Career4Ever

Nothing endures but change.

Linda was let go after 22 years at her office. She was distraught and saw the company as part and parcel of her life and now suddenly, faced the ignominy of being handed the pink slip. She symbolizes the sign of our times: jobs no longer have a guaranteed shell life. Welcome to the 21st century where opportunities abound for the enterprising and depression for the unprepared.

We now live in a world where knowledge quickly becomes outdated. Therefore, employability is defined on the basis of specific skills and those parameters too are constantly being revised. Lifelong learning is imperative and individuals are required to manage and organize their own development. There is no more that cushion of comfort in a thought that a company will take care of me.

In these times of rapid change the individual must take responsibility for their own career development. Many experts even go to the extent of suggesting that people act as if they are self-employed in order to be successful in this new environment.

At university, students are being prepared for a future that is largely unknown. Therefore to be effective it is vital that new graduates are encouraged to be responsible for their own learning to keep pace with change. In order to do this, self-awareness is vital so that individuals will be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses and thus effectively promote themselves.

There are no 'jobs for life', rather individuals are expected to have many jobs, perhaps in different industries. Climbing the corporate ladder was the goal of previous generations. However, today it may be more useful to think of traversing the career in a domain in which one has an intrinsic ability. There are fewer opportunities for vertical career advancement due to downsizing, and there is more lateral movement. In the past, careers had a clear linear progression that involved progress through a series of positions with the one organization. Careers are now more non-linear, where employees may work for a variety of different employers across a range of industries.

The concept of staff loyalty has been affected by downsizing and workforce restructuring, where many employees lack a sense of job security. This uncertainty has had an impact on people, undermining their social identity and a sense of anxiety about the future. Networking is important for career development and the employability skills necessary to be effective in this regard are best developed through practical application.

As the nature of employment change in this delicate balance of power between employees and employers, wouldn’t you like to have a book that arms you with more career development? Once you know what you are good at, you need to know where and whom to approach. In addition, you need to polish your skills so that when you meet people in an interview, you simply glow.