Important focus areas for the initial stages of the career

Career is a journey of 30-35 years and to make it satisfying one should have enthusiasm to unlearn, learn and grow. Initial years are important, every day enriches your experience. In this article want to highlight some important points to deliberate upon in your first few years of your job.

An organization is made of many unique factors like Ownership (public vs private), Revenue generation model (nature of work), Size & Global presence, years in existence, vision, mission, values, future strategy (growth vs sustenance), Current financial status (balance sheet), brand, leadership etc.

There can be many additions to the above list. Here the focus is purposely kept on revenue generation model, size of the company and duration of stay. ?

Criteria 1- Revenue generation model (nature of work): On high level in any industry revenue generation is primarily based on

1.??????Headcount/Services charged to customer: This covers all the services companies, staffing companies, support services, infrastructure services etc. Revenue generation is primarily based on the amount of delivered work or headcount charges.

2.??????Platforms/products used by businesses or end users (B2B, B2C): This covers companies who are directly selling product/platform in the markets and getting paid for all the licenses, subscription fees etc. ?Revenue generation is through volume of product/subscription sales.

Criteria 2 - Size: There are broadly three size of organizations Start-ups, Mid-Size and Large Enterprises

Criteria 3 – Time: Maturity in roles, responsibility & skills are directly proportional to the time you spend in any organization.

Revenue generation model vs org size vs time spent from skill perspective

1.??????Skill requirement for services vs product bases companies is like a V model. Initially the gap for skillset is minimal, becomes wider and wider when individual spends time in either of them. Reason behind it is both work models are completely diverse (technology, processes, mindset, nature of work etc. are different).

2.??????More time you spend in one type of organization it gets harder to shift and boils down to individual strengths to adapt.

3.??????On top of it if you apply the size criteria it becomes more complex ( change management perspective) as every size of the organization demands different level of ownership, multi-tasking, technology requirements, collaboration, flexibility, mind set etc.

Focus areas for the early job phase: While switching a job in early stage of the career the adaptability is more because the skill gap to cover is less. But still someone who is trying to do a double switch (revenue model & size) this gap becomes much wider. It is imperative to understand current state and to be state to make right decision. Some important pointers below -

·??????Understand the business (why there is a need for the work which you are doing?)

·??????Analysis of one’s strength & weakness ( needed for alignment with right role )

·??????Identify areas of interest (longer & satisfying career)

·??????Envisioning the future roles ( long term objective alignment)

·??????Social connects and identifying mentors (industry insights & personal improvement)

·??????Future industry trends (are you ready for the upcoming opportunities?)

·??????Individual growth parameter assessment ( horizontal vs vertical)

·??????Continuous skill enhancement ( to attain desired talent state)

·??????Career Blueprint with milestones

When there is a re-org or restructuring done in any company there is a formal process of OCM (Organizational Change Management) implemented. In similar way individuals should define, create and implement change management process for them while switching jobs/roles. This will help them to adapt easily and flourish. If detailed effort spend on above points they can provide valuable inputs for the individual's change management process.?Ultimately resulting into a solid foundation and clarity in future journey. ?