Don't Sabotage Your Career With Old-Fashioned (Out-Of-Date, Not-In-Touch-With-Reality)

It's a old idea long gone that your career should be a steady climb up the corporate ladder. It doesn't always work that way anymore.

Most modern careers do not follow the classic progression straight up the ladder. Rather, people move down, laterally, and even out in order to eventually move their career forward. Life in corporate America is much less hierarchical than it was at one time. As a result, it's a new game played with new rules and you don't want to be playing with outdated belief systems.

Here is a review of some of the rule revisions you'll need to keep in mind to keep your career on track with forward momentum:

I. A lattice structure better describes career lives in corporate America today than the old idea of a ladder. What this means is that moving down, sideways or even off the ladder is no longer necessarily perceived negatively. It depends upon your ultimate career goals. For example, many companies want top management to have had experience in all major aspects of the business. So it is conceivable that if you want the corner office with the windows you may need to take a stint in the mail room even though it may mean a temporary pay cut.

II. Plan your career today that best positions you for where you want to be in five years. Fear, convenience and velvet handcuffs often hold a person back from taking risks in their company. If career advance only means for you taking the next promotion that leads to higher compensation and responsibility and you ignore all other possibilities, you may not move in your career at all. Rather than obsessing about pay and position, make career decisions with long-term consequences in mind.

III. In an economy where unemployment is high, it can be a mistake for a laid-off person to hold out for a job at a similar pay and management level as the last job they had. The overall progression of your career will be much more likely enhanced if you accept a job that's related to your field and stay active, even if it has less status and/or pay.

IV. Making strategic career sacrifices now in all likelihood will pay off later. Here are two reasons why: 1. Once the recession is over, there will be a time in the workforce of worker mobility. Dissatisfied workers will be able to move to new jobs. The healthcare overhaul will create new opportunities for people to leave current employers and thus open up career possibilities for you. 2. Significant gaps in workplace jobs and careers will continue to increase with the wave of baby boomer retirements.

If you plan wisely and manage your career strategically, you will move your career forward. In the short run it may seem like a game of hopscotch to you. In this day and age of corporate careers, the way forward is not always a straight line. Give yourself permission to do career planning that fits modern day employment circumstances.

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