Manage your Career just like an Investment Portfolio

People love to track and review their investment portfolio quite closely, some even compulsively. They acquire newer assets, divest those not delivering a fair return, rejig the mix to reflect changes in the market place, factor in their risk appetite at different life stages and ensure that wealth creation still has enough insurance cover. In my role as a career coach, I have asked many a variant of this: how many of you look at your career experiences and choices with the same portfolio frame of reference? Typically there is a hushed silence. Not surprising. When many have strayed into vocations by pure serendipity or playing the herd, the assumption is a good base degree automatically will take care of things. Worse, that is the job of organizations. Beware!

1. Identify your needs as you evaluate careers: Each of us may have very varying compulsions, motives and ambitions. None is wrong. But build career choices around deeply embedded life interests. If you love what you do, you are far likely to have a better overall return on your career investments. “Return” in the way you define it. Make this the baseline and build on it.
2. Periodically review how your career is looking: I have found people assuming a high title and good money is indicative of a 'happening' career. Is that all to a career? Are you indeed happy? Do you feel enthusiastic getting into work? Is there something else you would like to do? Would your skill sets be relevant or adequate in a new firm or with a new set of managers or possibly with a sudden change in business? Have you learnt anything new in the last six months? Make a six monthly review of your career a habit.
3. What is the career portfolio mix you have chosen? : People are made different. Their needs are different. They may start with their unique advantages or handicaps. But as we go along, we must take stock. If we have been overly defensive, preferring fixed deposit or bond biased choices, would we be becoming stuck in our careers? Or have we played the markets aggressively? The returns may have been exciting but the career may be looking too pock-marked suddenly. Maybe a little stability would be useful. If we do not pause and review, we risk either way. Remember, do not always look at the rear view when making future career choices. The next big wave of career possibilities are getting rewritten.
4. Blue chip or mid cap? Or even small cap? : There is the typical advantage of building a career with a blue chip. It is safe and the returns are predictable. The risk is the returns may not always be inflation beating. Your career may be stuck in a maze. Would a bit of risk add to career experiences? Could the rewards be disproportionate? Could a variety of learnings actually add shine to your career? No right answers but all good questions.
5. One industry or a bouquet? One function or multiple?: What portfolio works with Paul may not work with Peter. These are choices but also lead to consequences eventually. One can build a deep domain bias and it may just be fine as long as one is cognizant of any angularity in exposure. A single company or industry choice is assuring, seemingly safe and your defined world. But it surely is not the only world. For many, horizontal cross-overs add to fresh learnings and perspectives. A variety of experiences may also be a better de-risking strategy in a VUCA world. The same would apply to working with specific managers. I have seen people work with the same people for decades. No value judgment, but did we miss newer leadership styles and work behaviours? What you decide is always your choice but you must reflect periodically. And act so as to never be left with a less than inflation-beating return.
6. Shuffle your portfolio as the market evolves: A class of investments may be better suited for a certain market situation. Likewise, do we shuffle our career experiences to always be ahead of the curve over time? When was the last time you took a sabbatical? When did you volunteer to be on a project beyond your day job? When did we move to a lateral job that was a new exposure? Learning is the best career investment. Are we doing enough of that in our portfolio? Keep your experiences live and alert to the market cues. You may not always have the expected returns on every investment but your portfolio should always be healthy.
7. Get rid of dead investments: Sometimes we realize that some investments just do not seem to be getting better. Cut the loss. There is no ego loss in being pragmatic. If something is just not turning out the way you had hoped, get out. Hoping for a miracle is not always worth the wait. Write that exposure off and bounce back to a healthier portfolio. No one is going to bother about one bad move if your overall portfolio is healthy.
8. Don't outsource completely to a Fund or Portfolio manager: We are fortunate if we have an accomplished portfolio manager to help take care of our investments. But remember it is your investment and you cannot abdicate completely. So also with careers. Your organization or your manager may help you as well as they can but ultimately it is your career. Listen to advice but do not repudiate your right to finally call.
9. Manage your portfolio in line with your life stage needs: Careers need the same attention. Typically being more bullish and aggressive in the early years is not misplaced. Each experience has possibilities beyond imagination. Even if there are a few slips, there is time to course correct. As one moves through life stage, more prudence becomes natural. Yet the portfolio must never be completely defensive. The right scrips must be picked intelligently any time.
10. Avoid market gossip. Do your diligence as all investments are subject to market risk: Careers are serious business. They need your time and focus. It is dangerous to pick career options purely on the buzz. Solicitation is natural temptation. But before you commit to a choice, weigh how the choice will fit in your overall portfolio if experiences. Will it give you new learnings? What downside risks are likely? What would your possible mitigation plans be should you need to?

The bottom line is clear: invest right, build right, weed out right. Make the career investments that will make you a winner.

Prabir Jha

(Prabir Jha is the President & Group CHRO, Reliance Industries Ltd. He tweets extensively on themes like Careers, Leadership, Organization Culture & Transformation. His handle is @Prabirjha)

This article was published in The Economic Times on Oct 23, 2014

https://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-10-23/news/55358841_1_career-possibilities-career-coach-investment-portfolio