holding steady and raking in billions of dollars, as always.   Other markets are extremely fleeting — such as the market for pet rocks or the short-lived demand for the musical stylings of William Hung, if you recall that former contestant on American Idol whose version of the song “She Bang” could curdle milk.

At the end of the day, however, everything that is bought or sold, including employee talent, is subject to the laws of supply and demand.  It’s a job MARKET, after all.  And right now, with both companies and consumers hoarding their cash, employers are only willing to fork out funds (i.e. extend job offers) to those candidates who are able to satisfy their non-negotiable needs, versus their nice-to-have wants.  This is the critical factor that one should consider in evaluating a new career direction, in my opinion, especially if your focus needs to be on the short-term.  You can’t just rely on your internal compass to guide you.  You have to look externally, as well, and scout for pockets of market demand.  It’s not all about you.

For example, if you’re contemplating a new career direction or some fresh possibilities, make sure to ask questions like these:

•  What critical problems are companies experiencing right now or will they likely experience one, three, or five years from now?
•  What pain points are hiring managers feeling as a result of this economy?  What would “pain relief” to these people look like?
•  What new markets are being created as a result of the recession and the ways the business world has changed in recent years?
•  What’s the supply/demand curve for your current career path?  Are there occupational niches out there right now that offer a more promising ratio of openings to available candidates?
•  Are the jobs you want adequately available in your local market or are there “greener pastures” in other locations you should consider?
•  Are consumers or businesses facing any new problems or challenges that you could address in a self-employment capacity?
•  And most importantly, do you have ACTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers to each question above, or are you just guessing?

Sounds like a lot of hard work, I know, but this kind of focused research is the only way I know to make a smart choice (i.e. remove risk from the equation) whether you’re a potential career-changer or a budding entrepreneur.  You need to exhibit fierce curiosity about the problems companies are facing these days.  You need to talk to as many business owners and executive decision-makers as possible to ask them “what’s not working?” and find out what they’re willing to pay for right now.  These are your customers.  And as much as we might wish otherwise, uncovering something you really WANT to do doesn’t automatically solve your problem — unless you can find somebody willing to pay you for it.  Hopefully, though, your research leads you down a productive path and you discover an exciting market niche (there are thousands of them out there) that works well on BOTH sides of the equation, both internal and external.

One other thought, too.  If you’re creative enough to envision a market for something that doesn’t really seem to exist, right now, this might be a rich vein of inspiration to follow, as well.  Many of the greatest companies in history, in fact, were started during recessionary times by people who spotted a consumer itch that wasn’t effectively being scratched.  If you want to read an inspiring book on this subject, discussing companies that created entirely new markets that didn’t exist before, check out Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.   And if you want to know (drum roll please!) what sectors of the labor market are red-hot, and what jobs are in MOST demand right now, I posted a LinkedIn question up a few days ago to this effect.  I’ll confess, I wasn’t terribly satisfied with the answers that have been posted so far, but it’s an interesting thread of dialogue, if nothing else.  You’ll find it here.

Book Review: Shop Class as Soulcraft (Matthew Crawford)

“The question of what a good job looks like — of what sort of work is both secure and worthy of being honored — is more open now than it has been for a long time.  Wall Street in particular has lost its luster as a destination for smart and ambitious young people.  Out of the current confusion of ideals and confounding of career hopes, a calm recognition may yet emerge that productive labor is the foundation of all prosperity.  The meta-work of trafficking in the surplus skimmed from other peoples’ work suddenly appears as what it is, and it becomes possible once again to think the thought ‘let me make myself useful’.”

This quote, taken from page 9 of Shop Class as Soulcraft, sums up the book’s compelling premise.  In thought-provoking fashion, the author discusses the various forms of fulfillment he’s gained from being a practicing electrician and motorcycle mechanic, versus the less satisfying experiences he’s had as a “knowledge worker” in various office settings.  He’s eminently qualified to perform this analysis, as well, given his PhD in Philosophy and the fact he’s far from a misfit who couldn’t “make it” in corporate America — but actually spent several years leading a political think tank in Washington DC before deciding to shift back to a more vocational career setting.

