In one of his countless hits, “That’s Life” (audio link) Frank Sinatra famously sang:
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king
I’ve been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing
Each time I find myself laying flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race!
Working professionals today are often urged to aggressively keep learning (to be a “life-long learner”). And to be ready for the likelihood that they’ll be changing jobs many times in their lifetime.
But it’s also good to be open to the possibility of actually changing careers (a much bigger leap!)
Many successful entrepreneurs were once established in a big company, before they found their idea, did good research and good planning, and left to start their own business. Or jumped to a totally different role that someone else believed they would be good at.
Personally, I’ve had five different careers (over 30+ years):
- Technical Trainer (Teaching testing tools and programming languages, yes, COBOL and Assembler, back in the 80’s mainframe heyday!)
- I.T. Project Manager
- PMP Project Management Trainer/Consultant for I.T. training companies, and for the U.S. Military
- Adjunct Professor for a leading university in NYC, developing and teaching a wide variety of project management courses
- And side career, Book Author: “The Project Management Answer Book” (1st and 2nd Editions).
I’d be interested to hear from you:
Q. How many careers have you had?
Q. Were they lateral moves? Upward moves? Mixed? Both?
Q. What led you from one to the next?
You might also like to see:
My book, available on Amazon: The Project Management Answer Book, 2nd Edition.
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