A Bumpy Road
The internet promised to make life easier for both hiring companies and job seekers. But just like the dating world, the internet has brought unexpected complications to finding a good match. The job seeker has to learn how to navigate this terrain.
Professional Alignment
What you focus on expands. Intellectual diversity aligns your professional pursuits and gives you traction.
Multiple Careers
The US Labor department tracks changes in the workforce.
Three generations ago, most adults joined a company and stayed for their entire career.
Two generations ago, most adults entered a profession and stayed for their entire career.
Today's generation will have multiple professions over their career, sometimes even pursuing multiple sources of income at once.
My Next Step?
The workplace is changing. As you contemplate changes in your professional pursuits, take pressure off yourself. Instead of trying to map out the rest of your working life, focus on coming up with a next move that expands your life. You cannot see far enough into the future to make lifetime decisions.
Sunk Costs
Businesses regularly write off sunk costs, and increasingly individuals are doing the same.
Sunk costs are investments you have made in the past that cannot be changed. You've made the decision. You've spent the money. Avoid the trap of limiting your future options based on your past choices.
It's ok to start fresh. Letting go might mean releasing your future self from the limitations of your college degree. Or maybe it is time to change industries. Or maybe you close the book on one profession and start investing in a new one that aligns better with your future aspirations.
Team-Based Work
Companies are hiring people into a job description and then asking them to work within a collaborative team-based environment.
This means two things. First, you will have more opportunities to say yes to work that fits you. Second, you will have a competitive advantage the more you stay in your natural position.
My Natural Position
Intellectual diversity describes people, but it also describes the work we do. When we look at the various jobs people have, we see that people & jobs fall into 9 different positions.
When you see the position you naturally gravitate towards, it helps you evaluate professions, avoid false starts, and find fulfillment.
How I Play My Position
The 13 traits offer nuances into how you play your natural position. These traits are also effective guides for developing skills, comparing job opportunities, and leadership styles.
A lot of energy is wasted manufacturing competencies instead of nurturing natural talents. When you understand intellectual diversity, then you can stay in your sweet spot.
Real-world hiring actually aligns with this notion. Experience, skills, and knowledge are used to write job descriptions and interview applicants. However, psychology studies have shown that people then select the "natural" over the "striver". Both you and the hiring company will find a better fit when you emphasize your natural gifts and how you have developed/used them.
Service Options
Trading in resentment for clarity
