Helen Keller once said, "Security is mostly a superstition. . . . Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Keller, as we all know, overcame some of the most devastating barriers imaginable to achieve great things in the world. Compared with her inspirational example, it's shameful how wimpy and risk-averse so many of us have become. It may be scary to take some calculated risk with your future, but you may also be surprised by the zest it adds to your work-life.
A 25-year veteran of the Bell System learned this lesson well. Fresh out of engineering school at 22, he'd joined forces with the phone company as a field engineer in Chicago and stayed . . . and stayed . . . and stayed. Like many corporate Goliaths, the Bell System was once a bastion of stability where "lifers" traded a career's worth of devoted service for guaranteed employment.
No more. After divestiture, he was declared "surplus" or "at risk" on three different occasions. He always managed to save himself at the eleventh hour, but the uncertainty took an emotional toll.
"I was clinging to my employer like a prisoner to his jail bars," he says.
At age 47, he was eight years short of a full pension and, if he could help it, he wasn't going anywhere without it. But eight years is a long time to spend hanging on to the edge of a lifeboat. He didn't make it.
Right after his 50th birthday, a new package was offered that made leaving more palatable. It cost him 25 percent of his pension to walk away. But, at his age, he figured it was a better alternative than staying. He no longer wanted to spend precious time passively waiting to leave-especially since there was no guarantee he could last another five years.
"Ten years ago, it would have been heresy to say you wanted to leave Bell," he says. "Today, it's idiotic for someone like me to stay."
It helped that he'd built a strong financial safety net through his 25 years of service.
"If I didn't take the risk, I knew that I'd always regret the missed opportunity," he says. "That seemed like a bigger risk than not trying."
Once free, he gambled again-this time on a franchise operation. Last people heard from him, he and his two teenagers were happily dishing out yogurt to health-conscious customers.
Risky? Perhaps. But since risk is inevitable, at least you can choose the kinds of chances you want to take. This former Bell veteran loves the newfound feeling that he has more control over his own destiny.
For the 45-and-over crowd, age may be the greatest deter-rent to risk-taking. With seemingly little margin for error, the consequences of making a mistake loom larger. Yet in reality, there may be as much risk in staying put as there is in leaving familiar ground. Expert job-hunting skills can minimize some of the anxiety that comes from taking more employment chances.
Savvy careerists know how to market themselves in an entrepreneurial way. They take stock of their marketable skills, research and identify employers who need those talents and make every effort to let them know that (1) they want to work for the firm, and (2) they have something unique to offer.
Like it or not, the rules have changed. You can get with the program or get left out in the cold. Your choice.
You have to educate yourself for success in this employment market. If job hunting is unfamiliar territory, make the book-store or library your first stop. Hundreds of books have been written that can help you improve your search skills.
There's also a burgeoning field of career and outplacement counselors who coach people on how to find jobs. If you get your walking papers, knowing how to access those resources and learn about the process is the key to finding a new job.
