Chasing Job Security - You Won't Find It, Not Even in Cybersecurity

"Cybersecurity companies have laid off hundreds of workers in recent months, as concerns mount that an economic downturn will delay funding rounds, and squeeze the amounts investors are willing to commit." - The Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2022.

The reality is that job security is going the way of cable TV and the personal computer.

Yet, there is still the assumption that you can beat the odds of the layoff or being forced into early retirement if you just are career-smart enough to choose the right field - or the right major.

Even members of Generation Z tend to believe that. On Reddit Jobs this is posted:

"i am starting my associates of arts degree in psychology in May. and with my research and reddit, i am realizing how useless it may be. i understood that a BA in psychology is also useless too ..."

Here is that thread.

However, other posts on Reddit Jobs lament being in software development which is laying off.

Posts on Fishbowl Big Law are full of regret about having plowed so much debt, time, and hope into becoming a lawyer now that firms are cutting manpower.

Obviously AI chatbots are going to put plenty of writers on the street. The current mantra is "Writers are a dime a dozen." Within five years, I predict, the professional category "writer" simply won't exist. What the Model-T did to blacksmiths AI will do to content-creators.

Instead of chasing supposed sure things you have to change the channel in your heads. The mindset for landing, holding, and moving on to better work is this: being totally opportunistic. Any background, in experience or in education/training, could pay off. My sideline in coaching lawyers during the 2008 – 2009 catastrophe is what emerged as “most marketable” when the writing niche, along with the influencer one, became more and more glutted.

Here we are in the now: One client for my intuitive career coaching practice had been analytical in delivering pizza and other kinds of edibles. He had been laid off in tech. Eventually he sized up the points of mobility in his new line of work. He decided to worm his way into the project management part. 

The next step for him will probably be studying for certification in that job classification. Then he could launch his own firm. If there develops a surplus in project management then he will have to put together another way or ways to make a good living. 

Get it: There is no "playing it safe." Actually, maybe there never was. Mom, guidance counselors, and well-meaning college professors told my boomer generation that the more education the better. That will ensure not only job security but success.

Well, for too many of us all those advanced degrees, including the Ph.D., were assessed by employers outside of academia as a liability. They were skeptical of our ability to focus in on the specific requirements of a job. In addition, did we feel entitled to special treatment because of our (over)education?

Takeaway: When it comes to earning income from work it's all about figuring out what you have to leverage. And, ask yourself: What is the hedge?

Intuitive career coaching, with the option to using the Tarot, about your present and your next. Step back from that committee in your head and open to possibility.  Sliding Scale Fees. Please make an appointment for a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com.