What are "the work rules of the 90's"?
In one of the last Career newsletters for 1998 I discussed job prospects for the "fifty-something" generation that concerned age discrimination. My general advice was that if you have good and current technical skills in the current job market you are employable at any age. However, I did add a cautionary note that the over-fifty employee (which includes me) needs to be prepared to play by the work rules of the nineties rather that the rules of the seventies. A reader responded by asking me what I meant by that phrase.
Quite honestly, when I used the phrase I didn't have any specific rules in mind. The comment was based on an overall perception that the work environment of 1998 was substantially different than that of 1970. However, it is a fair question so let me try to be more specific.
Rule #1- Permanence is Passé
I cringed every time someone said to me "What I really want is a job that I can settle into for the next ten or fifteen years until I retire." The only honest response I can give to those individuals is that they are likely to have more jobs in the last ten to fifteen years of their careers than in all the time preceding that.
Rule #2 - Contract Work is Honorable
In the seventies most contractors were individuals who were either between jobs or who couldn't or wouldn't hold a permanent full time job. In the '90s, contracting is as legitimate as permanent full time employment and, in fact, should be considered seriously as an employment option.
Rule #3 - Expect a 60-hour work week
Rule #4 - Expect to carry a pager and be on-call all the time
I hope 3 and 4 don't require elaboration.
Rule # 5 - Team Leaders have replaced Middle Management
Rule # 6 - Team Leaders must have strong technical skills
Rule # 7 - Team Leaders are not always Team Leaders.
They may serve on multiple teams in different capacities.
Rule # 8 - Project Management Skills have limited value without matching Technical Skills
These four rules define the major changes in the middle of the information technology organizational hierarchy. Downsizing has eliminated many of the middle management positions that performed administrative and project management tasks. Those tasks have been automated away.
Rule # 9 There will never be a break between high priority projects
Rule # 10 A Career in Information Technology today offer more promise for Long Term Growth than we ever imagined in the seventies.
Author note:
Frank Schoff is the former author and originator of the Career Advisor newsletter. He retired at the end of 1998, but threatened to show up occasionally as a newsletter contributor. He can still be reached at wtgshoff@citcom.net. He might respond but then again ...
RELATED LINKS
The "Over 55" job market
Network World, 12/23/98
Network World's online archive of Fusion Focus newsletters on Careers.
