In the Prime of their (uncertain) lives by Harvey Schachter
Switching jobs every so often in our 20s, not being completely satisfied for long in our line our work, dreaming up more magnificant plans is not just something I do, or you do. Apparantly it's the trend of our generation - gen x & y - and it's a good thing.
I was glad to hear it and so here it is.
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Special to The Globe and Mail
August 29, 2007
BRAZEN CAREERIST:
THE NEW RULES FOR SUCCESS BY PENELOPE TRUNK
Many baby boomers and their parents faced mid-life career crises when they hit 40. Today, Generations X and Y - the young people populating our work places - will be dealing with what is being called the quarter-life crisis before they hit 30.
They leave university or community college in debt, often are still living in their parents' homes, and frequently move through a succession of jobs in their mid-twenties, unsure of what to do.
It looks like flailing, but Penelope Trunk - who experienced this herself as a professional beach volleyball player, software executive, entrepreneur, and now career columnist - says it's a good time in life to be trying out your dreams. "Better to do it now than when you're 40," she writes in Brazen Careerist.
But as younger people approach 30, the feeling of instability can mount into a crisis if the job hopping seems likely to continue endlessly. The way to avoid it, Ms. Trunk says, is not to grab on to something for life immediately after university. Rather, be more systematic about explorations in your twenties, so that, when you hit 28 or 29, you have sorted things through and have a sense where you want to land.
View detours as a route to happiness, she says. Embrace them. Be a sponge, soak up all that you can from the people you work with. Any job - and any person, no matter how weird - can help your career.
There will be uncertainty, and that's fine, she says, "Uncertainty is a good gift with bad wrapping paper."
"The only way to lead an interesting life is to encounter uncertainty and make a choice. Otherwise, your life is not your own - it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, when you become who you are," Ms. Trunk says.
Accept uncertainty instead of fighting it. Indeed, prepare for uncertainty, through meditation and cultivating self-knowledge, she advises. Let uncertainty surprise you with what it brings - and allow you to shine.
"Some of you are stuck in your career. The only way to get unstuck is to create instability," she says. "If you can see your life in front of you, you've got a problem. If you know what's coming, then you probably won't need to grow to deal with it. If you can see everything coming, then what is the challenge? You're on auto pilot."
Graduate school has often been the antidote to uncertainty at this stage in life. But it probably won't help you fulfill your dream, she warns, but rather, just put off finding one. That's because, in school, we are constantly told what to do and rewarded for meeting other people's goals. "The adult world requires us to set our own goals, and that is something school does not teach," she notes.
Résumés are an essential part of the career process. She contends that when you break résumé rules, you hurt yourself because you look like you don't know them.
Her first rule is that you must keep a résumé to one page; someone sorting through a batch of them is unlikely to look at a second page.
"I don't care if you are the smartest person on earth or if you have founded six companies and sold each of them for $10-million. The point of a résumé is to get you an interview, not a job," she writes.
"If you have something great on the second page, put it on the first. Then you will have nothing great on the second page and you will be able to get rid of it."
Don't use paragraphs in your résumé. Use bullet points. No hiring manager, she insists, will read through paragraphs. List your achievements, not just the duties of the jobs you held. "Anyone can do a job, but achievements show you did the job well," she stresses.
Since some companies are using keyword searches to screen applications, you need to make sure your cover letter and résumé use the key words indicated in the posting or that such a job would demand. And tread lightly, she warns, on listing personal interests, remembering they are there to get you an interview, not to make you look interesting. Linage in your one-page résumé is precious, so only mark down interests that help you to meet the employer's needs.
"Personal interests that don't make you stand out as an achiever do not help you. And personal interests that are weird make you look weird, and you don't know if that's what your interview likes, so leave it off the résumé."
Her book is written in paragraphs, but brisk ones, with saucy comments and lots of useful advice for Generations X and Y, including how to handle office politics, build relationships, manage your boss, and not be the hardest worker (since that makes you look desperate).
In addition: Ottawa-based career consultant Alan Kearns takes readers through basic career advice in Get The Right Job Right Now! (Collins, 239 pages, $24.95). He offers solid recommendations and some useful templates to fill out, such as the "right job checklist," to identify the top elements of the job you should be seeking, and a "career balance sheet" to list your job assets and liabilities. He has a particularly strong section on common interview questions, and how to answer them.
