A new year is upon us (along with a heck of a lot of snow), and many people like to set New Year’s Resolutions.
Goal setting is never a bad idea. As the saying goes, “if you don’t know where you are going, you might end up somewhere else.”
Goal setting relates a lot to career planning and I want to tell you of an interesting conversation I had with my older brother about career planning.
When we visited in the Fall we were sitting on the patio talking about jobs and stuff and I told him that I always considered his to be a great example of a well-planned career.
From my perspective he worked hard to get a PhD and positioned himself to do chemistry research at the Nat’l Institute of Health in Wash. D.C.
Then when research funds became scarce he went back to school and got a Master’s degree in Clinical Chemistry to position himself to work in industry.
When his division of his company was purchased by another corporation he worked there for a while but eventually he didn’t like the new management and took a buyout. He had built up an excellent background, network, experience and credentials for consulting. So, he became an independent consultant, and now when most people his age are retiring, he is still consulting and having the time of his life travelling internationally for business and getting paid very well. If he is home too long his wife eventually asks him when his next gig is, because he sort of disrupts her rhythm at home.
So, I told him I admired how he moved from research to industry to independent consulting always positioning himself for his next move. He looked at me and burst out laughing, and told me that that is not how it was at all. From his perspective he was just bouncing around (the real meaning of the word career, I think) and seizing the next opportunity as it presented itself. He didn’t feel there was much planning involved at all. He thought of it as simply reacting to circumstances.
I was somewhat relieved because that is always how I have thought of my career. Adapting to circumstances and seizing opportunities. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t some planning and preparation in there to some degree, but we rarely ever feel in control of our careers the way the term “career planning” makes it sound. So, good luck with your New Year’s Resolutions for 2011. I hope you reach your most important goals.
--Mike
