How many jobs do you expect to hold in your lifetime? For baby boomers, research says the number is close to 12. The prediction is this number will be a lot higher for the younger generations. So how can you make the best choices about your multiple career moves? A lot depends on your assumptions and attitudes about career change.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Beverly Kaye, renowned expert in career development, employee engagement, retention, and mentoring, founder of Career Systems International and bestselling author of Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, and the subject of this podcast, Up is Not the Only Way.
During this fascinating 20-minute podcast, we discussed:
- Why career mobility is such a hot topic right now.
- What it means to build your career bank account.
- Tips for individuals on how to manage career change.
- What role managers play and what’s in it for them to support career mobility.
- Examples of what a lateral move or stepping back looks like, and why it can be the right choice.
Snippets of wisdom from Beverly Kaye during our interview:
“Too often people ask the question “Where can I go next?” without a clear sense of their career goals and opportunities.”
“Often people assume ‘If I can’t go up, I’d better look out.’ But the secret is they should be saying, ‘I’d better look around before I look out.’”
“Managers need to let go of the desire to hoard talent. If you want someone to stay longer with you, give them lots of opportunities to learn.”
“Typical management advice is you’ve got to have the right person in the right place at the right time. I think that’s out of order. If we create more right places, right choices, then there will be more right times for more right people.”
Click below to listen to our interview.
Dr. Kaye’s new book, Up Is Not the Only Way encourages you to take a “kaleidoscope” view—to be open to ever-shifting patterns of opportunities and possibilities—so you can create a unique, personalized path to a truly rewarding career. Keep the same job but discover new ways to learn and grow? Explore moving to a position that could be a better fit? Step back without getting derailed? Career experts Kaye, Williams, and Cowart explain six ways to build mobile careers and provide important questions to consider when choosing to enrich or make a change. Learn more: Up Is Not the Only Way: Rethinking Career Mobility
I spent the last 15 years of my own career helping organizations and individuals with career transitions. What I learned about both confirms what others have discovered about making changes. That said, the most frequent concern expressed was what I call “goodness of fit” and whether it was or was not a good fit and all the reasons why. My point often was if you got it right from the start and could make the necessary adjustments and adaptations along the way, the chances for a productive tenure were increased dramatically. In order to do that, there is a whole host or prerequisites which I won’t detail here. Suffice to say, make sure you do adequate homework and research before hiring or making the commitment.
Great advice, Gary. And when you do have a “good fit,” you can find multiple opportunities to grow, develop and move, without having to leave the company. A win for all.