Thursday, December 25, 1997

In this case, you don't want to recycle

By Carol Kleiman / Chicago Tribune

Donald P. Baiocchi, president of DP Baiocchi Associates Inc., has compiled a list of "lessons learned" from executives who accept new positions and later realize they're in the wrong slot.

Though Baiocchi's advice is geared to top executives, I think it also is helpful to all job seekers and career changers. His Chicago-based consulting firm to senior management on career and organizational issues estimates that 5 percent to 8 percent of its outplacement clients will "recycle back to us within a year."

To avoid rapid "recycling," according to Baiocchi:

1. Don't accept a position if you don't know who your boss will be.

2. Recognize that cultural and personality fit are as important as a business fit.

3. Don't be rushed into accepting a job.

4. Make sure you get direct answers to important questions.

5. Don't take an interim position if you're qualified for the next higher slot.

6. Get your employment agreement in writing.

"Success is getting what you want," said Baiocchi. "Happiness is wanting what you get."

---

Remember the "good old days" when companies sent favored employees to beautiful vacation resorts to get job training and to attend seminars?

That type of free travel may be on its way out, and you can blame the world of cyberspace for limiting your all-expense-paid geographical forays.

"Technologies originally designed for meetings and conferences are being adapted for education, training, sales support and customer interaction," said Jack M. Wilson, dean of the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

Wilson points out that "employees can upgrade their skills without traveling to distant conferences and losing valuable time at work by logging onto the Internet to participate in virtual classrooms."

I wonder why there is virtually no sound of cheering about this use of technology, especially from those who dreamed of qualifying for tax preparation in Aruba.

---

"I'm 51 years old, and after being around computers for a while and taking a course on the Internet, I've been thinking about going back to college and getting a degree in computer science or business, with a computer information systems major," a potential career changer writes.

"Right now, I work two part-time jobs, but I don't think they have much future. I really enjoy working with computers. What do you think?"

I think you should do it. The future of employment is moving rapidly to computers and high-tech jobs. You mention your age, so you must be concerned about it: Don't be. Cyberspace has no age limitations.

Getting prepared for the change is a smart way to start, but don't take a course or enroll for a degree program until you make sure that the school you're attending offers job placement. Ask what their job placement rate is. Anything in the 80 percentile is a go.

---

Yes, we do have a tight labor market, particularly for high-skilled jobs. But no, that doesn't mean layoffs are extinct.

"Despite the perceived tightness of the labor supply, the number of mass layoffs rose to 1,301 in the second quarter of 1997, affecting nearly 275,000 workers," reports Human Resource Management News, which bases its figures on numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That's an increase over the first quarter of 1997, when 230,540 workers were fired. So, despite wishful thinking, layoffs and reorganizations continue.

---

Here's an excerpt of interest from a new book that pertains to the world of work: "Thanks to the work done by ... early practitioners of behavioral and psychosomatic medicine, it's now clear that five different body systems are affected by your reactions to what's happening in your career: the nervous system, the immune system, the endocrine system, the cardiovascular system and the musculoskeletal system. What they communicate to each other determines a great deal about how well you are able to hold on to your health in the face of career crises and dilemmas." From: "Toxic Work," by Barbara Bailey Reinhold (Plume, $12.95).

Coach's Tip. Stress kills, especially work-related stress. So don't stay in a job you hate. It can be dangerous to your health.

(c) 1997, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on America Online (keyword: Tribune) or the Internet Tribune at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.