How economic events influence occupational demand

I was reading an article this morning at Marketwatch.com about the 300 point drop in the Dow Jones and the other thoughts about how the entire subprime and leveraged buyout market could impact the overall market and economy. Some people think the crisis is only half over and it will get much worse maybe leading to recession, some say the worst is over and the economy is still growing and a recession will never happen....bottom line is that it's still 50/50 as to how it will turn out.

However my thoughts turned to the impact this will have on certain occupations in the economy; financial services relating to private equity and leveraged buyouts, the loss of wealth reducing demand for certain goods and services, and many occupations relating to the housing industry. Occupations are created and lost due to the forces of demand and supply and once the drivers of demand go (which is always before supply drying up) for certain skills then these people will then need to reconsider their options.

What I have noticed is when we are planning our occupation goals many of us don't consider the impact of demand and supply changes for the occupations we are in - rather we focus on achieving the next promotion, next pay rise, maybe a horizontal move to a similar position in a different industry. The skills that we obtain, though not always, are focused on the jobs we are currently doing not what we might need to have as part of our toolkit in 5, 7 or 10 years time. Thus when change occurs, and if it occurs in a big way, people are adversely affected and worst of all are not prepared.

What it takes is a constant revaluation of your own skills, the demand for your occupation and how you are going to position yourself in the future. This should occur every six months due to the fact that economic and social change occurs so quickly in this day and age. You should speak to a career coach or advisor about economic and social trends and what this impact this will have on certain occupations either from an increase or decrease in demand perspective.

I always advise to focus on what you can control not what you cannot - if you attempt to control the uncontrollable this will lead to stress, anxiety and frustration. However preparation for change is something you can control. If the Dow Jones falls again and subprime is a far larger problem then expected and jobs are lost and if this impacts you then you should start preparing for change. However my point is that this current financial issue is but one scenario. The main point is that you should always be prepared for change and as this is something you can control be responsible and take action rather then wait for it to occur.

Benefits of Career and Executive Coaching

The concept of coaching has been around for a while in the form of a mentor, counselling or even teaching. All of us require advice, education and knowledge to grow and these three mechanisms allow us to be taught by someone more experienced and more successful at a certain point in time.

However a new 'coaching' concept has originated and become far more prevalent in our society today in the business world. The term coach is not necessarily someone with more skill or talent in a particular field, as we can see from many sports coaches, but someone who can assist you in your journey, allow you utilize your skills and talents, motivate you and work with you to achieve your goals.

The skill a coach brings to the partnership is an ability to listen and hear a person's true concerns. They also have the ability to ask the challenging questions that will open up new possibilities, assess someone's inherent skills and talents and they also can hold a vision for what is possible.

Many people are confused with how a career coach can assist them but at the same time many people have concerns over their current occupations, feel lost and unmotivated with the work they perform, do not know how to take the next step at work and have doubts whether the occupation they are in is right for them. Well my message for these people is that career coaches can assist in all of these areas and through continued action change will occur. One of the main reasons people will not see career coaches is the fear of having to change a habit after initiating a program with a career coach. Humans may hate what they do at work but in many cases would prefer not to change then experience the actual fear of changing into the unknown.

Let me just say that a career coach encourages and insists on the creation of a career plan so there is a path to the goal you want to achieve. It just takes action and hard work to get there. I use the word career coach but executive coach or business coach all serve the same purpose. It is to identify the goal of the client and to strategise with the client the necessary actions that need to be taken to achieve the goal. The coach and client then schedule the actions into a timeline so they will be performed.

I feel that society will learn to appreciate the benefits of coaching as time goes on. Gen Y are very much open to change and I can see even the Baby Boomers accepting the benefits of career coaching as they move from the end of one chapter to the beginning of another. My advice to society is that to grow you need to change and to change effectively a coach, whether it be career, executive or business, is one essential tool.