The Garden: Building a career or chasing paper?

I was catching up with social media posts the other day when I stumbled into one post that drew my attention.  It was those long paragraph posts one would easily skip on Facebook.

However, because it was put up by someone I have good intellectual energy with, I made sure I read it.  What the poster was addressing is at the back of an article that made the news that morning on the KPMG SA CEO, being promoted to a “global” role just a year after.  There were some really interesting reactions to the news article and between the poster and me we took it to a broader stimulating discussion.  Some of the issues that were on the table was the question of what promotion means.  Whether it was more money or a broader responsibility scope.

Well, it really got me thinking and has certainly inspired this week’s article on The Garden.  Every other day we have job seekers looking for work which some describe as “anything” I just want to work- therefore the objective of such a job seeker is money.  It then makes sense to assume that the money will control the career path or rather the money will primarily influence the process of the job search.  For instance, such person could be job hopping and it would not really matter to them whether they stay on long enough to make an impact.  They could easily be crossing floors for the highest bidder looking for “anything” that will fetch them money.  Then we have the job seeker who wants to build a career.  Such a person has to put certain things into consideration in addition to money should they desire to meet their desired goal.  Some of these goals usually include mastering your industry skill and being among the best in your line of business.

When a position is available- whether it is you seeking a new post or you being offered a promotion- There are the key things to look out for, that is “What will be my responsibility scope ?” and the answer to this usually inform the remuneration package.  Secondly, ask yourself whether this position will give you a broader value chain.  In the end, you want to avoid a scenario whereby you run the risk of diluting your CV- where for instance work for many years for an organization without a growth projecting track record.  Also, you would not want to display a lack of consistency or focus by job hopping within different industries frequenting various and sometimes contradictory roles.  For some recruiters, it even questions your loyalty   and you then become a high risk which could negatively impact your chances of being considered for a post regardless of how talented you are.  Apart from talent, organisations serious about business are looking for people who are passionate, committed and dedicated.

There is a popular saying “Different strokes for different folks” so in a nut shell, we all decide whichever works for us.  In case you have never given it a thought, perhaps you want to do that today.  Figure out what your objective is- is it building a career or is it chasing the paper?  Your answer to this will inform subsequent decisions and the moves you make.