If you are looking to jumpstart, relaunch or change your career, there is an excellent self-starter book written by Laurence Shatkin, PhD, called "2011 Career Plan, The Best Moves Now for a Solid Future." It's a very accessible and motivational book whose tone Mr. Shatkin says he "deliberately modeled after Suze Orman's". In a step by step format, Mr. Shatkin exhorts his readers to take action or "take aim" with a simple self-assessment to develop your own career-personality. He then gives detailed career information on large career fields and specific occupations. Finally he presents a "gap analysis" of the gap between you and your goal with excellent and concrete advice and resources on how to fill that gap. This book enables you to take personal and immediate charge of your career in a positive and realistic approach.
Being realistic is critical in any career move. Mr. Shatkin believes that realistically and proactively choosing where you live is very important to your career success. He sees Boston as a hotbed for career development, mainly because of its creativity and economic activity. This bodes well for its ability to create and sustain employment in our area. He cites computer systems design and related services, scientific research and development and software publishers as particularly strong careers in the Boston area. Unlike Thomas Friedman who told us that globalization is flattening the world and that location doesn't really matter, Mr. Shatkin cites Richard Florida, who wrote the book, Who's Your City? How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life." In his book, Mr. Florida tells us that instead of flat, the world is spiky and that location is even more important than ever before. Where we chose to live determines our access to certain jobs and career paths, our friends and our lifestyles. Mr. Florida rates Boston as one of the top 5 best large cities for young singles (ages 20 - 29), families with children, empty-nesters (ages 45 - 64) and retirees (over 65 years of age).
Mr. Shatkin also notes that most creation of jobs and actual hiring are done in small, new companies. Boston is a breeding ground for startups with its entrepreneurial culture, major educational institutions and lively venture capital community. Mr. Shatkin says that another indicator of Boston's creativity and entrepreneurship is its consistently large number of patent filings. So, getting going! There's lots of creativity and energy in Boston to jumpstart your career!
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