Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

What a banal title. Oh well. I guess I will have to make it up in content.

I sent out a career S.O.S. to a friend, and he gave me some excellent advise. There are times when we face the Quarterlife crisis cross-roads of life. We ask, "What can I do at this point in life, now that I am young and energetic? What should my next step be to build a successful career?" I don't want to get into specifics, but here are some good advise if you face the same issues as I do:

1. Ask yourself "What are the building blocks of what you need/want in life?"
This applies to your lifestyle and career ambition as well as the little daily facts about your working environment. Do you NEED to travel a lot? Do you NEED to work in HR? Do you WANT to work in multinationals? Do I WANT or NEED a 8-5 job with a salary that allows 3-4 expensive outings per month? Go extremely micro on this, to the point where you make an exhaustive list. Based on the hierchy of needs and wants, you can really understand yourself. Job hunt is vague and useless unless you start here - just stating the obvious, but I think I have neglected it too long as well.

2. The difficulty of creating opportunities and assessing opportunities that fall into your lap
Creating an opportunity takes time and energy, so it is easy to be swayed by opportunities that present itself. You have to really know yourself to make that decision about the opportunity. Also, however many you have, opportunities are ever fleeting and it is hardly likely that you can compare opportunity A, B, C simultaneously in a controlled lab setting. So the decision-making process really depends on your ability to deftly maneuver the changing currents of opportunities. This is merely stating the nature of opportunities. How to handle "multiple opportunities as a safety-net for risk" or "few opportunities with flexibility" depends on your personality and ties with each opportunity.

3. Do the "close door" test
Will taking one option close a door (forever) for another? And how much does that matter to you? This is the moment of truth when you have to say, "well, if I choose option Z, industry X will never hire me or the chances are slim as Calista Flockhart!" One of the biggest fears of our peer groups is "If I quit a MNC (could be an @ traineeship), will I be able to come back? Ever?"

My friend's particular issue was that he did not like his particular role and position in a MNC, but was not ready to denounce working for a big global company altogether either. I think we can all relate to this thought process. So my friend asked other people working in MNCs about the chances of him returning to a MNC would be, and the responses were not as negative as he feared. The windows do get narrow, but it's not a mission impossible. For my friend, in fact, working in a SME has become a better fit and a more rewarding experience, so he is more inclined to stay in smaller companies now. Also, given his experience and portfolio, applying to a MNC is not impossible.

4. On skillz and knowl-edge.
People do not get any smarter by getting older. If you were intelligent in your university hay-days, you probably have that sharpness till the day you die or until you get altzheimers. For the less-ingenius pundits, like me, the key to success is to keep on upgrading yourself. I knew a Japanese salaryman who advised me to constantly put in 1/3 of your income into self-improvement if you ever wished to be promoted - e.g. going to seminars, buying books. Whatever it may be, make sure that you are constantly learning because you're not getting ahead by just breathing.

5. Know thy self and surround yourself with friends who genuinely care about where you are going
This is my personal advise. Networking and knowing people is one thing. But you are doing yourself great service when you have friends of your peer and of industry experience who can give you genuine advise. Some times all it takes is the initiative to ask. When I asked Paris for advise, he gave me a genuine assessment of where I seemed to be in my career and a guiding light to where I could be going - based on knowing me and what my ambitions are. When I talked with Mel over the weekend, she shared her perception of my potential and an encouragement towards a certain career path. Having an AIESEC background also makes it easier to identify what makes all of us tick.

Excellent advise that made for an excellent weekend.