Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
Drones are just one technology that may create thousands, even millions of jobs, within the next 20 years. How can you prepare your children – or yourself – for jobs that you can’t even imagine today?
You can’t know the exact skills, training, or experience you’ll need, but you can develop a mindset that makes you more ready for what the future holds. Here’s how.
“I used to give out this advice: Go ahead and leave because you’re going to have more than 10 jobs in your life, and you might as well move up as fast as you can. I don’t give that advice any more. In fact, I now try to talk people out of taking new jobs.”
Two of the most dreaded questions in interviewing are dreaded for good reason. “What is your greatest strength?” and “What is your greatest weakness?” are mirror image questions that drive jobseekers crazy. (For the record, they drive most recruiters crazy, too; they would love to hear the real answers, but never get more than tired clichés in return.) We are perpetually perplexed by these mirror image questions because they are not mirror images at all – they’re the same question.
It might seem counterintuitive to take career advice from someone who has made his living poking fun of work. But Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoon series, is a deep thinker (as most funny people are.) His recent Wall Street Journal essay on goals is a great example of inspired career advice.
The point is that your style is hard wired. Just like your eye color or height, it’s part of who you are. No amount of training or “fixing” will change you; when the next new task or problem comes around, you’ll revert back to your innate style. Your conative style is not related to your IQ, your education, or your job. It’s just who you are.
An Infographic on choosing majors and careers
Women leave positions for the same reasons men do: for bigger challenges, more money and more recognition. But they stay in jobs sometimes for a very different reason, according to McKinsey.
The problem is that knowing we don’t use a good process doesn’t help us, any more than knowing that you’re short-sighted doesn’t help you see better.
I hear from other Boomers all the time about how their age is keeping them from competing in the job market today. They claim that recruiters take one look at their face or (graying) hair and make a quick decision to move on to a younger candidate.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, has been making headlines about her new book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Sandberg’s message is that women too many women are being overlooked for promotions due to lack of confidence and poor negotiation skills, not lack of opportunity.
Your Work, Your Way 