My Unsolicited Advice To Anyone Entering (or soon entering) The Work Force

The world out there is tough and it is only going to get tougher. Globalization is a reality and despite the oft good yet maligned intent of our President and Congress, globalization is here to stay. As Thomas Friedman would say, the world is flat and there is no going back.

The U.S. once heralded the advent of globalization. There would be new demands for our products, more capital to invest in our markets, and many more places to bring in the cheap goods for our consumption. We learnt instead that globalization also brought more competition (from nations with often less stringent regulations), an influx of imported goods that could spell the demise of their respective domestic industry, an increased demand for limited commodities such as food, oil, and natural resources (driving up their prices), and more importantly (for you and me) an increase in the supply of labor which saw everyone, everywhere competing for the jobs Americans once took for granted.

If you are looking for a job now or in the coming years, or just started your career directly post-graduation, I have four simple suggestions that might help you navigate the world you find yourself in.

1. Forget job security: That idea that you need to go into a stable field and work for one employer for 50 years and retire on a pension plan is over. Likewise, the other prevailing idea that you need to only enter industries that have stupendous job security and stay within such industry is erroneous. In this contemporary time of uncertainty, everything is dynamic and old industries will die out if and when they fail to adapt. What will be required to succeed in this new age is not the search for security but rather the relentless pursuit of skills and talents that can be adapted and customized to allow one to compete on a dynamic global marketplace.
2. Take risks: Since we were children, we have been told that risk taking was dangerous and it is best to avoid risk. There is even a field named risk management whose moniker implies that risks is so passé that we would do best to remove it from all activities. The truth is that the old conceptions (or at least the conception we were taught growing up) were wrong in their definition of risk. Risk isn’t necessarily exposing oneself to adverse effects but rather it is proceeding when the definitive outcome is not yet known. In order to succeed, one needs to be able to learn to identify, choose, and live with acceptable risk. One that stays inside the comfort zone that has been given will not bear forth much fruit in this brave new world. Only by daring to venture outside of convention can only hope to avoid becoming obsolete and caught with outdated ideas. Ask yourself; What’s the worst that can happen? What is the best that can happen? Take risks that can expose you to differential outcomes, learn from your experience and prosper from the exploration.
3. Collaborate but watch your back: If there is one thing that is becoming apparent, it is the need to collaborate and work as a member of a diverse team to solve the new and challenging problems that affect mankind. With the flattening of the world, the US can no longer pretend that our isolationist techniques can solve the problem of the multitude without the need to sit at the table and collaborate with others. In saying this, cooperation should only go so far. At the end of the day, one needs to make sure that one’s demands are being met even if achieving those goals takes one away from the table. As a mentor once told me, “If you cannot find someone to watch your back, it is time to move.”
4. Keep learning. Never stop learning: This is perhaps the most important advice of them all. It is the diversity of knowledge that will bring the greatest chance of survival. As industry, life and communication matures, it becomes easy to get lost behind the constant changes that occur while watching one’s livelihood disappear. Education, and not always necessarily in the formal sense, will help one adapt as the essence of success changes. Education will bring new skills, knowledge and talents that allows for seamless integration across numerous field in various capacities. For this reason, it is crucial to never stop learning. If you find that the constant repetition of tasks is stifling your quest for knowledge, find a new job, learn a new trade, or even better yet, find a way to do the job faster, quicker and/or cheaper.

Some may complain that this new world is not fair but I tell you that it is the fairest that the world has ever been. We are watching as success is no longer determined by your family name, or your skin tone, or which country you were born. The American dream of rags-to-riches is catching on and billions of people are looking for that chance their ancestors never had. They are looking to compete; make sure you are also.