Practical Career Advice for a Turbulent Working World

This book is an eclectic mix of essays that have the common theme of practical career navigation in extremely challenging (or turbulent) times. It is for active or potential job seekers trying to make sense of the career turbulence happening around them. I hope that you will find the essays to be interesting and beneficial, whether you are out of work and looking for a job or are currently gainfully and happily (or perhaps unhappily) employed. I want not only for this to be a good learning experience for you, but also as a source of support and encouragement through what has become an era of extreme career turbulence. What do I mean by the term “career turbulence”? Think of the analogy of encountering turbulence at an altitude of 30,000 feet while traveling along in a jet airliner. Regardless of the weather conditions of the day, the ride can suddenly become quite turbulent. It tends to come along unanticipated, and it is always unpleasant and certainly unwelcomed. The good news is that the aircraft is designed to be strong and resilient enough to survive the worst of the turbulence, not to mention an inordinate number of rough landings! But one must keep the proverbial seat belt buckled, hang on, and ride it through to the destination. Turbulence in the working world comes along in the forms of dead-end jobs, dramatically changing professions, downsizings, firings, the rise and fall of entire industries, and the commoditization and de-personalization of jobs, to name just a few. And the rough landings? They are represented by landing in a job that is not all you had hoped it would be, or a less than ideal interim position taken to “pay the bills” until the right job comes along. Throughout my years of work in industry I have attended countless business and personal improvement seminars, listened to audio recordings, kept learning journals, collected famous quotes, and read interesting books. I have traveled on business in Europe and Asia, earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a masters degree in business and attended a wide variety of professional development workshops. From all of these activities, I have extensive knowledge and piles of great material. But so what? Guilt set in when it dawned on me that all of this valuable knowledge was helping no one! Dr. Edward Free made the following comment on this issue; “The saying that knowledge is power is not quite true. Used knowledge is power, and more than power. It is money and service, and better living for our fellow men, and a hundred other good things. But mere knowledge, left unused, has not power in it.” It only made sense to share my knowledge in order to bring about practical use and application in others’ business lives. In my personal career history I experienced two downsizings, two significant recessions, company ownership changes, mergers and acquisitions, and dramatic industry changes. I have personally experienced all the career and soul searching associated with severe career turbulence. The thought hit me to write a career column for my local newspaper. It made good sense for the column to focus on career issues, since I had the knowledge and experience to speak with some authority on the subject. A very kind and willing editor of my town’s newspaper gave me the opportunity to do so. I started a weekly column in the throes of the recession of 2007-2010. One day, a lady walked into the office of the newspaper and asked if she could purchase a copy of Mr. Edlin’s book. Her daughter was going through career turbulence in the form of a job search at the time. She had been sending copies of my articles to her daughter for advice, ideas and moral support. When informed that no book by Mr. Edlin had existed at that time, she purchased a copy of all the newspaper editions where the column appeared. When the editor informed me of this, it became a logical and reasonable idea (and inspiration) to create this book out of the material that has been published in my columns. You are reading the result. If you, or a friend or loved one, are experiencing any sort of career turbulence, this book is for you. My desire is to be a helper – to give you ideas and advice surely, but to also offer up some support – some comfort and compassion. Career turbulence can be a grind for sure, but there is hope and a way out if one crafts and follows a good plan and keeps a good attitude about the whole endeavor. Through my career turbulence, I found that resources for managing a career and a job search are prolific. There are countless “how-to” books and internet sites concerning such things as determining your values, drafting a personal marketing plan, writing a resume, etc. But I found that managing one’s morale, which is a matter of the heart, is not as well covered out there in the turbulent working world. Hence, although my book is intended to be a very practical guide, I devote a considerable portion to the softer side of things – to managing thoughts, priorities, attitudes and even one’s demeanor through the struggles one may encounter. It is my genuine hope that through this book, I can serve as an equipper – providing information, knowledge and a unique point of view that creates a framework by which you can assess your career and derive strategies to survive in the midst of what has become and probably will always be a turbulent working world. This book is a labor of love from a family perspective. My daughter Lauren provided the illustrations. It is our hope that they add some spice and characterizations to the book that makes it more enjoyable and coherent! So buckle up and join us as we seek and discover practical career advice for this turbulent working world of ours.