February 2002

"First, You Have to Figure Out Who You Are"

A recipe for self-assessment.

By Matthew Boyle

Thirtynothing

The rapid rise many people experienced usually came at the expense of long-term career development and personal-assessment skills that are invaluable during tough times like these. Call it career myopia--an intense focus on the short term (next raise, next job) that behooves you in a robust economy but that can be blinding, even damaging, during a downturn (especially if it's your first recession). Throw in a pinch of post-Sept. 11 dread, and you have a recipe not only for anxiety and frustration but also for a jarring disorientation that organizational psychologist James Finn says can lead to making irrational decisions.

If you think you have career myopia, there are ways to cope. Lisa Nass, a former recruiting consultant with Watson Wyatt who now does career coaching, says more and more people are stepping back and taking the time to do serious thinking about their career. While some folks can do this on their own, most will require help, either from friends or from professionals. "Self-assessment is really difficult," says Geof Boole, EVP of career transition services at Right Management Consultants. "It's easy to judge others but difficult to judge yourself. What you need to do is to be open to talk to others, ask questions, get their impressions of you, and be open to the remarks that come. That's critical. Your ego is fragile at this time, but it's the wrong time to be fragile."

Even if self-assessment doesn't lead to a new job or career path, it can lead to new perceptions of yourself that can soothe the anxiety. Above all, the best prescription for career myopia is to realize that at age 32, you still have two-thirds of your career ahead of you. Says Ellen Siminoff, 34, who spent six frantic years at Yahoo before leaving last November: "There will be other fascinating acts for me."