The ongoing debate over trade policy highlights a major career risk: the possibility that you could become obsolescent because of cheaper labor elsewhere and/or automation. For example, in the auto industry, many car parts and some cars are made in other countries and shipped to America because labor and other costs are cheaper elsewhere. In America's auto assembly plants, robots have replaced large numbers of people because robots are more reliable and cheaper. This trend will continue as many other tasks become mechanized and/or cost-effective in lower wage nations. Computer programming, radiology, legal research and legal document review have joined data entry and call center jobs as routinized work that can be done by smart people living in many countries. What can you do about your potential obsolescence?
Keep up your skills. Maintain and upgrade your professional skills. People capable of cutting edge work will often have an advantage over foreign competition and robots.
Be flexible. Keep an open mind about working in new and different jobs. Many people have succeeded in fields they didn't plan on entering. But they were open minded about learning new things and taking on new challenges. The economy will keep changing, and success can follow if you change with it. If you're unemployed, be open to taking temporary and part-time work in order to prevent your personal finances from eroding faster than necessary.
Computers and computer science. Much of the reason for personal obsolescence is computerization. Computers and related technologies (most importantly, the Internet) make it possible for workers overseas and robots to compete against American workers. Don't get angry about this because computerization will continue--and most likely at an accelerating pace. If you can't beat them, join them. Acquire and maintain computer skills. Go into a computer-related field. Become a programmer, technician, data management engineer or something else computer-related that fits your skills. Computers won't become obsolete, and people who can work with them have a better chance of staying employable.
Build your benefits. Work as long as possible to build Social Security credits. If you have the potential to earn a pension, stay in that job long enough to qualify. Having a stream of payments that doesn't depend on your employability is a major victory over obsolescence.
Save. Here's an ugly truth: just as the wages and salaries of the middle class have fallen due to globalization and other reasons, the returns on capital have improved. People who hold capital are becoming comparatively better off, while people who work are on average becoming comparatively worse off. Save. Acquire capital and improve your chances for a comfortable life. Then save some more. Whatever your views on social issues like the distribution of income and wealth, you are individually better off with a pool of savings to protect you from the riptides of a free enterprise economy.
Showing posts with label career success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career success. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Friday, June 17, 2011
Why Your Kid(s) Should Study Math
The unemployment rate among recent college graduates is about twice the 9% rate for the labor force as a whole. Many a recent recipient of a very expensive sheepskin has returned to the nest, bearing truckloads of debt and earning no regular income to repay it. Much has been written about their disillusionment; perhaps not enough has been written about those of their generation who found good jobs. Where are the high-paying jobs for holders of 4-year degrees? In engineering, computer programming and other science-oriented fields. What do these fields have in common? The need for good math skills.
Engineers can command starting salaries of $70,000 or more a year. People taking jobs in, say social work, earn half that or less. But they may have comparable debt loads. These statistics tell you who's going to be better off five, ten, twenty and more years after college.
Many liberal arts grads try to bail themselves out by taking on more student loans and going to law school or business school. Those with a facility for numbers will have the advantage. Most areas of law practice involve numbers. That's obviously so for those specializing in business, tax, trusts and estates, or torts. But math skills pay off even in areas like family law (try doing a prenup or a divorce without an understanding of money and finance), or criminal law (DNA matching is statistical, not literal, and sentencing issues can sometimes devolve into numerical arguments). As for finance and other business school subjects, take a look at options pricing models, and then bounce over to the math underlying a CDO, and then a CDO squared. If that's not enough fun, look at the modelling underlying high speed stock trading algorithms. Those who struggled with middle school algebra won't have a chance.
Even if you're not a college grad, math skills can be very important. Skilled blue collar work is increasingly computerized (look in the service bays of any car dealership, or the work stations in a machine tool shop). The manager of any franchise or retail business needs to keep track of sales, inventory, and employee schedules and hours worked. Even with computers, you can't do the work right unless you have a grasp of numbers.
All the nations that seem economically strong today emphasize math in their educational systems--China, South Korea, Singapore, and Germany are examples. America's state and locally controlled school systems don't place the same priority on math. That leaves only you as a parent. Too many students and parents focus on what it takes to get into the best college possible--being well-rounded, and having public service, internships, foreign travel and impressive references. Not enough focus on the step that follows: getting a freaking job.
Advanced economies become advanced through the application of science and math. Without science and math, we'd still be living in caves. People who understand the basis for advancement will do better as the future unfolds. Make sure your kids take as much math as they can stand. Not everyone needs to take calculus in high school, but the more mathematical facility a person has, the better that person is likely to do.
