Changing rules in the career market

A wonderful article by Mr. VA Pattabhi Ram V, FCA, in the news letter for Ernakulam Branch..


Would you like to take a sneak peak at the kind of organization that you will be working in? Well it would not be the conventional kind of structure which most people are conversant of. Like, it would neither be an Indian company or a foreign company. Does this surprise you? It should not.

In tomorrow’s world there is every likelihood that you would work in a company which is headquartered in India, whose row- material is sourced from Australia, whose finished product is marketed in North America, money is raised in Europe, the design and development is undertaken in south America and the finished goods are manufactured in China, Asia. So you are likely to have the sourcing function in Australia-New Zealand, marketing in America, finance in Europe, R&D in South America, manufacturing in China and strategizing in India. Now what do you call such a company? An Indian company or an American company or a plain and simple transnational organization?

We are not shooting in the dark. Such organizations are already in existence with business process outsourcing being a trailer or a precursor for the shape of things to come. In such a world your colleagues, peer, mentors, leaders are not going to have the same socio, economic, cultural backgrounds. They would come from differing backgrounds with different work place ethics that would lead to culture shocks. To succeed in such place you need to understand the changing rules of the career market.

Rule 1: Uni Vs. Multi functional.
Knowledge is Power

If you are a specialist, that’s great. Suppose you are the big boy of a corporate finance or of the fussy world ofmanagement accounting. Or, suppose that you are hopelessly in love with the debits and credits of financial accounting or with the loopholes of tax and law. Well, in that case you could graduate to become the CFO of the organization. But you will stop there. You may never graduate to become the CEO. If you want to run an organization, say a manufacturing outfit, whilst you could be a specialist in finance and accounting, you will also have to have a significant appreciation of manufacturing, marketing, research, design, development and strategizing not to speak of HR and technology. All of this was true once upon a time. Today, if you want to be a CFO you will have to know all those things that a CEO of youre needed to know. Yes, you need to have a multi-functional appreciation of the happenings in your organization even to become a CFO, leave alone becoming a CEO. This is a world where knowledge like never before is power.

Rule 2: 9 to 5 Vs. 24 X 7
Career first

If you ask your grandparents they would tell you how simple the world over was. They went to office at 9 in the morning and returned home at 5 in the evening so much so that there was branded dress ware called 9 to 5 which sold like hot cakes among office goers.
Working on weekends and holidays was strict no –no. It was called the British culture, at its very best. At office time you did office work, at other times you did other work. Today you cannot be a clock watcherToday it is not just enough to show up; you have to deliver. There is nothing like 9 to 5 office timing. Its flexi timing. You work 24 hours day.7 days a week, 365 days a year. That's like a doctor on duty.

You are given a task to be performed in say 5 days. You could sleep for 4 days and crack it on the 5th.Or you could work all 5days. Boy, it's your choice. We are not suggesting that this is the wisest way to work, but that's the reality, The arrival of mobile and the internet has meant the death of privacy. Today, career comes first. Everything else, the family included, is second .The pressure to succeed is immense. Little wonder that there are early burn outs, stained relationships and greater career crisis But if you want to succeed you need to play the game by the new rules of the game.


Rule 3; Gray hairs Vs. Gray cells
Age no bar

Ask your grandparents and they will tell you that you need to be 50plus to be a CEO. Look at any of the public sector organizations and you will see that. Also many a private
sector player too has that proclivity. There was a time when ambitious youngsters shaded
their hair a shade white (yes white or black) to look more mature when they were seeking for higher jobs. Today things are changing. At 30 something you can become a CEO: at 40 plus you should be definitely the head of a global organization. The days when promotions were based on seniority, yes sir syndrome and age zones are gone. Today
they are merit-based, there is greater objectivity in appraisal: what companies look for is transferable skill set, you can ask why you are being rated lower and there is a healthy competition.

Rule 4: Hard skills vs. Soft skills
Beyond Knowledge

Ten or so years ago, you could get to climb the corporate ladder if you were strong in your subject, smart and current in your area of work. Hard skill(a k a knowledge) was important. Like, if you knew the income tax law inside out including judgments and how to deal with the officers you could become the big boss of taxation in office. Like, if you knew corporate and other laws cover to cover you could become the big boss of secretarial practice.

Even today knowledge is important: but knowledge alone won't do. You need to have the ability to carry people along with you. And that calls for people skills. Your ability to communicate, get along be a team player, contribute as a team member, lead small groups, generate and take through ideas, motivate others are all crucial. These are what are referred to as soft skills. The irony is that you will have to work with, lead or report to folks who might IQ wise not measure up to you. But the world is made up of all kinds of people. Remember, great effort was never achieved by outstanding individuals but by ordinary mortals who went on to do extraordinary things. Today like never before, soft skills are far more important than hard skills.

Rule 5 : Loyalty vs Job Hopping
Who is the boss?

Old timers will tell you that they thought many a time before taking up their first jobs. They swore by the Japanese philosophy, "One employer for life." Ask your grandpa and he is likely to say that didn't work in more than 3 companies all his life. Those days, If you switched jobs you were thought to be disloyal. Today the scene isn't that way. Today, job hopping is quite on. No one things twice before switching jobs. The loyalty is longer to the company; the loyalty is to the self and to one's career. Now this is not to suggest that you should do a hop, step and jump every other year. It is only to indicate that hopping 3 jobs in 10 years isn't all that bad. Every hop should give you a better and wider appreciation of organizational working, widen your horizon, improve your skill set and take you closer to your big goal. Hop jobs by all means but hop with a purpose.


Rule 6; One time Vs Life long
Run boy, run

If you think your education ends the moment you qualify from the Institute of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)or from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) or whatever your almamater is, you are wrong. May be once upon a time the availability of knowledge in the world doubled every 50 years. Later it started doubling every 15 years. Today it doubles every 3 years. This means that if for three years on the trot you don't update yourself, you will become a museum piece. Today learning is life long. The moment you stop learning your career is over. And often what you have learn you might not have studies a jot in your classrooms. The name of the game therefore is to learn the art of "learning to learn". That will put an enormous pressure on your in your job. But this is a welcome pressure.


Rule 7; Adam Vs. Eve
It's a woman's world also

Years ago man ruled the world. No, we aren't being chauvinistic. Not many women ventured to be engineers or CAs. They chose the more exciting profession of medicine. Today a very good number are cracking into what was for many years regarded a male bastion. They are also populating the corporate world, left, right and centre, There is no such thing as glass ceiling for woman to climb. If you have the knowledge, skill and expertise you can go places.

This puts up a stiffer world to work in You will have woman as your peers, as your boss, as your coach or you may have to mentor them. Whether it will be easy or one cannot say, but they for sure come with a completely different mind set. Consider this sentence.
"Woman with out her man is nothing" Once upon a time, people, woman included, would have punctuated it as "Woman, with out her man, is nothing". Today, people, men included, would punctuate it as "Woman, with out her, man is nothing" That's the mind set change.


Rule 8 : Winner Vs Runner
Winner takes all.

At the career market, as in life, success is eulogized; no tears are shed for failures. The world recognizes you, appreciates you, admires you, adores you and fawns on you only as you are a success. The moment you slip up, as any human being can, it forgets you. Take this quiz. You know Australia won the 1999 world cup. Remember who was the runner up? No? Well, that's how the world is.It only remembers only winners ."Don’t talk of your labour pains; show us child " is the credo. If you whine you are dismissed as a whiner, not a winner. Your motive therefore should be towards only one goal, one signpost; Success.