Comments from Gimmick Command: Cookie Cutters & The Box

Welcome to another entry of ? Comments from Gimmick Command! ?

Today we start off with an important career question . . . Were you meant to be “formed from a cookie cutter mold” and “think inside the box?”

Why ask about a career?  Well, besides the Space Industry this question can apply to ANY career.

We live in a different day and age. Years ago, it was possible to just get any kind of degree and be “good to go” as far as getting into a good company with good benefits and good incentives and be able to stay pretty much until retirement. Many can attest now that that is no longer the case.

Now, employees often see, especially among science and technology workers with a background similar to mine (electrical and electronics engineering) that often times your tenure does not last longer than owning the latest-released smart phone. Many layoffs and/or attrition are attributed to fast changing requirements and skill sets.

Those that are veterans often find themselves being superseded by younger upstarts that have the latest skills and technology fresh out of college or close to it. There does not seem to be as much of a value on experience and skills that come through time/experience as opposed to them choosing “younger and cheaper” professionals.  There’s nothing wrong with newcomers mind you and their newer insights are a very welcome part of the workforce, but there IS a bigger workforce that involves more than just the newcomer.

With my electrical engineering history, I have seen this happen in many tech workers, including myself.  Another issue is that more veteran engineers are ready, willing and able to learn new things including new skill sets, new software, and new development methods.

But managers are very quick to dismiss this because “involves too much training overhead” yet ironically there are reported instances where there’s enough funding and capital to train the younger engineers. I won’t say this occurs everywhere, or that this is age discrimination, but the behaviors suggest otherwise . . . and it’s illegal.

Independent of ignoring or being legitimately unaware of discrimination laws, tech workers need to ask themselves “If seniority is a detriment, what CAN I do?” Many of them enjoy the field they’re working in and would like to keep doing it, but find that there are corporate entities that operate as though younger/cheaper is the preferred, better way.

The good news is that there is something that can be done.

DISCLAIMER: What I present here are strictly options and ideas. They are not meant to be black and white “follow or fail”. Each individual professional’s case is different for different reasons (personal committments, health, etc). So when I present here are meant to provoke thought . . .

• Additional Higher Education:  I’m talking about additional degrees, certifications, classes, and anything else you can do. There is a paradigm shift where we are now starting to see many professionals in their middle years go back to school and get advanced degrees. Not just for the sake of money, not just for the sake of marketability but because they love it.  This would circumvent any corporate entity saying they cannot hire you because “you haven’t done Task X or Responsibility Y”.  If you get additional college degrees, certifications and training, you can circumvent anything preventing you from doing this.  If you’re an engineer or scientist, you have the chance to work on class / group projects that are funded and bankrolled by large entities. Many engineering students get the chance to work on NASA funded intern and in-school projects. Coming from a certified resume writer (a.k.a. yours truly), the great news is that these can be cited on a resume as being real work if it is done for a government agency or a company funding it. Sure, you may not be paid directly, but you do get the experience that you can cite on your resume. Then you won’t have to fear anyone telling you  “there’s not enough money to do that project”, or told “we have OUR (favored) people to do this”.

The more you do this, the fear you might have about a possible layoff will transfer into a company having apprehension about their well-being hinging on their ability to hire / retain you. If they still do not care, you’ll have a growing crowd of companies fearing NOT HAVING YOU WORK FOR THEM.

NOTE: I myself am looking at the potential of attending ASU to get additional engineering degrees.  I already have a Bachelor’s Degree, but I want more to expand my knowledge and do more.

• ?Bankrolling This?: You might ask how do you bankroll this? One extreme idea (in America) is this . . . downsize your life.  In American culture, there’s a premium put on having the biggest largest house as a “status position” or an expensive car payment among other things. Truth be told is that most of the world does not live in housing as large as the average Americans often lean towards. With less of a mortgage payment or lower rent, the more likely additional training and schooling CAN be funded. Happiness does NOT come in the size of a salary, but more about WHAT YOU DO to get the salary.  I’ve seen many managers leave and quit their company and go get a job working at a grocery store or retailer and wind up loving it so much more, because they are not dealing with the political duress that can creep into even the best company like the worst winter flu on record.

Again, such steps could lead to YOU being an industry-wide, sought after resource. With more degrees, with more major projects under your belt, and the more value added experiences and successes, no doubt you’ll be in a better spot. I tell this to many of my clients who I’m writing resumes for, and it has helped many of them find the kind of positions they’re looking for.

• ??‍?Never Stop Learning??‍?: The more knowledge and training you have, you will be issuing a referendum against an industry leaning that says “You’re too old and you’re about to retire anyway” or “You don’t know enough as this 23-year-old that happens to be a third of your salary”. WHY SAID YOU HAVE TO RETIRE? I heard of a Japanese doctor who worked well into his nineties, and said that it’s important for a professional to work as long as they can to keep their body and mind fit (granted that they love it).  My own Grandfather (on my Mother’s side) didn’t stop working until he was 89!!!  And my Grandmother didn’t stop working at Holiday Inn until she was 74!  Do what you need to do to make sure it happens. Get some odd jobs at the campus. Drive Uber and Lyft. Whatever it is, put the premium on your education. And even if a company still will not hire you or factor you into their business plan (for the true reason of your age or salary seniority . . . which they could deny), you will have enough knowledge to (maybe, if you want) start your own company or be a potent freelance consultant that could command a premium that any naysayers would be powerless to stop. Maybe the industry players will realize it’s to their own hurt to see a competitor taking advice from one they deemed “not young enough”.

As before, these are ideas and options.  And I’m not saying that companies, age or education is “out to get you”.  What I’m saying is that, like I did in a previous article, that you cannot let people or companies dictate your career passion.  YOU are in charge of that.  The sooner you take command, the greater things you can do.

And maybe you were NOT meant to be a “cookie cutter” formed professional, and maybe you were meant to “think outside the box”.  It was great innovators like Thomas Edison ?, Werner Von Braun ? and Nicholae Tesla ? that did this, and by avoiding the “run of the mill”, they accomplished wonders that Earth is still reaping benefits from.  Perhaps YOU can too . . . young or old.

For the ? Great Galactic Space Gimmick ?: I’m Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski! ?

© Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, 2018, authorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Images utilized in this article were public stock obtained from public sources (and supported some notes made), and the images of the SLS was done by James Vaughn, and used by permission.  No royalties were collected for this article. It is believed this constitutes fair-use.