Don't leave your career to chance

Business Times - 02 May 2009

Times of susceptibility are when we most need a reliable framework to guide our career, By KENNETH LEOW

'A RISING tide lifts all boats.' If the saying by the late John F Kennedy is anything to go by, then the opposite must be true when the tide dips: while booms create jobs, recessions lead to layoffs.
Retrenchment is an event that can jolt one out of one's comfort zone. But it is precisely during such a time of susceptibility that we most need a reliable framework to guide our career.

Time doesn't wait. And while we can't control time, we can manage it. And to most effectively do this, we need to understand its significance. As we journey through various stages of our lives, our motivations evolve, thereby influencing our career directions and in certain cases, even limiting our career options.

Our personal goals and circumstances also play a part. For example, a job that does not require frequent business trips may be of high priority with the arrival of a newborn in the family.

Of course, we also need to plan our career journey with an end goal in mind. For without a goal, we tend to drift aimlessly without knowing where we are heading or whether we have arrived. Our goals are short, medium and long-term. Analogous to an expedition to the peak of Everest, a mountaineer begins his climb in the valley, with frequent stopovers at base camps before eventually reaching the summit. So it is with us and our careers.

While the end goal is important, our identities are necessarily defined by our professional and personal roles. In the process of chasing our end goals, it is important that we do not neglect our personal priorities, which deserve equal, if not more attention, before they eventually catch up on us.

One critical aspect is our health, for without health, there is no point to anything. An asset that we often fail to appreciate until it has waned; poor health is capable of writing off all our career aspirations.

When it comes to work, our roles and accomplishments are synonymous with our inherent value. Our roles reflect our core responsibilities. But a noteworthy resume must also be a reflection of distinguished accomplishments, rather than just an account of responsibility-driven duties. While our duties form the fundamentals of what is required from us, it is our accomplishments that demonstrate our true abilities and potential that makes us stand out from the crowd.

Essentially, our abilities are the sum total of our skills - trainable and non-trainable - knowledge and talents. These are our intangible assets. While some of our abilities are observable and measurable, our immeasurable abilities can be best conveyed through real accounts of stories of what we have achieved and how.

When it comes to choosing a career, there are typically three core considerations: the size of the company, the given geographical territory of work and the potential financial gains. Depending on the development of our career and end goals, we might find the scale of certain companies more appealing than others. For example, fresh graduates might be drawn to MNCs to learn about world class processes and structures, but a mid-career person might prefer to work for a smaller company which offers more leeway for individual initiative.

Depending on the industry that we are in, we might choose to extend our duties to regional territories. And potential financial gains are of course, a key factor in our decision, though not necessarily the most decisive.

In addition, the industry that we work in is often as important as the role or the company that we choose. Apart from meeting the present needs of the industry, we also need to ensure that our skills remain relevant to the industry over the long haul.

Notwithstanding the importance to us of the timing, our end goals, personal priorities and health in our career decisions, these factors are not deemed the most critical to a potential employer. For the employer, what are important are our accomplishments achieved in our job roles, skills learnt in our jobs, the network and contacts that you bring along and your knowledge of the chosen market.

Since every job is predicated on mutual gain between an employer and an employee, an employee should ideally seek a balance when deliberating a job opportunity. As the word 'balance' suggests, an employee should strive for any two of the four elements mentioned earlier, namely accomplishments achieved, skills learnt, your network and contacts and market know-how. In return, the company would leverage on the other two elements. Hence a balance is achieved.

For example, an automotive salesperson has been offered a sales managerial role in a competitor car dealership. If the candidate was to take up the managerial position, the candidate would be assuming a new role and responsibility where he would potentially be learning new skills and knowledge on sales management.

In return, the company would be leveraging on the candidate's network and contacts within the same geographical sales territory for the automotive market. As such, a win-win situation to the candidate and the company is achieved as there is a fair exchange.

Do yourself a favour and do not leave your career to chance. Regardless of where you are in your career, choose to make conscious decisions that steer you towards your path of career actualisation.

Kenneth Leow is partner in Blue & Gray which provides consultancy services in sales and marketing.