Forget asking your kids
if they want to be a doctor, lawyer or teacher. Tomorrow’s career options in
the social-digital decade will be radically different than anything we’ve
experienced in our professional lives to date. In the old days, we went to
college and then chose a career. Although our jobs may have changed over time,
our career “track” stayed in the same general hemisphere.
Not anymore. Yesterday’s
jobs don’t exist. Today’s jobs won’t exist in a few years, and tomorrow’s
careers haven’t even been created. Shocking?
Just look at
any job posting board and you’ll see this career-manic trend played out. One
week a company advertises for a marketing communications specialist. A week
later that job is pulled down, and now the company wants a PR manager. Then a
few weeks later that job is pulled down, and now THE SAME JOB is titled social
media specialist.
What’s the
deal? The same job with 3 different titles? And it’s not just occurring in marketing. The
same phenomenon is occurring in IT, sales, finance and operations. Worse yet,
this not only rings true for the 20-somethings graduating from college, but
it’s true for you and me, too. Yep, both the Gen X’ers and the pre-retirement
Baby Boomers are witnessing this manic hiring dilemma as the job market
attempts to recover.
Tomorrow’s
career options are changing faster than your teenage daughter changes clothes. No
longer will we choose a linear career path and stick to it. It is time to learn
a new language. To have career success in the new social-digital economy, you’ll
have to think differently about career options. It’s a whole new career
frontier.
After working
with professionals in varying stages of career transition, I created system to
explain this new world to the throngs of professionals who are either jobless
or in career shell-shock after having been rocked by these changing trends. The
problem is more than learning how to do LinkedIn. Not only has technology
transcended the way we search and get hired, but it has also transformed the
type of people corporations want to hire – and the way in which they hire them!
The truth is,
in the social-digital decade ahead of us—you know the one, where technology
changes in an instant—jobs will change in an instant as well Don’t fight it – adjust. Instead of
worrying about your job, build a new career framework and operate within it.
Our Career Framework serves as a map to this new world and starts with 3
simple personas.
Personas are like identities. These are not the typical career
tracks known to us prior to the 2009 job market crash, but they are radically
more useful. This new framework will benefit anyone: from a Reluctant
Entrepreneur™ to a would-be solopreneur, to a career seeker trying to find the
new career superhighway.
A DOER persona requires a familiar environment and a predictable set of responsibilities. Although the tasks might change, DOER’s function best in a familiar structure. They are motivated by the “known.” Be it large corporation or a small business, the structure suits them. DOER personas have been, and will remain, the bedrock of our workforce in Corporate America.If you have a DOER persona, your career choices should focus on roles in corporations and general business arenas. In a future blog, I’ll explain how to expand those options to take advantage of this persona and use it as a secret weapon.
A SOLVER persona responds best to freedom and is highly motivated to solve problems. SOLVER personas have a lot of career choices. Whether they lead a team, work on a team or work alone, is irrelevant. They just need to solve problems and have the freedom to do so. They can work successfully in traditional corporate roles, but being given the freedom to solve problems is a critical component for them. If they are told what to do, their passion is dampened and they quickly lose motivation. Since most corporations typically “outsource” problem-solving assignments to consulting firms or sole-proprietor consultants, we decided to launch Empowered Voyage™. The company was launched specifically to address the needs of this persona. It’s mission is to teach and mentor professionals who want to become sole-proprietor consultants. In addition to training, participants in the Empowered Voyage Network of Success also receive a 12-week “Solverpreneur™ Boot Camp” designed to help them cross the bridge from a traditional job to that of a professional consultant.
The BUILDER persona typically struggles in most corporate roles. They are better suited to be a solopreneur or entrepreneur. BUILDERS excel in small businesses that are growth oriented. But, there’s a very important catch. Builders are never satisfied with the status quo. They must build something. And once it’s built, they need to make it bigger or better, or move on to the next thing. BUILDERS make great entrepreneurs. Builders invent, create, build, solve, and serve in a variety of roles across all industries. The key for a BUILDER persona isn’t what they do, but how they do it. They must feel as if they are building something.
As you
reflect on your career, don’t think about traditional career tracks. Think
about your persona. Which of these personas best suits you? Focus on the
framework, and target your job, career or business search using this framework.
As always,
it’s an honor to serve you!
With the soulfulness of Wayne Dyer and the entrepreneurial spirit of Richard Branson, Terri is a world-class business growth expert, social impact investor, and serial entrepreneur whose purpose is to inspire potential. With her own money, Terri built a portfolio of purposeful companies, Share On Purpose, Inc., and now invests in and creates mission-driven start-ups.
In a career that spans more than 25 years, Terri has launched, owned, sold, rebranded or turned around more than 40 companies. She is known for her game-changing business models and personal transformation frameworks.
Everything she built came directly from a wellspring of perseverance and soulful resiliency, which she openly shares through her first purposeful brand, Succeed On Purpose.
