Recently, one of our clients came to me asking for help. She had about 5 years experience in a non-tech role, but, like most people in the US right now, was having a really hard time finding a job. I offered the following observations from my own experience, and thought I would copy it into a blog posting for others to benefit from.
The main purpose of the story below is to help anyone think about their future career, and help them find a new role in a different industry. During economic downturns such as now, I strongly recommend throwing away your prior conclusions about your targeted career, and staying open to jobs that might not be “exciting” but will be lucrative and growing. That is the crux of the email below.
Hello,
I’m reading your thoughts about how you are thinking through your career, and maybe I can relate with my own experience.
During the Great Recession, I was in a very similar situation as yourself, although it was much, much more dire. You couldn’t even get a job in fast food in late 2008 / early 2009, it was a really scary time. I had been in corporate sales my whole career, and I had it in my mind that I was going to get into either marketing or corporate strategy. That led me to go to grad school (probably the dumbest mistake I’ll ever make), and then even afterwards I refused any job that wasn’t in marketing or strategy. It was a struggle for many years, as those jobs weren’t really in demand until the mid-2010s.
If I were to do this period over again, instead of being focused on what I wanted to do, I should have looked at what the market wanted people to do. At the time, that would have been tech. I actually knew how to program and understood early AI, but I absolutely refused to do any of that because “I don’t want to do programming again”. So I stayed on the current path of marketing and strategy.
Well guess what, it wasn’t until roughly 2015 that I realized there was an entire universe of careers in IT, that have absolutely nothing to do with programming or IT. For example, there are layers and layers of middle management in IT, and most people there know nothing about technology. Workers were always in demand (except for now), and the jobs pay very, very well. Had I done the research and been willing to consider options outside of “marketing”, I would have been steadily employed during the worst recession of our lifetimes, and I would have racked up at least $2-3 million in additional income (compared to what my salary was in marketing). And here’s the kicker – I actually enjoy these tech roles more than I ever would have enjoyed a career in marketing / strategy.
What I would recommend, is to throw away your prior experience, and investigate what industries or jobs are the most in demand right now. You can look at job boards for postings, talk to general recruiters, etc. The unemployment rate is 3.5%, which means that SOMEONE is desperately hiring – who is that and what for? I personally suspect we are entering an era where the “blue-collar” industries are the future. That doesn’t mean picking up a hammer – there are plenty of roles in sales, finance, management, etc. that involve these “unsexy” industries. But whatever you choose to do, I recommend ignoring what you want to do, and instead, think like a “hustler” and look for the highest in-demand job that will pay. Then chase after that.
I personally recommend spending time on job sites, and asking general recruiters what the top role they want to hire for is. I’m sure some of it will be extremely specialized (you can’t suddenly become a pharmaceutical engineer) – but there might be careers adjacent to those jobs that you can do. If you look at every economic cycle, it’s always true that the industries that remain growing and hiring during a downturn then become booming industries throughout the economic upswing.
I’ll be writing more about this in the next coming weeks, including how to evaluate emerging industries and jobs, networking with recruiters, and relating your past experience to a new industry during the interview.
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