I once knew someone
who told me that he was proud never having grown up and acted his age because
he never saw the benefit of acting like an adult.
A novel
approach to aging to be sure, but it also goes a long way toward explaining why
he had no less than a dozen career changes over the course of his working life. Apparently he didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up either.
Depending on
which survey you read, most of us undergo at least three career changes (yours
truly had four) and hopefully we end up with a company and a position where we
can flourish and progress.
And like many
of you I have more than a few horror stories of past companies, like the one
who occupied the 5th and 6th floors of an office building
in New York City but mandated all employees with IT issues to call Tampa, Fla. for help despite its IT department being situated on
floor number 5 in New York.
Or my past
employer who eschewed raises and 401(k) matches, implemented semi-annual
layoffs of entry and mid-level employees reportedly to strengthen its bottom
line yet continued to hire a wave of 6-figure executives to populate an already
overcrowded and largely ineffective C-suite.
But onward and
upward.