With my recent activities related to hiring a few new employees, I’ve been pondering what it takes to keep up with the world these days, what it takes to keep relevant and employable. In the process, I interviewed young folks and older folks and had some interesting conversations with a few people. I was left pondering the question of how to stay relevant and employable in this new age.
Back in the 1950’s, 60’s and such, many people started with one company and ended their careers with that same, or a very similar, company. The best employees would gradually rise within the ranks and end up as managers. Those without management acumen could still have a decent career as skilled labor.
The key to keeping employed and on your track back then was recurrent training. For management folks, that might be seminars and the occasional college class. Maybe even night school for an MBA. For the laborer, it might have been something as simple as learning how to drive a new model of forklift, or putting down the old arc welder for a new model heli-arc welder. Keeping relevant and employable was largely about recurrent training.
