Career path in the third and fourth decades? (take II)

Subject: Career path in the third and fourth decades? (take II)
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Monica Cellio <cellio -at- pobox -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 12:33:10 -0500

Monica Cellio provided a bit more information: <<I'm not looking for status and prestige; it's about meeting current needs and funding a comfortable retirement. If I could keep doing what I'm doing and get cost-of-living raises, that'd be fine -- but there comes a point where younger folks will be cheaper and while I'm good, I may be better than an employer actually feels he needs. Hence the "do I need to be doing something different?" question.>>

That's a much tougher question. I've always been a strong advocate of the "wear many hats" role, so that many influential people know and value what you're doing. (This isn't a case of specifically going out and brown-nosing every manager in the building--it's a question of being useful in as many ways as your interests and skills permit.) That's worked very well for me, but I've mostly workd for small companies where this kind of strategy is possible. In larger companies, your entire division can be axed by some faceless bean counter who doesn't even know your manager exists, let alone you.

But it's still good advice to be seen as valuable by many people around you, at many levels in the hierarchy. That gives you considerable protection against being replaced solely on a financial whim, because the people who are forced to choose who to lay off will be reluctant to get rid of you--they know your value, and will try to keep you rather than having to go through the pain of finding, interviewing, and hiring someone new. That's particularly true if that person won't do half the work you're doing and will spend their first year learning to fill your deep footprints rather than walking in them.

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Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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Follow-Ups:

References:
career path in the third and fourth decades?: From: Monica Cellio
Re: career path in the third and fourth decades?: From: Dick Margulis
Re: career path in the third and fourth decades?: From: Monica Cellio

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