The Lessons School Forgot

Chapter 10Portfolio living

If you've ever tried to change industries or careers, you'll know how difficult the process can be. This is true even for roles that require no formal qualifications. The old ‘experience' demon raises its head. They want someone with X years' industry experience, a person who has worked in clone conglomerate XYZ (probably their competitor), to fill the role that has just opened up. The recruiter — or increasingly these days the CV algorithmic short list generator — just wants to keep their customer happy, so they give them what they ask for. The hiring manager, well, they just want someone who can hit the ground running. Someone who knows the system, the rules, the game, the industry dynamics and business model. So they fill the office with clones and wonder why their industry and company is being disrupted!

It's not their fault, it's no one's fault, it's just the way companies and systems tend to evolve. What we need to do is be aware of it. It's why it's so hard to break into a new field. Everyone has been taught for so long that risk is bad and failure is bad that they don't want to bring in anyone who hasn't been vetted by the system. Sure, there are ways to hack your way into a new field, but the traditional method of doing it is ridiculously difficult. They say they want entrepreneurs and to act like startups, yet most won't even take the micro risk of employing someone who hasn't worked in that realm before.

Even companies that send you on training ...