Archive for Category: Future of Careers
New Research on Millennials and the Great Recession
Posted in Economic Crisis Future of Careers Generation Y on May 13, 2010 at 12:46 pm
On Tuesday night I attended a dinner hosted by the Atlantic Media Company in Washington, DC, to discuss the results of the brand new Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll, which offers a look at the economic experience of the Millennial generation.
There were about 20 of us at the table, including representatives from government, think tanks, media outlets and labor unions. The discussion was moderated by Ron Brownstein, who is not only a well-respected journalist and father of a Millennial, but, I learned, is also a fellow fan of Lost. (Yes, he was careful to end the dinner before Tuesday night’s episode.)
Here are some of my main takeaways from the discussion and the poll:
Job security is trendy. One of the more surprising findings of the poll is that 55% of Millennials say their goal is long-term employment with a single employer. And, when asked to rank their most important workplace priorities, job security was number one (with money a close number two). Personally, I believe this will change as the economy improves. I just don’t see Gen Y-ers sticking with traditional career paths with all of the options and portable benefits available in the new economy. In fact, many of the dinner attendees joked that they don’t even want to work for their current employers for the rest of their careers.
Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…
Podcast: Why Two Jobs May Be Better Than One
Posted in Career Advice Career Change Entrepreneurship Future of Careers Generation Y on April 8, 2010 at 3:16 pm
“Modern moonlighting” has become an increasingly popular phenomenon among young professionals. It involves working a full-time job and pursuing other projects on the side.
Why are people doing this and how do you make it work? Listen in on my conversation with Jenny Blake, who works full-time at Google and runs a coaching and blogging business, LifeAfterCollege.org, on the side.
Listen to the podcast on my MyPath.com “College to Career” show now!
Tags: Career Advice, future of work, Generation Y, Jenny Blake, MyPath
5 Predictions about the Future of Work
Posted in Career Advice Future of Careers on March 9, 2010 at 8:35 am
I always loved the Jetsons. What’s not to love about flying cars, robot maids and cool futuristic outfits like Judy’s?
I admit when I watched the Jetsons I wasn’t paying much attention to where the characters worked or what happened when they got there. But today, I am totally fascinated by predictions about the future of work and careers.
Will we all work from home and go to virtual meetings with our colleagues in Second Life?
Will I be able to give speeches virtually, with a holographic image of me (a la CNN’s Wolf Blitzer during the 2008 presidential election) standing behind a holograph of a podium?
Will people have robot assistants?
To help my thinking and yours on this topic, I’ve been doing a lot of research. Here are some of the most compelling career and workplace predictions I’ve come across. It’s never too early to start thinking about how these trends will impact your own career:
1. You probably won’t work at an office from 9 to 5. More than 100 million people are expected to telecommute to work by the year 2015. This sounds accurate to me. With an increase in contract workers, freelancers, working parents and caretakers of elderly relatives, it makes sense that we’ll increasingly work from everywhere except an office. Source: OfficeTeam’s “Office of the Future: 2020″ study
2. You won’t travel for business. Thanks to better and better teleconferencing technology, faster broadband connections for Skype and 3D virtual reality meetings, you’ll rarely need to get on a plane for a meeting or presentation. (This one can’t happen soon enough for my taste!) Source: BNET Insight
3. Work will be good for your health. Instead of going to the gym at lunchtime, you might spend some of your day at a “walking workstation” and grab an apple from a healthy vending machine. Your office will be more environmentally friendly, too, with recycled office products, live plants and LEED-certified building materials.Source: Generation X, Y & Z Blog
Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…
Tags: Career Advice, future of work
Next 30/20 Vision Podcast: Wednesday, January 20th at 5:00pm EST
Posted in 30/20 Vision Future of Careers on January 19, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Join me and my fabulous co-hosts, Christine Hassler (author of The 20-Something Manifesto) and Alexandra Levit (author of New Year, New You), for our next 30/20 Vision podcast on Wednesday, January 20, at 5:00pm EST.
Our topic this month is The Future of Work: what it will look like and what that means for you.
On Green Careers: An Interview with Shari Aaron, co-author of Climb the Green Ladder
Posted in Career Advice Future of Careers Recommended Resources on December 10, 2009 at 12:36 am
As green careers continue to grow in popularity, I’m pleased to share an interview I conducted with Shari Aaron, co-author of Climb the Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable.
Lindsey: For those who don’t know, what is social entrepreneurship and the “triple bottom line”?
Shari: Sustainability, corporate social responsibility, green, and triple bottom line are all terms that refer to doing business in a way that is more sustainable. These terms refer to taking into account the social, environmental and economic impacts of the way we do business — hence, not just a financial bottom line but a triple bottom line.
There has been a cultural shift in society’s expectations that businesses should work to protect the environment and its people. In fact, 95 percent of CEOs report that businesses must address the social and environmental pressures of society (McKinsey & Co., July 2007) and mounting evidence shows that employees will drive companies’ efforts to address sustainability (MIT Sloan Management Review, Sept 2009).
Social entrepreneurs work both inside of companies and in their own firms to help advance a triple bottom line approach to business and society. If you utilize entrepreneurial talents inside of a company, you can be referred to as a social intrapreneur. The success of social intrapreneurs lies not only in their passion for sustainability, but also in their ability to translate that passion into a great pitch, a solid business plan, and positive, measurable results.
Lindsey: Can you share some examples of sustainable businesses? (more…)
Some (Career/Workplace) Things I’m Grateful For
Posted in Future of Careers Recommended Resources Social Media on November 25, 2009 at 10:53 am
It’s no secret that 2009 has not been the easiest of years for most college students and young professionals; however, over the past year there have certainly been bright spots. Today, in honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share some of the positive trends I’ve noticed this year.
More resources to help students and recent grads. While we’ve lost some bloggers and websites this year, we’ve also welcomed many helpful new resources for young professionals. I’m particularly grateful for the resources I find myself recommending over and over again, such as UrbanInterns.com, LinkedIn’s Grad Guide and Twitter lists (check out my list of career/workplace experts to follow).
University career centers serving more alumni. Resources for more experienced job seekers are growing as well — and some of that growth is coming from college career centers, which traditionally only served students. Almost every career services professional I spoke with this year mentioned the influx of alumni calling for their help. One career director at an Ivy League university told me that, for the first time ever, they’ve added a dedicated staff person to service alumni.
I think this is a great thing: as people face more career changes and job hunts, they need more resources to turn to. While I do suspect that career centers will begin charging their alums (currently the vast majority serve alumni for free), I believe this trend is here to stay. Perhaps in the future university career services will become more of a lifelong resource rather than a one-time stopover. (more…)
Are You Building Your Career Pyramid?
Posted in Future of Careers on October 18, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I had the complete joy today of having absolutely nothing to do. It was pouring rain, SeamlessWeb delivered bagels and coffee directly to my door, and my husband and his best friend had plans to watch nonstop football.
So, I camped out upstairs in our apartment — computer turned off! — and read pretty much the entire Sunday New York Times cover to cover. In addition to reading Bono’s op-ed, a review of Gail Collins’ new book about women and, as always, the wedding announcements (“the sports pages for women”), I came across an interview with Carol Bartz, the CEO of Yahoo.
In the interview, Bartz is asked to share her best career advice. She says the following:
“You need to build your career not as a ladder, but as a pyramid. You need to have a base of experience because it’s a much more stable structure. And so that involves taking lateral moves. And it involves getting out of your comfort zone.” (more…)
