You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.
Now ev’ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin’
Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
‘Cause ev’ry hand’s a winner and ev’ry hand’s a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”
Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
‘Cause ev’ry hand’s a winner and ev’ry hand’s a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”
The legendary advice of “The Gambler” is applicable to many areas of life, but it is especially true for your career decisions. So many people settle into dead end jobs while countless others hop aimlessly from one company to another without ever accomplishing anything of note along the way. This week’s Cubicle Survival Guide tip is to heed the words of “The Gambler” when it comes to your career.
There have been countless hours of analysis and study done on the “average” American career path in our modern economy. Those projects tend to arrive at the conclusion that most of us will have six or seven employers before we retire (or die trying). For my younger readers, the good news is that your fate is not even remotely sealed based on the job you are able to land out of college. The bad news – for young and old alike – is that we are now faced with potentially pivotal career decisions at seemingly random times in our lives.
My own life is a pretty good example of the modern career story, I believe. In my roughly thirteen years as a “business professional” (yes, I use that term loosely, but you know what I mean), I have worked for four separate employers in seven different locations. In that time, I have had eleven different bosses and eleven different mailing addresses. I have gotten very familiar with the transitions involved in changing companies, towns, and managers. While I would not go back now and change any of the decisions I made – because they have led me to a place in life that I believe is right for me and my family at this time – I can easily look back and see some mistakes in my wake. There were a couple of job roles that I should have held onto longer, there were a couple of bosses that I should have worked harder for, and there was an opportunity or two along the way to take a different road that I passed up on and whose ultimate destinations I can only wonder about now.
Allow me to take a couple of common pieces of career advice that you have likely heard and apply a little of The Gambler’s sage wisdom to them. You will often have people tell you “the grass is always greener on the other side” when you start questioning your current job and looking into others. In reality, there are three options: the grass could actually be greener, the grass could be the same level of green, or the grass could be less green than your current pasture. The good thing about being a reasoning human instead of livestock is that you can do some research before deciding on pastures and usually determine the true level of green in each. In the electronic age, it is easier than ever to thoroughly investigate companies before reaching out to them. It usually does not take much effort to even get in contact with some of their current employees for a real insider’s view of the company. One afternoon of research might be all it takes for you to realize how much better the job you currently have is compared to what else is out there.
Another often-true-but-sometimes-misleading fact you will hear is that it is hard to get promoted more than so many levels once you are hired into a company. This is often not as true in smaller companies where the results dictate the promotions much more directly than in larger companies. It is hard to argue that bigger corporations will be more inclined to look to bring in experienced people from outside the company for their positions of increasing responsibility. The is not a hard and fast rule that always proves true, but it can often be the policy that traps people in jobs for decades once they hit those ceilings. The beauty of this tendency is that it can work both for and against you. If you have hit a point in your career where you find yourself stuck and consistently passed over for internal promotions, all it takes is the confidence to hit the open market and suddenly you are that “experienced outsider” that some other company decides to bring in for your new perspectives and insights. The people in your company that have watched you progress slowly over the years may often take for granted the skills you have developed that a new prospective employer immediately recognizes and desperately wants to acquire.
It really does come down to finding a way to objectively weigh the advice of The Gambler in those times of opportunity in your career. Know when to hold ‘em and keep the job you have because you are making progress, building your personal skill set, and contributing to a successful company. Know when to run and take that better job that comes along and allows you to experience more professional and financial success by plying your trade in a new environment.
The secret to surviving in the professional world boils down to the same basic principle that The Gambler passed along years ago: “knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.” You have to find a way to remove the fear and emotion and consider your job options like playing cards in your hand. Do not waste your career hanging around a dead end job just because it feels like the “safe” thing to do. On the other hand, do not quit a good job in frustration before you have done the due diligence and feel good about the next step in your career path. I have probably folded a few hands too easily in my career, but I am pretty happy with the stack of chips I have at the moment and as The Gambler said, “There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.”
