Moderator: Jeff Hunter
Unemployment statistics are reminding us again and again this isn’t just any old recession. Globalization, increased computing power, and a dramatic shift in consumer spending have organizations radically overhauling the way they get work done. Companies are getting significant increases in productivity at the same time customer demand remains weak. This means companies are likely to hire fewer people coming out of this recession and employment may remain depressed until beyond 2012.
This has real-world implications for job seekers and job holders. Some people have advised downgrading expectations in a job search and playing it safe with career moves. Others have recommended the exact opposite approach, saying now is the time to reinvent yourself and your career.
We put this topic to the Glassdoor Clearview Collection, a panel of career and workplace experts to find out:
- Should employees play it safe, hold on to their job and not jump ship until better days? Or should employees and job seekers seize the day and make their next big career move?
- What’s realistic versus idealistic in terms of a job switch?
- What is your advice for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce?
Liz Ryan:
Job seekers don’t need to lower their expectations pre-emptively. What they need to do is understand their place in the economic picture. They need a great answer to the question, “What problem do you solve?”
I wouldn’t say that employees overall should downgrade their expectations for their career paths. Some will need to do that, and others won’t. It’s all about value. Just as there are industries that are counter-cyclical (sales actually rise during recessionary times – for instance, movie theatres did great business in 2009) there are skills that are MORE in demand during tough times. The job seekers who hold those skills will be calling the shots. Many or most salespeople, for instance, won’t need to temper their sales salary expectations. If they’ve cracked the code and can get clients to buy, they’ll be hot commodities on the job market. The theme for the coming decade will be ‘Know Your Value’. It doesn’t work anymore for job seekers to say “I create databases” or “I answer customer service calls.” Starting now, job seekers and job holders need to know how they help an employer thrive in its marketplace.
Job seekers don’t need to lower their expectations pre-emptively. What they need to do is understand their place in the economic picture. They need a great answer to the question, “What problem do you solve?”
John Sumser:
“Your soul will rot out of your body if you keep a job to avoid risk.”
Anyone who has survived a series of layoffs understands that the real victims are the ones who keep their jobs. Blessed with severance packages and the opportunity to reinvent themselves, the ‘redundant’ are given a major career advantage when they walk out the door. Sure it hurts in the beginning, but being required to reinvent yourself trumps deciding to do it any day of the week.
For most people, it’s easier to be pushed than it is to jump.
That said, your soul will rot out of your body if you keep a job to avoid risk. The price for staying when you should go is a diminishing ability to look yourself in the mirror. How can you not hate your family (and how can they not feel it) when you are ‘doing it for them’. It’s a pathetic example to set.
In a lifetime, there are only a few opportunities for complete reinvention. Most of them qualify as personal disasters. Every once in a while, the economy makes spectacular failure a common thing. When that happens, you get a complete pass on the career consequences of a radical departure.
The people who stand still are failing by trying to hold onto the sand that flows through their fingers. As they try to maintain their grasp on security, they create a field of opportunity for those who refuse to believe that there is any such thing. It’s easy to stand out when everyone else is hiding under their desks hoping to avoid screwing up.
Rusty Rueff:
“Now is not the time to “run away” from a job.”
There are four glasses: the glass that is half-empty; the glass that is half-full; the glass that is overflowing; and the glass that is out to kill you. People feel like today’s job market is the glass that is out to kill them when in fact there is still good opportunity if you are prudent in your risk-taking.
Now is not the time to “run away” from a job. Many job changes are catalyzed by unhappiness or discontent. Take ten deep breaths before you make that motivated move. That said, there are jobs to “run to” because they are doing what you want to do, where you want to do it, with the people you want to do it with.
If after more due diligence than usual, counsel from at least four people who know you well, and a long talk with yourself in the shower, you hear “Yes!”, then go for it.
However, if that kind of job is not our there for you now, spend this time homing in on your dream job to be sure that when the music starts again your next move is on the right path.
There is a glass that is overflowing out there for all of us!
Hank Stringer:
“We don’t have to lower our career expectations – but we may be well suited to take the opportunity to consider changing them.”
Seize the day…prepare now for better days!
Company productivity continues to increase and when the market improves those productivity increases will result in needed profits. Companies will hire in an improving market but not in all the industries and markets we know or at the levels we are accustomed to. We don’t have to lower our career expectations – but we may be well suited to take the opportunity to consider changing them.
Seize the day today to prepare for:
- New work: prepare for a new career in a field with legs – like healthcare, energy and agriculture.
- New life: Downsize, move to the countryside, collect rainwater and plant a garden or move to an affordable city, move downtown and work virtually.
- New entrepreneurial opportunities: There are ALWAYS opportunities for entrepreneurs – embrace and learn to be one or provide the services they need. Just remember to solve a problem for a large enough market to sustain you.
Necessity is the mother of invention…if necessary why not invent a new career and way of life.
