Typical questions Sampson asked were: What does it take to succeed? Why do people fail?
What is the earning potential-short term? What is the earning potential-long term? Who do you have to satisfy to succeed? What do they require? What's involved day-to-day, year-to-year? What are the greatest risks? What kind of skills and temperament fit best?
Prior to the preparation of matrix, he revised his priorities, substituting several new ones and somewhat revising their order.
Essentially the changes in priorities were that top salary and minimum search time were not critical, as long as they were reasonable. Furthermore, the chance of getting the job he wanted and the job being relatively low risk moved from low to near the top of his priorities.
From his research Sampson concluded that management consulting was unrealistic. Success in consulting depends primarily on something he was weak in; namely, selling. Furthermore, he needed a good income immediately for his family's education, and a consulting business would, at best, take several years to build up. Finally, he was temperamentally unsuited to the traveling and the ups-and-downs and pressures of consulting.
As for buying his own business, it soon became obvious that this was also a pipe dream, basically for similar reasons. Sampson needed immediate income, and it would have been sheer folly to risk his limited capital. In addition, searching for a sound and suitable business to buy would undoubtedly be time-consuming.
The teaching-consulting alternative was temperamentally suited to Sampson. On the other hand, such jobs were few in number, and he would have to accept an immediate substantial drop in income. Consulting income would supplement his salary in time. But this would take several years because as a new faculty member his top priority would be establishing his reputation in the classroom.
A production executive's job similar to his former one made the most sense. In the first place, there were a number of them available. Within his commuting range, he estimated there were perhaps 500 such jobs. With normal turnover, probably several of them were open at any one time, and by this time he had had interviews for three. Furthermore, there was the possibility of additional such jobs being established if he could get companies to recognize a critical need his experience could meet. Already an interesting position of this kind had come to his attention. There was a lot of variety in these jobs-so by being selective he felt he could find one tailored to his particular combination of skills, interests (and weaknesses). Sampson decided to make his objective a production executive's job.
Note the insight Sampson obtained through this research process. First, he gained a much better understanding of what his real requirements were. Second, in taking time to explore several career alternatives, Sampson got a much better understanding of their requirements. So he reduced his chance of accepting an unsuitable job. This process also put these alternatives into proper focus for the future. Should difficult times arise on the new job, it would be unlikely that he would wish that he had chosen one of the other alternatives. Gordon Sampson was not stupid. But he was going through a period of great uncertainty in his life with an important and emotional decision to make.
Some summary thoughts
- If at the start of this process, you can't grow your career alternatives to two to four choices, consult a vocational counselor. College placement offices, executive recruiters, and employment agencies can usually recommend such a service.
- Your success in one company won't necessarily be transferred to success in another. Your important achievements may have been only partly due to your ability. They may have been as much due to the needs of your former company at the time and the chemistry surrounding your role in the organization. A prospective company may appear to have the need for many of these same skills, but the management may not really understand what it's going to take to let you get similar results. If this is the case and you accept such a job, you'll be the real loser.
- You'll find a change in career usually takes longer to achieve than another job in your last field. Often a career change means lower pay. It also means greater risk, because its success involves a much greater number of unknowns. If this is your choice-and it has been successful for many-make sure you research it thoroughly. Bear in mind people in the prospective field may try to dissuade you because you don't have the background. Make sure you convince yourself that this is valid before giving up. If you explore the background of many in the field, you'll likely find quite a few came to it with quite different types of experience.
- If you're like most people in the "Advanced development" phase of a career or beyond, you're determined that this change be your last. That's natural. Realize, however, your needs financial, job interest, and satisfaction-are likely to change. What may seem like the right job for you now may well be so structured that it doesn't leave much flexibility. What you may have to do then is what many people do (particularly when they're well along in their careers): spend more time on other aspects of life-friends, hobbies, community activities, travel, and so on.
- Much has been written about the mid-life crisis. Articles in the popular press are frequent, calling attention to dramatic examples of people making major changes in their lives in their 40s and 50s. These instances do happen, but they tend to be blown out of proportion. On the other hand, changes in aspects of your life are occurring and affecting your attitudes and aspirations. As mentioned earlier, you may or may not have realized you're never going to achieve your ultimate career goal. Or if you do, you may not get the satisfaction you expected. Your lifestyle may well have changed or be changing. Your children may have moved away, and you may have more demanding family responsibilities with aging relatives. Or you may be divorced or separated. You may feel you're losing your motivation. Believe me, it's still there- but what triggers it may be less job oriented and more influenced by other parts of your life-civic affairs, continuing education, whatever-or even different aspects of the job. If you take time to get these things in focus, you will find you have built a strong base for the rest of your life.
- Don't try to emulate others-you'll likely end up making a decision that isn't right for you. The pattern of success for many varies over the years and should be measured by a lot more than the job you hold. Many of the people most successful in their careers have paid a high price in their personal lives.
- If you have a strong inclination toward an overcrowded field (e.g., teaching), research it carefully-you may find it isn't as crowded as you think.
