Christopher BishopSenior Communications SpecialistIBM Global Financing

Union College – ECE SeminarFebruary 14, 2013

How to be successful inthe 21st century career paradigm

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Agenda

• Why me?

• Socio-cultural perspective

• Secret sauce

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Five historical cycles …

InventionInnovation

The Industrial Revolution

Age of Steam and Railways

Age of Steel, ElectricityHeavy Engineering

Age of Oil, Automobilesand Mass Production

Age of Information and Telecommunications

Frenzy SynergyDeployment

MaturityPanic1797

Depression1893

Crash1929

Dot.comCollapse

2000

• Formation of Mfg. industry• Repeal of Corn Laws opening

trade

• Joint stock companies • Industry exploits economies

of scale

Current period ofAdoption

• Separation of savings, investment banks

• FDIC, SEC

• Build-out of Interstate highways

• IMF, World Bank, BIS

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Source: “Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital”, Carlota Perez, 2002

Panic1847

1771

1829

1875

1908

1971

1873

1920

1974

1829

Crash

Technology is making geography …history

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Increasing technology advancements foster decentralization

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Increasing decentralization makes motivation, creativity and flexibility more important than ever

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Workers are not being rewarded for carrying out orders efficiently, but for figuring out what needs

to be done…doing it…and then doing it again

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•Creative problem-solving

•Comfortable with ambiguity

•Passionate

•Self-directed

•Resilient

•Work across disciplines

•Global perspective

To be successful…

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Estimates are 85% of the jobs you will be doing haven’t been invented yet

You'll be using technologies that don't exist to solve problems we don't yet know are problems

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U.S. Department of Labor predicts that today’s learners will have 10-14 jobs…by age 38!

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•Biomedical engineer

•Mobile and cloud software engineers

•Sustainable energy designer

•3D printer designer

•iPad app developer

Many of today's top in-demand jobs did not exist in 2005!

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Changes driven by technology…

will create new careers in every discipline!

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Medicine…

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Transportation…

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Education…

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Entertainment…

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Government…

Energy…

Finance…

3D-Printing a Future Moon Base

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Secret Sauce 1) Antenna

• what you want to do• what is happening in the world

2) Brand - defining and assessing your own brand 3) Network - finding people with similar interests

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1) Antenna

• Monitor the world• Focus on your own

skills, needs• Map the two against

each other• Trust your instincts• Chase the maelstrom• Follow your bliss

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1) AntennaExternal

•Elite newspapers• WSJ, NY Times, Financial Times

•MIT Tech Review•BBC World Service•Futurist authors•Wired•Huff Post

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Internal•Self assessment – likes, dislikes, talents, challenges•Trending – how has this changed•Speak to friends, professors

2) Brand•Essence of who you are•What makes you unique•Everything you say & do•Establishes your expertise

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2) Brand

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• Think about what your personal brand is

• Write down your 5 most valuable characteristics-

advertisement for yourself

• How would you market yourself - what makes you

unique?

• Remember that your brand is represented by

everything you do

•It’s not what you know, it’s who you know•Lifelong job•Strangers with expertise•Share your perspective•Use the tools!

3) Network

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3) Network

• First dissect your network: who do you know based on what?

• Find people who can help you but can also connect you with

others “Getting the job is the job”

• Look on the Web, ask your friends, teachers, parents,

relatives, anyone!

• Send intro emails, make calls, ask someone to introduce you

• Use the tools: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube

• Find groups discussing topics you like and join in

• Try to add at least 2-3 people a week to your network30

What’s next?

• Go forth• Have fun• Change the world• Keep me posted

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christopherbishop123@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/chrisbishop

http://www.christopherbishop.net

Second Life: Christopher Express

THANKS!

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