拒絕成為工作“無期徒刑者”

所屬教程:金融時報原文閱讀

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2020年07月07日

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拒絕成為工作“無期徒刑者”

在職業(yè)規(guī)劃的路上，是在一個方向上不停前行、勇攀高峰？還是及時轉換行業(yè)、不斷調整自己？或許是時候讓自己遠離默守陳規(guī)，時刻保持“新鮮”了。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

pitfalls 陷阱

whilst 同時

onus 責任

formulate 制定

benchmark 參照

閱讀即將開始，建議您計算一下閱讀整篇文章所用時間，并對照我們在文章最后給出的參考值來估算您的閱讀速度。

Avoid the pitfalls of being a company ‘lifer’ （531words）

By Emma De Vita

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If you equate long service at a business with a stale career then think again. High-flying lifers are people who have crafted an ambitious route to the top whilst enjoying the perks of working for the same organisation for a decade or more. You do not always have to leave to go up.

Simon Russell, 46, has been at the retailer John Lewis for 26 years. “It sounds scary,” he laughs. “But I’ve moved jobs so often that it doesn’t feel that long.” Making strategic moves internally can be just as effective to climbing the career ladder as jumping ship, but the onus is on you to seek opportunities rather than simply coast along.

Mr Russell has not spent longer than five years in a role, and is now director of retail operations development. He has been able to take advantage of the business’s breadth and diversity, and prevents his career going stale by trying out different things.

He was involved in JLab, John Lewis’ retail start-up incubator, last year. He also uses John Lewis’ informal relationships with department stores in other countries to keep up with retail developments.

“It’s important to take yourself out of the business,” he says, even outside the industry —— he recently joined the board of trustees of a charity. “It drags you away from the business, grounds you and takes you out of your day to day job”, so giving you a valuable, wider perspective.

Having been at the business for a long time, Mr Russell has been able to formulate a clear, formal company career development plan, which has served him well and would have been far more difficult to put in place if he had moved employer.

Claire Ferguson, 37, has worked for media planning and buying agency MediaCom for 13 years. Being recognised as a high performer and having had the time to build strong relationships with her bosses means she has been given the freedom to craft a career that both stretches her and suits her work/life needs. Her trick has been to be proactive about asking for what she needs to keep herself fulfilled, such as extra responsibilities, changing roles or working with different clients or teams. “It keeps stuff fresh,” she says. “I don’t feel stifled or stuck.”

But the harder thing to do is getting out and about, and staying up to date with industry developments. Ms Ferguson makes an effort to attend conferences, networking events and speak on panel sessions because it keeps her profile high. Having mentors from outside MediaCom also helps her to benchmark herself against her peers.

One downside to being a lifer was having lower pay early on in her career, but she feels that, by now, it has all evened out.

“Occasionally people ask me why I’ve been here so long but I don’t question myself about my career very much because I’m happy.”

Both Ms Ferguson and Mr Russell say that with a proactive approach to your career, being a lifer can be extremely rewarding, but it is dependent as much on a go-getting attitude and an extra willingness to put yourself out there as it is on talent alone.

請根據你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目：

1. How can the retailer Russell climb the career ladder?

a. to make strategic moves internally

b. to jump ship

c. to quit

d. to have business trip

2. What did Russell do to prevent his career going stale?

a. trying different occupations

b. traveling around the world

c. having a baby

d. trying out different things

3. Which one is not mentioned to keep Ferguson fulfilled?