Certainly, other authors have tackled this same ground and questioned whether something precious and irreplaceable has been lost in the world of white-collar employment today.  Many of these books never pursue the debate beyond a superficial level, however, and seem ragingly biased, idealistic, and anti-corporate.  Mr. Crawford’s work is the exception.  He doesn’t necessarily seem to have an axe to grind — and he raises numerous thoughtful points that I haven’t seen brought up before.  I’ll leave it to the potential reader to discover most of these, for themselves, but he raises issues such as whether most blue-collar work (so to speak) is inherently more cerebral than office work, due to the “real” problem-solving and troubleshooting required.  Or whether many college graduates are struggling to find meaning in their work since they’re exposed to few, if any, objective measurements of achievement — unlike a mechanic, who knows he’s “been useful” and “done good” the moment the dead machine he’s working on roars back to life!

Here’s another quote, from page 126: “The popularity of Dilbert, The Office, and any number of other pop-culture windows on cubicle life attests to the dark absurdism with which many Americans have come to view their white-collar work.”  I like that one, too.

Granted, while the book does drag a little bit during its more philosophical passages, it’s also studded with a number of juicy historical tidbits that remind us that the “workplace” as we know it is a relatively recent creation.  For example, one could easily forget that it was only 100 years ago or so that the idea of “management science” and the “division of labor” really took off.  In fact, in Henry Ford’s first automobile factories, we’re told that he had to hire 963 men to fill every 100 jobs, since the vast majority of workers hired quit almost immediately once they realized they would be assigned to perform only a single task every day, over and over again.  Apparently this notion was shocking to the sensibilities of the time, where workers were steeped in a tradition of craftsmanship and expected to have a direct hand in seeing products (or projects) through from start to finish.

In sum, whether you agree or disagree with Mr. Crawford’s conclusions, Shop Class as Soulcraft is an intellectually engaging piece of writing that will be enjoyed by anybody at a career crossroads — especially those folks who haven’t felt particularly satisfied at any point during their corporate career.  One shouldn’t mistake it for a “tactical” career blueprint of any kind, or something that will aid job hunters with their day-to-day activities, but if you’re interested in philosophy, history, and big ideas, this book will be right up your alley!

StrengthsFinder: Practical Applications

Can one ever become TOO self-aware?  I mean, to a fault?  It probably wouldn’t be hard to pull off, given the zillions of personality tests and assessment instruments that are available today, ranging from international powerhouses like MBTI (Myers-Briggs) and DiSC to a number of scrappy up-and-comers like the locally-based Core Value Index from Taylor Protocols and Thomas Indicator Profile from CereCore.  Heck, I even took a test years ago called Kingdomality that pegged people into the roles they’d likely play in a medieval village, based on their personality type.  For the record, and oddly enough, I was cast as the Black Knight…

While all of these different instruments have their pros and cons, as well as their ardent followers, I’ll admit that the one personal development tool I’ve found to be more valuable than any other is the StrengthsFinder assessment offered by the Gallup organization — a tool that was popularized, initially, through the best-selling book Now Discover Your Strengths by Donald Clifton and Marcus Buckingham.  This is the only assessment tool I use in my work with clients on a regular basis.  Not only do I love the simplicity and cost of the instrument (buy the book for $20, take the test it contains, and bingo, you’re done!), but I also find that the results it spits out are eerily on target for many people, including myself.  Additionally, unlike many assessments, the StrengthsFinder tool isn’t built around “quadrants” or another such rigid construct where certain personality traits are mutually exclusive by definition (e.g. you can either be introverted OR extroverted) and it also doesn’t make the assumption that only certain personality types can succeed in certain career roles.  I find people to be much more complex than this.  And I know tons of people who have performed like champs in various job roles that wouldn’t typically be associated with their particular personality type.

At any rate, that’s why I love the StrengthsFinder tool.  So if you haven’t taken it, I’d encourage you to do so, and if you happen to believe in your results and buy into the philosophy that Gallup espouses, there are nine different books you can track down that talk further about the tool and its various applications.  I want to take a moment and put my own unique spin on things, however.  I want to discuss how the results from this tool, and similar tools, can actually be harnessed to make a practical difference in the outcome of your job hunt — versus just being one more indulgent, feel-good personal development activity that you ponder for a while, but that you don’t actually end up applying in any productive way.

