Rethinking Glam, Influence, and Power Career Paths - Didn't Mom Warn You (as she did us boomers who played it safe and control the money)

 Oh, to be not only part of the buzz but making the buzz.

Those Media Jobs, Also in Tech and on Wall Street

Those are the media jobs. And as Axion documents job security in those career paths is increasingly wobbly. Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that so far this year there have been 3,000 layoffs. Many more are expected. Things look lousy way into 2023.

After that, the sector might be permanently downsized. Those forced out probably will have to reinvent themselves. We career coaches know that is not easy and there are no guarantees that it will pan out.

The same darkness is falling on other lines of work which also are positioned for their glam, influence, and power. Those range from being a brandname in tech to a hedge fund player on Wall Street. 

Our Boomer Moms

Even back in the economic miracle following World War II Mom warned us boomers to play it safe when choosing how to earn a living. After all she had struggled through The Great Depression.

Females then had been steered to picking up a teaching certificate "just in case." And the males were nudged into the fast-growing Corporate America middle management or the traditional my son the doctor and my son the lawyer. In college Brad Karp, chairman of law firm Paul Weiss, did toy with the risky career of running for Congress. Obviously, though, he joined the family business (both mom and dad had been litigators) and went to law school.

Eventually as social mores changed we women also ditched the role of instructor (yes, our generation did manage to make the English major marketable) to assimilate in corporations. We conformed, as photos captured that era when we wore those cute bow ties. We also talked the awkward corporatespeak. On the side while employed full-time in the Fortune 50, yes, I did publish in media but that was only after I had that okayed by my superiors. I was in-the-box.

The Edge of Traditional

As the world kept changing we boomers were well positioned to build on our traditional safe backgrounds. At the end of the 1980s, as Corporate America rightsized quickly I was able to establish an enterprise serving the Fortune 500. Currently in our 70s we still sucking up business opportunities and even good jobs. About the latter, I had been offered a full-time slot in a unit of the Fortune 100.

That was us.

The Mom Of Millennials And Generation Z

Moms of Millennials and Generation Z might have been more out-of-the-box about guiding the career choices of their offspring. For example, Columbia University's MFA in film (so glam) is doing brisk business. That is despite the realities reported by The Wall Street Journal of high student debt (median $181k) and low compensation (average $30k).  Obviously, that sector has been hit hard with everything from the collapse of the film cineplexes to the shaky financials of streaming.

Yeah, the bottom is falling out of so many hot sectors. The joke on some professional anonymous networks is that those who are unemployed or in angst about holding on to their jobs or even contract assignments should re-train to be a long-distance driver. 

On The Road

Training for that could be as low as a few thousand bucks and after a year's experience on the road drivers can dictate the terms and conditions of being an employee or on contract assignment. According to Zip Recruiter, the average compensation is $65,119. That is more than double the average what those with the master's degree in film pull down, on the average. No glam in the big-rig business but, aside from some bumps in the road (no pun intended) the line of work is solid. When there isn't lucrative long-distance stuff available there is plenty of local income-producers. 

For those just starting out on careers the trades such as plumbing and welding should look good. But they usually don't. No glam, influence, or power. That is in contrast to having a byline in establishment media or producing a show on CNN. 

BadBadBad To Suck Up All The Oxygen

Meanwhile, those who seem to be intoxicated with having a high profile are increasingly vulnerable to attack from constituencies ranging from investors to employees. The poster boy for that is Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. The legacy of Celebrity CEO Jack Welch is trash. 

The clients for my career coaching practice whose success is sustainable are low profile. Their objective is earning a good living. They are aware of the dangers of being so out there.

After Making Your Money

Interestingly, in an interview with Insider, boomer Karp indicated he might retire from Paul Weiss when his contract is up in May 2023. He has made his money. He has created an easily transferable brandname. His next, as with the majority of us boomers there probably will be a next, is totally open. By playing in-the-box of safe career paths he earned the right to exit those kinds of boundaries. However, I have a hunch that the next will be buttoned-down but a bit of an adventure.

Doing Windows, The Residential Kind

Recently there seems to have been a shift. More of my intuitive career coaching clients want to feel safe about how they earn their living. That’s exactly why they are following the new now-traditional career path of founding a business. McKinsey documents the surge in entrepreneurship. Most of those enterprises are no-glam, such as doing residential window-washing.

In transition in your career? Need more income? Healing from a professional setback? Intuitive career coaching.

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