Death of the career

Death of the career Death of the careerPosted November 21, 2013, by Julia Watters I used to work at a local newspaper that had been running since 1856. It was my second full-time job out of university and Id just come from a marketing agency where the pace was fast and the staff turnover was even faster. So you can imagine the contrast when I started to discover the work history of some of my new colleagues. Or should I say lack of work history, at least in terms of breadth of experience. Quite a few of my co-workers had been there for longer than I had been out of school primary school, that is. Yep, there were a few who had been there for over 20 years and, at last check, they were still working there. It should come as no surprise that these particular staffers were in their 60s and held the quaintly old-fashioned view that you have one job until the day you retire. Now Im bedrngnis saying that all those from older generations think this way there are definitely some mould bre akers. My own mother, for example, had been a receptionist for her entire working life but decided to retrain in childcare on the eve of her 50th birthday. The fact remains, though, that once upon a time, having one job for life was the rule and not the exception. In the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changin. These days, the notion of a career, especially one for life, is all but extinct. I was once told by a friend in the ad industry that an advertising creative (art director or copywriter) can expect to be made redundant at least six times in their professional life. This is a result of the transient nature of advertising work, with agencies losing and gaining big contracts all the time. Chances are, no sooner are you made redundant than you will be headhunted by another agency that just scored a huge account. All of a sudden redundancy is not necessarily the death sentence it once was in fact, it can sometimes be a rebirth, or at least only a minor blip. Continuing p rofessional development and diversifying throughout your working life are the keys to making yourself continuously hireable. Now Im not recommending you lead the life of a professional nomad, as loyalty is still a highly valued quality in any employers eyes. But dont let your skills go stale by not challenging yourself and simply staying in the same role, doing the same tasks because, well, thats just what you do. There are certain skilled professions where variety comes from the nature of the work, rather than the need to retrain. Teachers, for example, might change schools or the year or subject they teach, but are unlikely to jump around industries. That said, a