Engineers can command starting salaries of $70,000 or more a year. People taking jobs in, say social work, earn half that or less. But they may have comparable debt loads. These statistics tell you who's going to be better off five, ten, twenty and more years after college.
Many liberal arts grads try to bail themselves out by taking on more student loans and going to law school or business school. Those with a facility for numbers will have the advantage. Most areas of law practice involve numbers. That's obviously so for those specializing in business, tax, trusts and estates, or torts. But math skills pay off even in areas like family law (try doing a prenup or a divorce without an understanding of money and finance), or criminal law (DNA matching is statistical, not literal, and sentencing issues can sometimes devolve into numerical arguments). As for finance and other business school subjects, take a look at options pricing models, and then bounce over to the math underlying a CDO, and then a CDO squared. If that's not enough fun, look at the modelling underlying high speed stock trading algorithms. Those who struggled with middle school algebra won't have a chance.
Even if you're not a college grad, math skills can be very important. Skilled blue collar work is increasingly computerized (look in the service bays of any car dealership, or the work stations in a machine tool shop). The manager of any franchise or retail business needs to keep track of sales, inventory, and employee schedules and hours worked. Even with computers, you can't do the work right unless you have a grasp of numbers.
All the nations that seem economically strong today emphasize math in their educational systems--China, South Korea, Singapore, and Germany are examples. America's state and locally controlled school systems don't place the same priority on math. That leaves only you as a parent. Too many students and parents focus on what it takes to get into the best college possible--being well-rounded, and having public service, internships, foreign travel and impressive references. Not enough focus on the step that follows: getting a freaking job.
Advanced economies become advanced through the application of science and math. Without science and math, we'd still be living in caves. People who understand the basis for advancement will do better as the future unfolds. Make sure your kids take as much math as they can stand. Not everyone needs to take calculus in high school, but the more mathematical facility a person has, the better that person is likely to do.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What Makes a Child Successful As an Adult?
This is the $64,000 question for parents and children. There's no single correct answer for all children. Indeed, there isn't a universally accepted definition of success--a thrice-divorced workaholic who becomes the CEO of a Standard and Poors 500 company but is a stranger to his or her children may be seen by some as obsessive, not successful.
Nevertheless, career success, for better or for worse, matters a lot. A recent article by CNBC about the first jobs of corporate CEOs (http://www.cnbc.com/id/43223409) offers intriguing insights into the roots of career success. Although the article covers only 10 individuals, hardly a statistically significant sample, it reports that many started with jobs that few upper middle class Americans would want for their children--dishwasher, paper boy, lawn mower, restaurant server, warehouse worker, oyster shucker--and a majority started working before the age of 18. Almost none had the resume burnishing, internship intensive experiences that kids from comfortable suburbs today voraciously seek. Volunteering, if done, isn't mentioned in the article. Neither is overseas travel.
The first jobs for these CEOs generally offer dull, repetitive and intellectually unchallenging work that requires conscientiousness and a tolerance for boredom. They reward those who are willing to work hard, and preferably cheerfully. A child so employed learns that doing the job well and getting it done are rewarded. Enjoying the job, or finding it enriching, are secondary. The enrichment the child gets is greater discipline, persistence and reliability. These traits can pay very large dividends later in life. While they aren't the only components of success--ability, education, personality and, last but certainly not least, luck, play critical roles as well--it would seem that starting off with a low paying, low status job may actually be an excellent opportunity to learn how to work. Don't take my word for it. Ask the CEOs in CNBC's article.
Nevertheless, career success, for better or for worse, matters a lot. A recent article by CNBC about the first jobs of corporate CEOs (http://www.cnbc.com/id/43223409) offers intriguing insights into the roots of career success. Although the article covers only 10 individuals, hardly a statistically significant sample, it reports that many started with jobs that few upper middle class Americans would want for their children--dishwasher, paper boy, lawn mower, restaurant server, warehouse worker, oyster shucker--and a majority started working before the age of 18. Almost none had the resume burnishing, internship intensive experiences that kids from comfortable suburbs today voraciously seek. Volunteering, if done, isn't mentioned in the article. Neither is overseas travel.
The first jobs for these CEOs generally offer dull, repetitive and intellectually unchallenging work that requires conscientiousness and a tolerance for boredom. They reward those who are willing to work hard, and preferably cheerfully. A child so employed learns that doing the job well and getting it done are rewarded. Enjoying the job, or finding it enriching, are secondary. The enrichment the child gets is greater discipline, persistence and reliability. These traits can pay very large dividends later in life. While they aren't the only components of success--ability, education, personality and, last but certainly not least, luck, play critical roles as well--it would seem that starting off with a low paying, low status job may actually be an excellent opportunity to learn how to work. Don't take my word for it. Ask the CEOs in CNBC's article.
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