So here’s a quick list of ideas I’ve come up with in terms of how a person might apply their StrengthsFinder results in “tangible” fashion to the career planning and job-finding process:

1)  List your five StrengthFinder themes on your resume or LinkedIn profile.  Sure, it’s unorthodox, but this step will at least make you stand out from the crowd, and if the recruiter or hiring manager reading your resume is a fellow fan of the tool, you’ll likely get some extra brownie points!  Want to be REALLY wild and crazy?  Add them as a line in your e-mail signature block, as well…

2)  Tailor your job search game plan directly around your core strengths.  If your StrengthsFinder themes provide some keen insight into how you’re wired and the types of activities you’re naturally most successful at, why not apply this information to the method, routine, and strategy of your job search, itself?  While a “Woo” person might have the best success out building relationships at casual networking events, an “Input” or “Analytical” person like myself might avoid embarrassing themselves at such functions and instead focus on gaining publicity via a blog or on-line networking tools — or work on gaining a competitive edge through superior pre-interview research.

3)  Explore career options by searching for jobs that specifically call for your strengths and talents.  While this step can be a little tricky, at first, we ‘re fortunate to have sites at our fingertips today like Indeed.com that contain millions of bytes of real-time occupational data from around the entire country.  Have you tried isolating one of your key strengths, as well as some closely-related synonyms, and then running these keywords through the entire job database to see which career niches relate to them in some way?  Which jobs and careers have a non-obvious requirement for a person with strong Empathy, for example?  Or for an individual naturally oriented to the Connectedness of various things in the world?

4)  Brainstorm some fresh Talent/Skill/Knowledge pairings.  Let’s face facts.  If you’re looking to change careers or increase your marketability for mid-to-senior-level positions, your natural talents alone aren’t going to be enough.  As the NDYS book emphasizes, you have to pair up your natural gifts with some black-and-white skills and educational/knowledge elements before you truly have a “Strength” that companies will value highly (and pay you handsomely) for.  So as an exercise to help with this step, try browsing through the course catalog of your local community college, since these institutions are the best game in town in terms of acquiring new Skill/Knowledge elements.  Along the way, as you flip through the course offerings available, ask yourself “How would my natural Talent for X pair up effectively with the Skill in (or Knowledge of) X, Y, or Z that I could learn through this school?”  You might be surprised at the creative ideas that surface by brainstorming in this outside-the-box way.

5)  Use your StrengthsFinder themes to identify new target company/contact possibilities.  While there are thousands of well-intentioned job seekers out there doing their best to “network” in some capacity, many people still struggle to help the people around them come up with good referral possibilities.  One way to stimulate this thinking is to ask people if they know of companies where a certain Strength is lacking in the organizational culture — and causing problems, as a result — or whether they know of any particular leaders/managers who AREN’T good in a particular area and might value a complementary subordinate on the team.  These questions might sound like “Are you aware of any companies suffering from a lack of Strategic thinking and who might need somebody to help them figure out which products to support going forward — and which to shelve?”  Or “Do you know of any executives who are smart, but tend to avoid conflict, and might therefore value somebody with thick skin (the Command theme) willing to help them hold people accountable and communicate tough decisions?”

6)  Leverage your Strengths to overcome Knowledge/Skill deficiencies.  In cover letters, as well as the interviewing process, you sometimes have little choice but to trot out your natural gifts/talents as a way to offset the lack of “hard skills” and “specific industry experience” you might have for a given assignment.  In my opinion, this is the single greatest benefit the StrengthsFinder tool can potentially contribute to the job search process.  It’s also the hardest to execute.  Hiring managers hear candidates claim to be fast learners, people people, and results-oriented drivers all day long, so will be almost completely closed down to the idea that your natural talents are worthy of important consideration once they learn you don’t possess the full laundry list of skill and knowledge elements they’re seeking.  You’re going to have to sell them HARD on this idea, which takes a fair amount of preparation and practice.  You’re going to have to map out specific ways in which your innate gifts would contribute to success in the job at hand and then convince the employer you truly have these gifts, compared to all the other candidates they’ve met paying lip service to the exact same words.  When you see this done, it’s an amazing thing, but it’s a rare occurrence!  To help with this step, I’m going to be writing a follow-up post shortly that discusses some tips, tricks, and methods you can use to gain more credibility in this area, so stay tuned…

