That’s exactly what Joe told me the other day on the phone: “An algorithm took my job!”
Joe had been a successful stock analyst for more than 20 years on Wall Street, usually working from home, often trading late into the early morning hours and generating excellent returns. He is an introvert by nature, so his social circle and professional network are not robust. Maybe he wasn’t listening adequately to the march of technology.
So when his long term employer was acquired and the new managers announced they were hopping on the exchange traded funds bandwagon, Joe was out on the street—and totally unprepared.
As a career management firm active for more than three decades, we hear this story again and again.
What about the ignition system and drive chain engineers suddenly rendered obsolete by automakers’ shift to electric vehicles? The recruiter whose screening of resumes is now handled predominantly by AI? Or the airline attendant made redundant by the check-in kiosk?
And it will continue.
As in many cases, the best defense is a good offense. Start rethinking your career now before you have to and head for higher ground. There are many pockets where people are still preferable to machines, and there probably always will be.
So where are they?
Actually, that’s the wrong question. The first question is, how satisfied are you with your current career track? Adding your voice to our Job Satisfaction Survey may help you answer this question.
The second question is what occupation best fits your skills, experience, and preferences? If you want or must change jobs, then why not look for one you will enjoy and that will compensate you appropriately? Our Clarity Program© helps executives reconsider how they can best utilize their personalities, their skills, and their experience to better fit their changing life circumstances and drive in a coherent long term direction—a personal strategic plan. More than 400 executives have rated this program resoundingly “Excellent” so far.
“[My Clarity Coach] Julie was Tremendous… She’s a great motivator and so very easy to work with. I feel I got off to a really good start thanks to her motivation, and I’m really looking forward to the next steps. This part of the program was Excellent…”
George Seitz, recent Clarity Program© client
Our Clarity Program© has helped people like Joe understand that their real skill is actually in pattern recognition—a highly transferable skill. Joe went on to become a data analytics VP in a completely new industry.
Now you might think that the new jobs are less valuable than the old ones, but again, the Economist’s research does not bear that out: “The incidence of “low pay”—workers who earn less than two-thirds of the median—has been falling for two decades.” (The Economist, May 25, 2019, Briefing: Labor markets.)
The old adage is “As long as there is life, there is hope…” so keep an open mind, and do not be afraid to reinvent yourself.
Peter Irish
CEO
The Barrett Group
CareerChange.com powered by THE BARRETT GROUP
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cfduid | 1 month | The cookie is used by cdn services like CloudFare to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. |
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
bcookie | 2 years | This cookie is set by linkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. |
lang | session | This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website. |
lidc | 1 day | This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
YSC | session | This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | This cookie is used by Google Analytics to understand user interaction with the website. |
_gid | 1 day | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form. |
_uetsid | 1 day | This cookies are used to collect analytical information about how visitors use the website. This information is used to compile report and improve site. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_fbp | 3 months | This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website. |
bscookie | 2 years | This cookie is a browser ID cookie set by Linked share Buttons and ad tags. |
fr | 3 months | The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. |
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. |
MUID | 1 year 24 days | Used by Microsoft as a unique identifier. The cookie is set by embedded Microsoft scripts. The purpose of this cookie is to synchronize the ID across many different Microsoft domains to enable user tracking. |
personalization_id | 2 years | This cookie is set by twitter.com. It is used integrate the sharing features of this social media. It also stores information about how the user uses the website for tracking and targeting. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_gat_gtag_UA_1327882_1 | 1 minute | No description |
_gat_gtag_UA_1327882_6 | 1 minute | No description |
_gat_UA-1327882-1 | 1 minute | No description |
_uetvid | 16 days 6 hours | No description |
AnalyticsSyncHistory | 1 month | No description |
asp_transient_id | session | No description |
CONSENT | 16 years 10 months 3 days 7 hours | No description |
UserMatchHistory | 1 month | Linkedin - Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences. |
X-Mapping-iliahmoa | No description |