After a successful career, I am getting to the point where my grandchildren are turning to me for advice about career paths for themselves. What would you tell them?
Every era has its “next big thing.” In the ’70s, college kids were pressed to study geology and capitalize on opportunities in oil and gas. In the ’80s, investment banking and consulting were the gold mines. In the ’90s, the mantra was: “Go Internet, young man.” All in all, not bad advice. The oil and gas industries continue to flourish. Investment banking and consulting have made fortunes for a lot of people. And the Net, after a rough patch, is strong and getting stronger.
Today, all arrows point toward biotech, nanotech, info tech, and their convergence. That’s where the growth and greatest excitement likely will be over the next decades.
But whenever we get this question, a friend of ours comes to mind. She was encouraged to attend (she would say “shoved into”) medical school by her parents. At the time, becoming a doctor was like winning the lottery, but with more respect attached. So as her parents cheered, she soldiered on.
Fast forward to the present. Our friend is taking photographs for a living—joyfully, we might add. At 45, she ditched her career as a neurologist with the words: “Life is too short to spend every day doing something you don’t love.” It took our friend 20 years to learn that simple truth. It would be quite a gift to save your grandchildren the time.
This question and answer originally appeared in Business Week magazine on April 10, 2006.
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