7)  Give your new boss a gift; tell them exactly how to get the best out of you! You’re know you’re going to work again, right?  I mean, despite the conditions out there, you realize it’s a near-impossibility that you’re destined for permanent unemployment?  Given this fact, let’s fast-forward to the first exciting week of your new job.  Assuming your new manager appears to have at least one iota of self-awareness, you might consider entrusting them with a printed copy of your top five StrengthsFinder themes, as well as the pages from the second half of the NDYS book that talk about “how to manage” somebody with your particular orientation.  Tell them that since you’re just getting to know one another, you wanted to give them a cheat sheet about your work style so that you can avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and so they know all the right levers to pull to get the best out of you.  Honestly, if my last boss had kept a copy of my “how to manage this person” results taped to their desk, they could have manipulated me like Pinocchio all day long — to the positive benefit of all concerned!

So for what it’s worth, these are just a few pragmatic ways in which I feel the StrengthsFinder results can be applied for fun and profit as part of your job search adventure.  What other ideas come to mind?  What other applications have you tried, yourselves?  How else can one transport the results from such assessments (StrengthsFinder or otherwise) out of the realm of “academic curiosity” and into the world of “Wow, those test results played a critical role in helping me select a perfect career path — or land my next job”?

Website Review: 2 New Career Change Tools

In catching up on my news reading this morning, I saw several announcements mentioning that job-board giant CareerBuilder.com has just launched two new tools designed to assist professionals who are interested in switching careers — so I decided to kick the tires of these sites to see if they were any good.

Before I share my findings, however, let me just say that the process of exploring new careers (especially for mid-career professionals) is a much more challenging, complex, and unpredictable exercise than most people initially realize.  For starters, while high school and college students often have the luxury/freedom of “starting from scratch” and pursuing whatever career path most interests them, many older adults are not quite so lucky, and have to take into consideration other factors such as maintaining a certain income level, finding time to go back to school, and/or uncovering a path around the “overqualified” stigma.  Additionally, every formal career test I’ve ever encountered has the built-in limitation of containing a few thousand occupational avenues in its database, at most, and therefore provides precious little insight into the 98,000 other job niches estimated to exist out in the marketplace — especially the newest, most exciting professions that are constantly emerging in the marketplace.

These bugaboos aside, though, there are definitely some useful websites out there that can help a great deal with the career brainstorming process, so I’m always on the lookout for tools that can help people explore their options from new and different angles.  So here’s what I thought of the two new offerings that CareerBuilder has just rolled out:

#1) CareerBuilder’s CareerPath Tool

This site is pretty straightforward.  You pick from a menu of choices related to your skills and knowledge, type in the level of formal education you’ve attained, and then hit the “search” button to see what comes up.  So when I typed in my own data as a test, emphasizing skills such as writing and knowledge of human resources, the top listing that came back was “Electrical & Electronic Equipment” assembler.  Say what?  Umm, that’s about 180 degrees off from what I’d expect or would ever be interested in.  And then, a bit farther down, the career of “coroner” made an appearance, which was pretty amusing — since another test I took a few years ago said I’d be a great funeral director.  At any rate, among my top 10 results, there were only three that seemed even reasonably on target, which were economist, editor, and education administrator.  So at first blush, I wasn’t too terribly impressed with the matching that took place between my competencies and the potential “ideal career” options that were returned, but the site is still in beta testing mode, so maybe the algorithm will improve over time.  Or maybe I should just bite the bullet, accept my fate, and cuddle up to some cadavers…

#2) CareerBuilder’s CBSalary.com Tool

The second tool that CareerBuilder has whipped up for career-changers tackles the subject from a completely different angle.  On the CBSalary site, you simply answer two questions: how much money do you want to make and where do you want to work?  The site then spits out a list of all the job titles that fit your target salary range in the particular geographic region you’ve identified — which you can then refine by picking certain occupational clusters like Advertising, Beauty Care, Engineering, etc.  In some ways, this is a pretty rough-and-tumble approach to the challenge of career exploration, but I’ll admit that I like this tool even better than the one above, since the results are much deeper (there are many more niche job titles included) and the income level of a career path often tends to be the most important factor mid-career professionals first need to consider.  I know dozens of folks who would be terrific teachers, in other words, but who aren’t in a position — egoically or economically — to start their careers over at $34,000 a year!

