My students frequently ask me how I planned out my career to become president of Fidelity Investments. I always tell them, "There was no grand plan; I backed into my career one step at a time. " In this tough economy and ever-changing world, it is more important than ever to smartly evaluate each step in your career. To prepare for whatever surprises lie ahead, try to make choices today that will maximize your options in the future.
Gaining transferable knowledge begins with the choices you make at school. You want your education to provide you with the necessary skills and expertise to succeed in a wide variety of jobs. I favor those that involve extensive writing, rigorous analysis, or quantitative skills.
Once you have finished your formal education, search for jobs that will allow you to further expand your transferable knowledge — to help you find your next job. Let's say you take a job putting together airplane leases. Within a few years, you could become the world's expert on the subject. By contrast, if you take a job that will expand your computer programming skills, you can greatly boost your options for later steps in your career.
Remember gaining transferable knowledge is only one piece of the puzzle. As a saying goes, "Organizations don't hire people. People hire people. " The more people you know, the more people will think of you when a job pops open — even when it is not publicly advertised.
Of course, you can build your network to some degree without changing jobs. But this sort of event-driven networking pales in comparison with the deep bonds you can develop with your colleagues by working, communicating, and traveling with them.
A. You can make yourself more attractive.
B. Gain transferable expertise and form close bonds with your colleagues.
C. Your next step should help you expand your web of personal relationships.
D. This later helped me evaluate and start business units throughout the world.
E. You can attend conferences or participate in committees at trade associations.
F. This means that you need to make smart choices about the courses you will follow.
G. However, this narrow expertise probably won't help you in any other line of work.
