Young people should be open to opportunities

By STEVE PROCTOR Proctor's Piece

WHAT DO YOU want to be when you grow up?

It's a cute question when asked by a well-intended aunt to a six-year-old, but for high schoolers choosing courses for their final year or university students poring over a six-inch-thick calendar of course options, the question is often an unwelcome source of stress.

Heck, I'm 46 and I still break out in a cold sweat when it creeps into my thoughts on a sleepless night.

How do you know if you want to be a firefighter, an insurance broker or journalist? Is it possible to make a living as an artist? Are there really going to be jobs in IT for someone coming out of school or interested in retraining?

There is a growing number of job shadowing, co-op and work placement options evolving to help answer those questions, but employment placement specialist Mark Surrette of Roberston Surrette says people, especially young people, shouldn't get their knickers in a knot worrying about finding their career path in the first place.

"It's not important for young people to have a career focus when they get out of school. There will be a certain cohort that knows what they want immediately, but those people who don.t should try to experience a number of different opportunities," he told me during a recent chat.

The "buffet of opportunities" available to workers today is bigger than it has ever been and he encourages people to sample broadly. In the same way someone unexpectedly discovers they like sushi after trying a variety of dishes, he said, real life work experiences generally allow an individual to gravitate toward a certain field.

Unlike 20 years ago when employers focused on the skills an employee brought to the table, he said human resource managers are now looking more carefully at the life experiences that can be leveraged

And while parents footing the bills might disagree with him, he said, students who get a bachelor of arts in philosophy and then trudge around Europe aren.t usually hurting their employability.

When you think of the toolkit of skills they develop as they deal with people from other cultures, and who speak other languages, he said the package they bring to the table can be far more attractive than the kid who shows up at the door simply with an accounting degree.

Surrette went on to say that while it's common to hear human-resource speakers say most people will have five jobs or careers in their life, he believes projected labour shortages, globalization, flexible work opportunities and the evolution of technology that allows the workplace to move with individuals will mean most people graduating today will have jobs "in the multiples of five."

But wouldn't a resume that has 15 jobs on it over a 10-year period send up a red flag to a potential employer, I asked him.

Not necessarily. Twenty years ago the length of time a person spent with a company was a positive indicator. Long service was a sign of loyalty, a badge of courage, proof you'd earned your spurs.

Today it's frowned on. If you've been with the same company for more than 12 or 13 years, you are viewed as not open to change. You're too comfortable. You haven't seen new ways of doing things.

Change is good. Moving across the country to take a job shows initiative and a willingness to take a risk.

But for many Maritimers, he said, moving away to take a job also means leaving a lifestyle that is already the envy of the country.

And that's why he says Maritimers are among the least mobile workers in the country.

For every 50 people who are transferred up in an organization but out of Halifax, he estimates 30 will looking for alternatives that will keep them in the province.

And of those who are lured away by an opportunity that is too good to pass up, he said most are immediately on the hunt looking for an opportunity to come back.

Proctor's Piece is an occasional column by Business Editor Steve Proctor.