Monday Career Advice. Dont Work For One Company For Too Long.

Jimmy had been working for the same IT Company for almost ten years

His employer was a new IT company when he joined the company as an intern. He performed well, and was soon hired as a professional IT consultant in the software department.

Jimmy had great customer facing skills. Clients loved his work. He won an excellent employee award two years after he joined the company. He was doing great.

On the 3rd year and now 28 years, Jimmy then married and started a family. He didn’t want to travel as much as he used to be. So, he talked to his manager, and made a transition to in house software development instead of travelling to meet clients all over the country. He was still working on the same product that he was implementing at client sites. He now worked on adding new features as well as maintaining the software.

On the 4th year, there was a disruptive change in the market. The product Jimmy has been working on started losing market share. It was still used by a sizable number of clients, but its growth was starting to level down.

On the 5th and 6th year, the product was becoming obsolete. It was clear to everyone that the company would soon end-of-life the product.

Jimmy was the only person who was working on this product. He felt threatened a little bit. But, he was waiting for his green card. If he moved to another company, he would have to start all over again.

Jimmy could try to move into a different role. But, he had been settling nicely into his existing role — he was the expert in the product. He had a lot going on at home — with two little kids, he had to spend a lot of energy on the home front. He enjoyed the familiar work that he was doing everyday — it afforded him flexibility to balance work and life.

On the 7th and 8th year, the company kept losing customers. It’s apparent to everyone that in 12 to 18 month, the product would no longer be supported.

At that time, there was plenty of rumors that the company would be acquired by a large company. The employees might finally see an exit event. Although it wouldn’t make Jimmy a millionaire, it would still mean a healthy amount of cash.
Jimmy wanted to wait until the exit event took place. His plan was to cash out, and then looked for another job.

On the 9th year, the world economy was hit by the credit crisis. None of the acquisition rumors became reality. Sad news was to follow. His job was eliminated. He was laid off. He was very disheartened by what had happened to him.

He had a lot of fears about what would happen next. He hadn’t looked for a job for 9 years. A lot of the stuff he worked on were very specific to the particular company and product — in other words, they’re not very transferable. It was going to be hard getting another job with the old skills.

Don’t let yourself get into similar situation.

If you work in the IT industry, you should be ready to switch job every few years. The industry changes too fast.
But this advice applies to all of us. You in banking, finance, marketing, HR etc……..

Don’t let yourself get too comfortable

You need to continue to renew your knowledge and skills by moving to a new company.

It is very risky to place all of your bet on a single employer.

Expect the unexpected when you plan your career moves.

Quote of the day….If you don’t change, reality in the end forces that change upon you

Dear reader, its all about your marketability……Have a great start of the week and comments are welcome below…

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