“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary… ” Steve Jobs 2005 commencement speech at Stanford
When I was growing up, getting a job with a good company, staying for an entire career and then retiring was a great option. People could choose to remain with a company for 30 years or more years. It was also a safe option. There wasn't a lot of personal risk to work for a large company.
By the time I graduated from college, a long term career at a big corporation was not a given any more. Many of my classmates were working at their third or fourth company by our ten year reunion. From a career standpoint, it was getting as risky to work for a large company as for a small company or being self employed.
Nowadays, working for a large company is no longer a safe option. Jobs at large companies can disappear as easily as those at a small company. In fact, being self employed may no longer be the most risky option since a person probably won't fire himself :-)
So I fully agree with Steve Jobs for my daughter's generation. There are no longer safe career options. No jobs are guaranteed. The jobs may not even be in the U.S. I will encourage our daughter to listen to her inner voice, to take risk while she is young, and look for what she truly wants to become. Especially, since playing it safe is no longer safe :-)
For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.
This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.
Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC
This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.
Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC
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5 comments:
Well while the jobs are not guaranteed, the income is not going up either to compensate for contractors type jobs...
It is counter productive as well, as the contractors do have completely different attitute and goals. Moreover people are increasingly
spending more time networking ,searching, rather than doing their job....
Than it is easy to say to Steve and Bill...how many times did they involuntarily moved houses to follow the job (not to upgrade for larger on in more upscale neighborhood)?
I think it will be anytime soon when Saturday will be taken away again while paycheck stays the same...
Before I retired, I already started working many Saturdays and even Sundays for over 15 years. In my job OT, meant "own time." :-)
To be clear, I was an exempt salaried employee, which meant I did not qualify for overtime. So there was no violation of employment laws.
This is different, it was your personal call and goal. Most likely you were working on the projects that would develop your skills, advance your career. Not everybody has that choice in their current job, while had to work extra. I am not referring to myself, as for my compensation I am doing happily about 3000 hours a year. No problem here.
What I am trying to say - where would be you dream now should you have to spend saturdays on routine, rather than development and career advancement?
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