I self describe as a middling mid-career Materials & Corrosion Engineer in jest mainly, but recognise there is a kernel of truth there with much of the past year and a bit feeling like I am treading water.
A big part of this derives from my career to date being largely of a specialist nature whilst more of the opportunities I see are better suited to generalists. Coincident with the feeling of malaise is the increasing trend of outshoring jobs in my industry, ostensibly to tap into the vast talents in the Indian sub-contintent whilst “benefitting” from cost savings from hiring there rather than here.
My main response has been to keep my eyes out for suitable roles which leverage my career capital (hattip to Cal Newport), rather than performing a full 180 degree pivot which is likely to be expensive and fraught with difficulty.
I am however finding that job searching whilst “fully” employed has its own perverse incentives, ones aligned with doing the bare minimum rather than busting a gut to deliver value as I once did.
In a moment of introspection this morning, the thought came to me – in a timely manner I would suspect – that the quip about a bird being in hand being worth two in the bush has survived for a reason.
Note to self:
Don’t become so future focused that you make a dog’s dinner of what is in hand!
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