The current financial condition has made the job scenario extremely dynamic. Gone are the times when parents used to consider that they know exactly what their children should study to achieve the right career and be thrilled ever after. What is a hot, high-indemand sector becomes outdated all too soon now.
We have noticed cycles when civil engineering was considered bottom of the rung to when it was essential for all infrastructure tasks and now again when there is a slowdown and layoffs. Still investment banking, considered the gold standard of successful professions, is now in depression. And it is not merely the jobs, but also where you locate them that is varying along with seasons. Dubai, once a hot destination, is now a hard location to reside, luxurious and, therefore, an unattractive profession destination. Same for the United States. In such a situation of uncertainty, how do you secure yourself ? How do you ensure that you are not in the eye of the storm every occasion a downturn hits?
Differentiate yourself Cultivating a different personality is simply like buying a product or service the most outstanding individual catches attention. Expertise has the similar standards as well. In fact, this is the most significant thing we should perform well at the beginning of our career.
The initial stage is to identify what makes us exceptional -- communication skills or technical depth or interpersonal relationship or the ability to think out of the box. This thoughtful analysis has to be done truthfully , perhaps with help from friends and superiors to get clarity on the basic abilities that we can probably build up to create that difference.
For instance, if you are a remarkable coder, start emphasising it by participating in as many coding contests as possible. Start tracking your performance metrics in coding, which can verify that you are a impressive coder. Guess what? Still in the worst fiscal scenario, there is always a demand for the most productive, professional coder, so you will be protected.
Golden regulations Learning is exactly proportional to exposure: The first career is based on what and where we studied.
However, as we progress to the second and third job, this pales in front of our experience -- what have we learnt on our profession?
A important part of what we learn is dependent on what we were exposed to in our different stints. If our career took us to international markets, we learn more regarding working with separate cultures and competing globally . If our job gave us the chance to wear various hats, say , selling along with marketing, we have learnt more. What it does is that it enhances our upcoming opportunities far more than the raises we have received or the designations we hold.
So, especially in the first phase of your profession, focus on creating opportunities for learning. Offer less significance to stability and compensation, for they are the result of what you learn. Working for start-ups is a high way to leapfrog your education. It comes at the cost of stability and current profit but you will gain manifold in the future and that is something you require to quantify properly when you evaluate your options.
Do not neglect soft skills: In the early part of our career, we are often busy learning the main abilities and becoming better and better at it.
Often, in this fixation, we lose sight of structure our repertoire of soft skills. In fact, some of us believe that it will automatically `come' when we go up the ladder. However, the truth is that soft abilities start becoming more and more critical once we reach the mid-management level. By then, we are too mature to study these talents as our personalities are shaped and perceptions are set. Interpersonal abilities, oral and written communications, creative thoughts, are all as important as getting a postgraduate degree and should be accomplished right from the start.