So if you, yourself, are thinking about jumping into a phone booth and changing up your occupational identity, I’d strongly encourage you to play around with these two new sites to see what you think.  If nothing else, they’re totally free, and I’m also delighted that they don’t make you jump through a bunch of hoops before you can start generating results.  At the end of the day, I still don’t believe these kinds of sites are “the answer” in terms of how most mid-career folks should go about discovering their new calling, but they’re worth exploring, at the very least!

LinkedIn: Career Change Secret Weapon

Everybody knows by now that LinkedIn.com is the single most important website to master if you’re looking for a new job, right?  Everybody’s gotten the memo?  Well, I’ve got news for you.  As good as LinkedIn is at helping people research companies, and make relevant job search contacts, it’s equally as good at helping people research new career options, if that’s their goal.  It’s just that most people don’t think to look at the tool through this slightly different lens…

So if you’re seeking to make a significant career switch, here’s a quick rundown of how LinkedIn can help you explore your options:

•  Use Keywords to Find People Doing What You Want to Do:  With over 40 million people now on the LinkedIn system, most of whom have fleshed out their career histories to a decent extent, the process of researching career choices can finally transcend the “theoretical” realm of high-level labor statistics and government reports.  Now, with the press of a button, you can find hundreds of real people, doing the real jobs out there that you want.  You can find “proof of concept” that the job of your dreams actually exists.  All you need to do is visit the People page of LinkedIn and try searching the “Keywords” box using several of the key skills, competencies, and passions that you most want to apply in your career, going forward.  See who comes up associated with these words and then simply make note of what they do for a living!

•  Reverse-Engineer Using Education:  Wondering what doors a certain degree or certification can open up for you?  As above, try doing a People search on the LinkedIn site, but this time leave the Keywords box alone and search instead using the name of your degree, major, or certification in the “School” search field.  This approach will scan the educational backgrounds of all the other members in the system, to see who shares your same degree, and then, as above, you can then simply note what occupations these people have now found themselves in.  Want to eliminate the obvious choices?  Try using a minus sign parameter in the Title box to screen out any job titles your research has already turned up.  For example, if you’ve got a degree in Psychology, but already know you don’t want to be a counselor or psychologist, search with “psychology” in the School field but then add “-psychologist -counselor” in the Title field.  You’ll turn up numerous alternative paths such as Curriculum Designer, User Experience Specialist, and Organizational Development Consultant.

•  Find Role Models: What Do They Read & Where Do They Congregate? Once you’ve identified some people in the LinkedIn system who do the kind of work you want to do, or seem wired to the types of topics that interest you, scroll down in their profiles to see what they read (if they’ve filled out their reading list) and even more importantly, which LinkedIn Groups they belong to.  LinkedIn Groups have EXPLODED over the past year and can be a phenomenal source of useful information for career-changers.  For example, if somebody was interested in breaking into the field of web analytics, and looked up a list of people with the phrase “web analytics” in their Title, they’d quickly uncover a number of relevant Groups to consider joining, including Web Analytics Demystified, Web Analytics Professionals, and the Online Marketing, Web Analytics, and E-commerce Group.  Getting involved in these Groups can be a tremendous way to build contacts within the appropriate professional communities and immerse yourself in the latest relevant trends, talk, and terminology.

•  Ask & Ye Shall Receive: Amazingly, many people still haven’t figured out that if they ask virtually any semi-serious career or business question on the “Answers” page of the LinkedIn site, they’ll likely receive dozens of thoughtful, useful responses from other members of the LinkedIn community.  This is a pretty incredible thing.  Try throwing out a question like “What career options, aside from being a novelist or journalist, would be best for somebody with strong writing skills?” or “What certifications are red-hot and would offer the most immediate marketability, these days, for somebody trying to break into the information technology field?”  The answers, suggestions, and positive boost of encouragement you’ll receive from your fellow members might amaze you!

One of my favorite all-time lines from the Simpsons TV show is when Homer once said: “Doughnuts.  Is there anything they can’t do?”  (guess you kind of had to be there…)  But that pretty much sums up my feelings about LinkedIn.  It can be used in so many incredibly creative ways, including as a pivotal brainstorming tool for those seeking a new career path.  It’s just that most people don’t quite think to use it from that angle, so hopefully the above tips will help get some of you pointed in the right direction in terms of these powerful capabilities!