Just In: In 1960, motivational pioneer Napoleon Hill and millionaire CEO W. Clement Stone teamed up to produce the best seller Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, which has now been re-issued with a new introduction by Mr. Stone (Pocket Books, 356 pages, $16.99).
harvey@harveyschachter.com
I was glad to hear it and so here it is.
------------------------------------------------
Special to The Globe and Mail
August 29, 2007
BRAZEN CAREERIST:
THE NEW RULES FOR SUCCESS BY PENELOPE TRUNK
Many baby boomers and their parents faced mid-life career crises when they hit 40. Today, Generations X and Y - the young people populating our work places - will be dealing with what is being called the quarter-life crisis before they hit 30.
They leave university or community college in debt, often are still living in their parents' homes, and frequently move through a succession of jobs in their mid-twenties, unsure of what to do.
It looks like flailing, but Penelope Trunk - who experienced this herself as a professional beach volleyball player, software executive, entrepreneur, and now career columnist - says it's a good time in life to be trying out your dreams. "Better to do it now than when you're 40," she writes in Brazen Careerist.
But as younger people approach 30, the feeling of instability can mount into a crisis if the job hopping seems likely to continue endlessly. The way to avoid it, Ms. Trunk says, is not to grab on to something for life immediately after university. Rather, be more systematic about explorations in your twenties, so that, when you hit 28 or 29, you have sorted things through and have a sense where you want to land.
View detours as a route to happiness, she says. Embrace them. Be a sponge, soak up all that you can from the people you work with. Any job - and any person, no matter how weird - can help your career.
There will be uncertainty, and that's fine, she says, "Uncertainty is a good gift with bad wrapping paper."
"The only way to lead an interesting life is to encounter uncertainty and make a choice. Otherwise, your life is not your own - it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, when you become who you are," Ms. Trunk says.
Accept uncertainty instead of fighting it. Indeed, prepare for uncertainty, through meditation and cultivating self-knowledge, she advises. Let uncertainty surprise you with what it brings - and allow you to shine.
"Some of you are stuck in your career. The only way to get unstuck is to create instability," she says. "If you can see your life in front of you, you've got a problem. If you know what's coming, then you probably won't need to grow to deal with it. If you can see everything coming, then what is the challenge? You're on auto pilot."
Graduate school has often been the antidote to uncertainty at this stage in life. But it probably won't help you fulfill your dream, she warns, but rather, just put off finding one. That's because, in school, we are constantly told what to do and rewarded for meeting other people's goals. "The adult world requires us to set our own goals, and that is something school does not teach," she notes.
Résumés are an essential part of the career process. She contends that when you break résumé rules, you hurt yourself because you look like you don't know them.
Her first rule is that you must keep a résumé to one page; someone sorting through a batch of them is unlikely to look at a second page.
"I don't care if you are the smartest person on earth or if you have founded six companies and sold each of them for $10-million. The point of a résumé is to get you an interview, not a job," she writes.
"If you have something great on the second page, put it on the first. Then you will have nothing great on the second page and you will be able to get rid of it."
Don't use paragraphs in your résumé. Use bullet points. No hiring manager, she insists, will read through paragraphs. List your achievements, not just the duties of the jobs you held. "Anyone can do a job, but achievements show you did the job well," she stresses.
Since some companies are using keyword searches to screen applications, you need to make sure your cover letter and résumé use the key words indicated in the posting or that such a job would demand. And tread lightly, she warns, on listing personal interests, remembering they are there to get you an interview, not to make you look interesting. Linage in your one-page résumé is precious, so only mark down interests that help you to meet the employer's needs.
"Personal interests that don't make you stand out as an achiever do not help you. And personal interests that are weird make you look weird, and you don't know if that's what your interview likes, so leave it off the résumé."
Her book is written in paragraphs, but brisk ones, with saucy comments and lots of useful advice for Generations X and Y, including how to handle office politics, build relationships, manage your boss, and not be the hardest worker (since that makes you look desperate).
In addition: Ottawa-based career consultant Alan Kearns takes readers through basic career advice in Get The Right Job Right Now! (Collins, 239 pages, $24.95). He offers solid recommendations and some useful templates to fill out, such as the "right job checklist," to identify the top elements of the job you should be seeking, and a "career balance sheet" to list your job assets and liabilities. He has a particularly strong section on common interview questions, and how to answer them.
Just In: In 1960, motivational pioneer Napoleon Hill and millionaire CEO W. Clement Stone teamed up to produce the best seller Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, which has now been re-issued with a new introduction by Mr. Stone (Pocket Books, 356 pages, $16.99).
harvey@harveyschachter.com
