The 21st Century Career: Are You SleepWalking?

Everyone is worried about their career these days. If you’re in a hot job in a great company, you want to stay ahead, get promoted, and keep your skills up to date. If you’re bored and frustrated, you want to move companies and find a better place to work. If you’re underemployed, you’re probably frustrated to see so many people getting ahead, and you wonder what to do. In a fast-growing economy when lots of companies are growing, finding your career path can be a vexing challenge because you are never really sure if you’re getting ahead.

New research by LinkedIn Learning points out this challenge. As LinkedIn calls it, “Career Sleepwalking,” is very common: 37% of working people have no sense of career path, and 23% say they feel like they are “on a treadmill going nowhere.”

What’s going on? With all the job sites and a professional network like LinkedIn, why is career management so hard? Well it’s not for a lack of desire – the problem is that it’s more complex than it seems. We don’t always have enough information about what job we want next, we aren’t always sure what skills we should develop, and we have a difficult time finding the right employer when there are so many companies to talk with.

I’ve studied this market for many years (plus I’ve had a 40 year career of my own), and there are a few critical things to consider.

1. Build on your strengths.

The best careers are based on you understanding your strengths, and taking the time to identify what you’re good at, learn about the jobs and companies that value these skills, and go out and meet people in those professions. 

That sounds easier than it really is. Many of us don’t really know what we’re good at, and when we’re young we may not have tried enough things to figure out where we will thrive. I spent 10 years in sales and customer service, for example, because I heard that it was good experience for later in life. Now, looking back, it was a wonderful development period in my career… but at the time I was constantly wondering if I really liked it at all.

Fig 1: Figure out what you're good at and focus there, believe me you'll see success

Look at what you like to do, and take some time to ask your friends “what am I really good at?” I know it’s a scary question, but you’ll be amazed what you learn.

2. Try new things, even if it doesn’t mean a promotion.

The second lesson I’ve learned is this: every new project, role, or job you take is an opportunity to learn. Suppose your boss comes along and says “I’d like you to run our sales kickoff next quarter” and you immediately say to yourself “oh my god I don’t want to do that!” Just say yes and roll up your sleeves. I promise when it’s over you’ll say “wow I learned a lot from that experience” and next time someone needs to plan an event or roll out a new product you’ll be way ahead of the curve.

I trained as an engineer, and early in my career I had a job as a maintenance engineer in a refinery. It wasn’t very glamorous (we had to wear Nomex overalls) but wow did I learn a lot. After six months we had a big leak in a coke silo (the large concrete structures that store crystallized oil products) and I was put in charge of leading the contractor fixing the leak. Talk about a dirty job: I had to crawl around all over this structure, fill my hair and lungs with black dust, and spend weeks and months with engineers trying to figure out why it was leaking. Did I think this was a career move? No, I was terrified the entire time, but looking back, I learned about teamwork, working with contractors, and something about structural engineering.

Fig 2: Take on a new opportunity. It's scary but I promise it will pay off.

40 years later, I realize these projects made me what I am today – and helped me build a career as an analyst, researcher, and advisor to large organizations. The LinkedIn data proves that this is a big trend.

• 80% of those under 24 would consider switching careers (function or industry)
• More than a fifth of under 24s have already had four or more full time jobs in their lifetime
• Today’s younger generation are more than 3X more likely to change jobs compared to Baby Boomers.

3. Get some training wherever you can.

I love to learn. And now that I have access to platforms like LinkedIn Learning, I am always taking a few minutes to go in there and click around to learn something. Just last week I was looking at my website and realized I really didn’t spend enough time on Search Engine Optimization. I took a few courses on SEO from LinkedIn and within only a few days I managed to improve my website’s performance by a huge amount. I know, I’m a bit of a geek – but that was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a while.

I met with the CEO of one of the largest companies in India a few months ago, and he told me he took an online course in Python. This is a man who is a billionaire and he has more than 400,000 people working for him. Why did he do this? Because he wanted to understand AI and what he is asking his people to do. If he can learn something new, so can you.

Fig 3: With platforms like LinkedIn Learning (and many others), there's no excuse not to learn.

By the way, of all the things that make you a success in the business world, your “learning agility” is perhaps the most important of all. Teach yourself to learn; take the time to read and learn; and ask people lots of questions. I promise your career will accelerate as a result.

4. Find a coach. Hopefully your manager, but maybe not.

Just as musicians, sports stars, and actors need a coach, so do you. In most companies your manager should be your coach, but let’s face it, many managers aren’t good at this. The LinkedIn research shows that fewer than 50% of employees feel comfortable asking their manager for career advice, and this makes sense. So get the most out of your manager you can.

Fig 4: Don't be afraid to go get a coach. Your manager may not be the best person, so keep on looking.

Does that mean you give up? Not at all! Reach out to peers, other managers you respect, or even outside people like me for help. Every day I get a few emails from people asking for career advice, and when I can I always try to show them what I’ve learned. In most companies today your “line manager” isn’t necessarily the best coach anyway – if you’re lucky they know all sorts of careers you may be interested in, but more likely you’ll have to go elsewhere.

Remember that tenured people, those with lots of experience, get great pleasure out of coaching other people with their career. So ask for help and you’ll be amazed what you learn (plus most senior people have lots of contacts who can hire you).

Can We Make This Easy?

As I stated in the title of this article, Career Sleepwalking is not good for your health. Just like real sleepwalking can result in accidents and falls, career sleepwalking means you may miss a trend, find yourself in a dead-end job, or just see your earnings plateau. You can revitalize your career with the advice above regardless of your age, job, or location.

Just remember: careers today are a series of developmental experiences. They’re like surfing – you catch the wave, surf it in, and then paddle out there for the next one.

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Josh Bersin is a global industry analyst, who studies corporate HR, talent, leadership, recruitment, and all aspects of HR and workplace technology. He is the founder of Bersin by Deloitte, a frequent speaker at industry events, and consults with organizations around the world. You can reach Josh here on LinkedIn or on Twitter at @Josh_Bersin (Disclosure - I provide consulting and advice to brands, including LinkedIn.)