Is Income the Outcome?

Pop quiz: what’s more important — finding a job that you love or finding a job that pays you what you want to earn?

These days, the politically correct answer would be to say “both” and suggest that nobody should ever settle for less money or less happiness than that ideally want to obtain.  As people are discovering, however, at least in the current market, many career decisions DO come down to some level of tradeoff in this regard.  This reality becomes even more pronounced as workers become older and more experienced, since in many cases, their income needs often rise substantially at the mid-career point to accommodate things like owning a home, college tuition, putting away money for retirement, and the like.  So one of the most essential planks of effective career planning is the need for people to think soberly about the subject of money and come to grips with the relative priority that income plays in their lives.  Is is better to continue your career as an attorney in order to bring home a six-figure salary, even if you’re utterly bored with the practice of law?  Is it time to disembark from the CFO track to pursue your screenwriting interests?  Is it advisable to check out of your high-paying job at Microsoft and open that bike shop you’ve been dreaming about, even if you might not make a single penny of take-home pay during the first year or two of operation?

These are the very real conundrums that many professionals are struggling through these days and I frequently encounter people who feel torn between the basic need for economic security and the higher-order desire to find work that makes them happy, fulfilled, and fully self-actualized as a human being.  In fact, in one of the most marvelous Freudian slips I’ve ever witnessed, one of my clients remarked “I really want to make a career change and do something I’m more passionate about, but honestly, I can’t afford to start over or take a major pay cut, so I feel like I’m stuck in a cash-22…”

So what role does money play in choosing a career, exactly?  How should one view the economic factor compared to other important elements such as personal growth, enjoyment, or making a difference in the world?

My own personal opinion, frankly, is that money is a much more important element of career satisfaction than people realize or are usually willing to admit, either to others or to themselves.  I don’t say this lightly, however, and I’m not suggesting that we all should willingly acquiesce to a lifetime as wage slaves, toiling along in drudgery.  It’s just that when you stop and think about it, income is the one indispensable characteristic that defines the notion of a “job” in the first place.  Everything else one might want out of an employment relationship can be derived from other sources, when it comes down to it.  If we want to make a difference in the world, there are ample volunteer opportunities in which we can participate.  If we want to stretch our boundaries to their full potential, we can train for a marathon, master a foreign language, or pursue virtuoso status on a musical instrument.  And if we want to have fun, well, we’ve all got our hobbies — or at a bare minimum, a near-infinite number of diversions and entertainment options to choose from.

But the single ingredient that makes a job a job (and not a hobby) is the fact that you get paid for doing it.  So to dismiss economic needs as unimportant or somehow more “unworthy” than other possible work outcomes or factors seems a bit disingenuous, to me.  In fact, I love how Jason Alba of JibberJobber framed the issue in a recent LinkedIn Answers question he posted here that generated over 50 responses.  He essentially suggests that our society has now outgrown the whole concept of “job security” and posits, instead, that what most people are really facing (and will continue to face) is an “income security” problem, instead.  How can we guarantee ourselves a steady income in a world where job tenures are fleeting, uncertain, and tenuous?  Is “going out and getting another job” still the answer, in all cases, or should individuals adopt a broader, more diversified strategy for producing income in their lives?  Perhaps the next generation won’t even be able to entertain the luxury of settling down into a single, steady career path.  Instead, they might need to put themselves in a position to receive multiple income streams (as Jason has) or manage their cash flow much more aggressively in order to make ends meet on an ongoing basis.

At any rate, for those of you out there in transition, I guess my takeaway from this somewhat rambling post would be to encourage you to think hard about the role that money really plays in your list of career priorities.  While you may be passionate about finding a job with flexible hours or that gets you excited to jump out of bed in the morning, I suspect you are at least equally passionate about feeding your family, putting  a roof over their head, and providing them with a comfortable lifestyle.  Am I wrong about this?  If so, perhaps you’re the exception to the rule, but for most people I work with, we quickly discover that economic analysis is a fundamental part of making smart, sustainable career decisions.

As Daniel Quinn put it in Ishmael, one of my favorite books of all time, “the world would be a much different place if some idiot, 10,000 years ago, didn’t decide to lock up all the food…”

Those Who Can, Teach!

