Thursday, September 2, 2010
Can I afford to make a career change now?
This is a question that has been troubling many people for the past few months. And it might actually continue to next year. I will not give you a straight YES or NO answer because it might be too risky for me to do that. In the US, even companies like Lehman Brothers ended up in big trouble.. so it’s near impossible to actually predict which company will retrench and which will close down.
What one can do, however, is to check thoroughly the company background and future plans. The recession in US last year is actually a double-edged sword. Some companies might close down or start downsizing, but there are also companies such as HP and ACS who decided to cut the jobs in the US, and offshore most of the jobs to Malaysia or India. This is good news for us or bad news for someone.
What about the smaller companies? That’s even more difficult to predict. You need to see what is the CEO’s direction and his dreams. You also need to know the company’s financial condition and the characteristics of the CEO, whether he has the capability to excel. You’ll need a very motivated and smart CEO to go through this difficult time.
And for those companies which have been mentioned over and over again in the US such as Citibank, AIG and GM, then it would be best for you to check out the company’s plan for the Malaysia office – whether to close it, or to shrink it, or to expand it.
In the end, I can only say this – follow your gut feelings. If you feel that it will be fine and it is something you really want, then go for it. Just make sure you have some money for rainy days. All the best!
What one can do, however, is to check thoroughly the company background and future plans. The recession in US last year is actually a double-edged sword. Some companies might close down or start downsizing, but there are also companies such as HP and ACS who decided to cut the jobs in the US, and offshore most of the jobs to Malaysia or India. This is good news for us or bad news for someone.
What about the smaller companies? That’s even more difficult to predict. You need to see what is the CEO’s direction and his dreams. You also need to know the company’s financial condition and the characteristics of the CEO, whether he has the capability to excel. You’ll need a very motivated and smart CEO to go through this difficult time.
And for those companies which have been mentioned over and over again in the US such as Citibank, AIG and GM, then it would be best for you to check out the company’s plan for the Malaysia office – whether to close it, or to shrink it, or to expand it.
In the end, I can only say this – follow your gut feelings. If you feel that it will be fine and it is something you really want, then go for it. Just make sure you have some money for rainy days. All the best!
just my 2cents at 11:33 PM |
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