Autumn Marathon

Career Change: Then and Now

For the second time in my career, I find myself engaged in an extended career transition (first time was in 1996-7) and I will address a few posts about how the experience has changed over the past 12 years.  

The circumstances are different now:

• In 1996, I voluntarily left a secure government position because I wanted to work in a more dynamic field where my work would have more impact.  Last summer, my position was restructured out of existence and I joined the 2 million other Americans whose jobs were lost in 2008.  
• In 1996, I had been in the workforce for only five years and while no longer “entry level” was at the beginning of my business career.  In 2008, I have been working for nearly 20 years and am in mid-life and mid-career.  That fact significantly affects the way that potential employers will view me and how I must present myself to them.  
• The most important circumstantial difference is that in 1996-97 (the year of President Bill Clinton’s reelection), the economy was growing at nearly 4% per year.  In early 2009, as we prepare to begin the “age of Obama,” the severest financial crisis of our lifetimes has led to a deep recession.  The national economy is shrinking.

Nevertheless, there are elements of continuity. In both cases:

• I have spent my transitional time in New York City; a town I know intimately, but where I have never worked happily.
• I derived considerable satisfaction from redirecting energy from a career focus to a family one.  Key difference - my 1997 toddlers have grown in millenial teenagers.  And don’t misunderstand - I need to get back to work for a variety of reasons.

That’s the context.  In subsequent posts, I’ll discuss how the business environment has changed for job hunters.  Notwithstanding the ill condition of the economy, I believe technology has enabled significant opportunities that were not feasible as recently as the late ’90s.