Looking for a job with more meaning?  Want to have a hand in shaping the next generation?  If so, perhaps the timing is right to take your years of hands-on industry experience and translate them into the teaching profession!

During a recent coffee catch-up meeting with a good friend of mine, Horst Momber, the Director of Career and Technical Education for the Bellevue School District, I was informed that there are some great new programs in Washington State that can help people from private industry break into the teaching field with little or no previous teaching certification.  Specifically, the State is making a targeted push to attract qualified instructors in various vocational disciplines and subjects, now referred to under the name CTE (Career & Technical Education) programs.  For more information about this exciting category of high school instruction, you can refer to the State’s CTE web page here.

Should you read through this information, and decide to take a run at this option, the next step would be to review the employment websites of your local school districts and apply directly to any opportunities that seem like they’d be a fit with your skills.  The CTE positions in question are available on a statewide basis, but for your convenience, here are some links to the job pages of the largest Districts in the Seattle/Bellevue area: Bellevue, Seattle, Issaquah, Lake Washington (Redmond), Everett, and Northshore (Bothell).

When reviewing the position listings on these sites, make sure to watch for the CTE acronym, since this is the key identifier that signifies the specific opportunities for which someone coming directly out of private industry might apply.  As for what to expect in terms of compensation, the starting salary for Bellevue School District openings is $42,300, with other districts likely being somewhat similar, and at the moment there are openings out there in areas that range from Business, Marketing, and Accounting to positions in Computer Programming, Web Design, Engineering, Construction, and Multi-Media Development.

Upon getting accepted into the CTE program, non-certified teachers would first start out with a probationary certificate, issued by the hiring school district and certifying that they have the requisite expertise to instruct students in the subject matter at hand.  From there, if I understand the process correctly, program members can slowly earn their full teaching certificate over time by passing a series of ongoing tests and classroom evaluations.

Personally, I’m very excited by the fact that the school districts are making a concentrated effort to recruit new instructors directly from the business world to help round out the education (especially the vocational component) available to students today.  I think there’s much to be gained through this approach, especially in terms of helping students gain direct exposure to a variety of real-world job and career options that they can aspire to later in life.  And as far as the current availability of the CTE positions, I’m told that schools typically start posting their upcoming listings in April and continue running them through the beginning of the next school year.  Apparently, however, the timeline for this year may be slightly different because school districts are still getting their budgets in order — and don’t know what kind of staffing cuts, if any, might need to be made later in the year.  So you may not see a ton of CTE leads listed, quite yet, but keep checking on a regular basis and more are sure to appear!

Questions about the process?  Want to learn more?  Please feel free to contact Horst via e-mail here since he was kind enough to volunteer to assist people in exploring this potential direction, if interested…

The Top 25 Recession-Proof Jobs (According to JobFox.com)

In a time when many people are considering some form of career change, in order to pursue a line of work that they feel might offer increased stability or satisfaction, we thought it would be helpful to share this recent “Top 25 Recession Proof Jobs” list that was published by leading employment website Jobfox.com. This list can be reviewed by clicking here and appears to be a well-researched resource that not only shows the current rank of various occupations, in terms of stability during recessionary times, but also includes their previous month’s ranking (a useful statistic) and the median salary level for each career path.

Among this mix, you’ll find Sales and Business Development jobs leading the charge, along with a combination of careers in accounting, technology, healthcare, and education. All in all, the occupations featured seem consistent with our own observations about the relative demand for various types of workers these days — with the one exception being the claim that Seattle is still a hotbed of activity in the “retail banking” sector. Given the recent news that has impacted Washington Mutual, we suspect this particular data point would change a bit if the survey were conducted in recent weeks…

Ultimately, too, we’d emphasize that these kinds of lists are not only just interesting curiosities, but also underscore the fact that we all still have the power to make smart strategic choices about our employment futures — and to act on the kind of data that this Jobfox list represents. While granted, certain professions (like Electrical Engineer) require a larger degree of additional schooling than most people would consider at a mid-point in their working lives, many other paths are well within the reach of people who are willing to make a short-term sacrifice in order to set their careers on course for long-term improvement. Intelligent “careering” is going to rely more and more on people thinking ahead and using this kind of data to stay relevant and employable in a changing world, so this Jobfox list is a good start for engaging in some what-if brainstorming!

