21st Century Career Strategy to Secure Your Future

What is your career resolution for the new year?

Is your career strategy still intact? Are you still looking for a better job?

With news of world recession, worsening economic forecasts, retrenchments and corporate bankruptcies bombarding our senses everyday, it does not take a genius to see that traditionl jobs are gone!

For career seekers, it is a time to rethink what is the most viable career strategy today.

We all know that the world is in the midst of possibly the worse recession in history, but what are you doing about your career?

Continue to work harder and look out for another job?

Yes, we all need to work hard.  This is good work ethics.  It is a given whether in good time or bad time.

How about looking for another job? Let's be realistic about what is happening in the job market: Jobs are disappearing by the millions, faster than the world can cope.

If you are still hoping to find a job or to change job, stop dwelling in the old mindset of "job".  Whether you care to face it or not, the reality is: Jobs are gone for good!

There is no doubt that we are living in one of the toughest times now, and there is a crucial need for radical thinking to chart new career strategy.

For the discerning, the writing is on the wall: A secured career is no longer found in a "job". Diversification of income portfolio will be the career strategy of the 21st century.

The New Reality Ahead

As I was surfing the internet casually, the headline in Yahoo News on 23 Dec 2008 caught my sight: "The World Economic Crisis Could Put 25 Million People Out Of Work".  This is a warning sent by OECD following Japan's iconic Toyota auto's first ever operating loss forecast and subsequent European stocks slip.

News like this is commonplace today. The world is now bracing itself for the worse ever recession since the great depression in 1928.

Today, everyone's hands are full. From politician, businessmen, academics, lawyers, doctors, police to ordinary folks, everybody is busy with tons of problems triggered by the wall street financial debacles.

Is the future really as bleak as it looks?

Again, it depends on your perspective on a crisis situation.

If your job is at stake, don't be daunted because history has shown that human spirit is capable of overcoming great adversities.

How To Prepare Yourself For The Future

To prepare yourself for the future, it is important to take a peek at what the future is likely to be. With the foregoing events radically transforming the global marketplace, there are some fundamental changes that will alter the life of people forever:

• Millions of jobs will be gone in the next few years, and will not return even after recession.


• With the relentless transformation in the global marketplace, the nature of "job" will be changed dramatically on a global scale.


• People will have to seek out new means of livelihood by leveraging on new technologies that empowers small resource-scarce businesses.

It may sounds like a cliché but it is true: Opportunities abound in times of crisis.

If you are skeptical about this, it is best to read history for evidence.

What Opportunities Can Be Found In This Economic Recession?

Opportunity No. 1:

Companies are cutting jobs desperately to stay afloat. The impact on individuals is the need to look for income opportunities. Unfortunately this will no longer be found in the traditional job market. If people have to make a living, but can't get a job, what option does the individual has? Realistically, I would say to start a home business!

Some people may think that a starting a home business is difficult, particular in bad time like now. The common thinking is: Where can home business find business opportunities when corporations are cutting cost? Now, read on ....

Opportunity No. 2:

Corporations will be looking for professional services from free agents to maximize operational flexibility and cost-saving. The trend of corporate outsourcing will be even stronger when keeping lean and mean is the only way to ride through this economic storm. Individuals with professional skills (writing, marketing, technical, design, etc) will be in demand by companies looking for cheaper service alternative than maintaining a full-time staff.

The first opportunity alone is enough to create a global economy of home business. This trend has started years ago as described in "Free Agent Nation" by Dan Pink in late 1990s.

There is a good reason to expect the "Home Business Economy" to grow stronger with the following additional trends:

1. "The Wellness Revolution" as pointed out by economist Paul Zane Pilzar, where the baby boomers' demand for health, fitness and wellness lifestyle creates huge wealth opportunities for network marketers engaging in "intellectual distribution". The internet offers a powerful platform for network marketer to expand their business more effectively and efficiently to the global market.


2. The proliferation of internet technologies has created an economy of its own. Building an online business has become the "Gold Rush of the 21st century". This is a huge opportunity in itself as "gold seekers" need the necessary skills, knowledge and tools for starting a home business.


3. The rise of online social networking has created a new lifestyle of socializing, leisure, learning and purchasing for generation X and Y. This is a social phenomenon that intrigues the internet marketers and sociologists alike. The influence of online social network on consumer behaviors has created new business opportunities. This trend favors the home business in particular as social marketing requires more skills and knowledge than capital.

These powerful trends converge to create new waves of global economic forces shaping the way people make a living.

Are you watching by the sideline with apathy, or riding these waves to power up your career staretgy by starting a home business today?