Tow Truck Drivers: Suprisingly Successful & Satisfied!

Earlier this month, I had the unfortunate luck of having my car break down after a networking event in downtown Seattle.  The only good news, however, was that my extended warranty covered my vehicle up through 75,000 miles — and my car just happened to be teetering under the brink at 74,826!

The engineers at Ford will just have to try harder next time, eh?

Aside from my relief over the warranty issue, however, there turned out to be another unexpected benefit from the experience, as well.  As the tow truck driver hauled me and my rig back to Issaquah, through the molasses-esque traffic of the I-90 corridor, we ended up striking up an interesting conversation.  At some point, my professional curiosity compelled me to ask him about his career and how much he liked bailing out stranded motorists on the highway every day.  Amazingly, at least from my ignorant standpoint, he said that he’d been in the business for over 20 years and that the vast majority of tow truck drivers would never, ever think of changing careers and making a living any other way.

Naturally, I was surprised by this revelation.  I figured that driving a tow truck was probably a pretty grueling profession, with many potential safety hazards, and that it wouldn’t be a walk in the park dealing with grumpy, inconvenienced people all day.  He shook this characterization off, however, and said that driving a tow truck was actually one of the most unsupervised, independent jobs in the world.  Compared to a litany of other jobs he had held over the years, he said that nothing compared to the freedom of being outside and working without a boss over his shoulder all day.  He even went so far as to characterize most days as downright fun, since he got to deal with interesting people and was usually perceived as a “savior” coming to the rescue, not as part of the problem.

This individual even disclosed that the job paid surprisingly well, although of course I was tactful and didn’t pry into his gross earnings for the year.  He did, however, admit to one aspect of the job that hadn’t panned out quite as expected.   He said that when he initially got into the profession, he expected it would good for his romantic life since he’d have the chance to rescue “damsels in distress” all day and might get an occasional date or two out of the deal.  In reality, though, he confessed that most attractive, single women usually already had ten guys running to their rescue by the time he arrived on the scene — boyfriends, want-to-be boyfriends, opportunistic male bystanders, etc.  So while that specific benefit didn’t happen to materialize, which I’m sure his wife appreciates, the other aspects of the job still continue to provide him with great fulfillment and satisfaction.

I share this story not because I expect most of you to quit your job, and cash in your 401(k) to purchase an $80,000 custom wrecker unit, but because it illustrates one of my favorite aspects of the career counseling field.  When you really get down to it, and talk to the people engaged in various professions, you discover that almost every career is wonderfully unique and has surprising satisfiers and benefits to offer.  So when considering different career avenues, do your best to keep an open mind and to avoid pre-judging an occupation simply by the superficial, stereotypical impressions you have of it.  I’m usually pretty good about not rushing to judgment, myself, but I’ll admit — in this case, I got “caught” and learned, once again, why it never pays to make assumptions about what certain jobs truly entail!

Philosophy Majors, Tired of Tending Bar?

There’s no question that some college degrees come with a built-in future, like pre-law or architecture, while many other undergraduate fields of study (especially liberal arts degrees) are fuzzier in scope and tougher to translate into distinct employment paths out in the business world.  Often, in fact, those who major in these areas aren’t even thinking about future career realities.  They are making their choice strictly based on a personal interest in the subject matter, which puts them at risk of experiencing a huge wake-up call when it comes time to go out to the job market and market their studies into a meaningful, salaried position.  Trust those of us with Communication degrees; we’ve been there ourselves!

Thankfully, however, Catawba College has put together a great web page that can help people determine exactly “what they can do” with a specific degree they’ve obtained.  Available here for review, you’ll find a wealth of information about all kinds of different majors, ranging from Accounting to Theater, and can read up about the typical job titles that these graduates often end up pursuing.  Each page also comes with great suggestions for how new graduates can increase their career visibility and effectively get their foot in the door with the right employers.

So whether you’re a current undergraduate student yourself, or have children of college age in need of guidance, we’d encourage you to review this site for inspiration.  Similar lists may be available through other universities, we’re aware, but in our opinion Purdue has done a bang-up job in helping people understand what their education has prepared them for out in the real world!