By Katherine Wu Brady & Oliver Libby
In the days following a heart attack, family members invariably wonder what prompted the crisis. A loud noise? An arduous workout? A clogged artery? A bad gene? Doctors respond as best they can, aware that medical events can be precipitated any number of factors. But Dr. Peter Libby, a world-famous cardiologist (who happens to be Oliver’s father), argues that the impulse to identify any single trigger almost invariably obscures an underlying problem: years of inadvertent neglect.
For all that we focus on the events that trigger a medical emergency, we spend too little time zeroing in on conditions making any patient susceptible in the first place. The best way to prevent a crisis isn’t to avoid the precipitating activity—it’s to work out consistently, get to bed on time, and eat a heart-healthy diet. Heart attacks, Libby argues, aren’t spontaneous tragedies—they’re years in the making. And as he has demonstrated by running vigorously every day for decades (and banning eggs and butter from his children’s diet when they were growing up), he believes that prevention can help avoid heart attacks and lessen their impact when they do happen.
Remarkably enough, the same lesson applies to career health. When someone is pink-slipped out of a job, they wonder what made their contribution functionally obsolete? Who decided that their job could outsourced away? Which misguided government policy—trade or immigration or something else—prompted their employer announce a round of layoffs?
But while they’re right to wonder whether something might have been done to preserve a specific position, that focus distracts us from a broader truth: Anyone being pushed out into the economic cold has at least some power to prepare for their next career ahead of time. Some of us face longer odds and more barren economic landscapes than others. Inequality, racism, and the resulting imbalance in education, capital, and options frame every individual’s journey, for good and bad. But the outcome is likely to be better for individuals who have embraced a career-healthy lifestyle before a crisis strikes.
So what’s the career equivalent of a heart-healthy lifestyle? The first and most important step is to embrace lifelong learning. Too many Americans believe that once you enter the workforce, education can remain in your rear-view mirror. Even if you feel secure in your current job, you should consider getting a new credential (or at least some experience) in another growing field. Does a local community college offer an evening program in, say, nursing? Could you join an informal coding club that meets once a week? Have you considered volunteering to take on a work project that’s a step or two removed from your current portfolio of responsibilities? Imagine what might best position you for a good job five years down the line—and become experienced in those tasks now. This is especially important in a job velocity environment where we are all likely to experience many job types within one “old school” career timeline – no more 40 years doing the same task.
Second, as with anyone looking to maintain their heart health, your career should get regular checkups. Find someone you trust who can offer long-term tips and advice. Maybe you know a career coach with genuine insight into how your industry is changing. Maybe you merely need a friendly mentor who has your best interests at heart. Either way, you should identify two or three experienced people who can offer you honest, candid advice from a wide range of perspectives.
Third, you should exploit what Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter calls “the strength of weak ties.” His research revealed that your next job opportunity is unlikely to be identified by someone you know well—you’re more likely to learn about an opening from someone you know in a much more tangential way. Every so often, have coffee with someone who works in a different field—someone you met on a plane or who has a kid enrolled in your daughter’s elementary school. If you maintain a wider network, you’re more likely to learn about new industries and roles and to receive a call from someone saying, “I know the owner of a new business opening that might need someone like you. Can I connect you to the new CEO?”
Finally, establish the financial leeway to pursue an opportunity that carries with it some short-term risk. Worried as you may be that your current job will eventually be outsourced, you may hesitate to jump into something new because the starting pay would leave you cash poor in the short-term. A six to nine month rainy day fund gives you the backstop you will need to make the jump—and would also help you get through a temporary period of unemployment. Most American families have less than a month of savings in the bank; this is not enough to survive a career heart attack, and as a society, we must do better.
Like with a good diet and a healthy lifestyle, these bits of evergreen career-wise advice have benefitted generations of jobseekers. But today, when fewer and fewer Americans are lucky enough to hold jobs at a single company for the length of their working lives, career dexterity is at an absolute premium. Cultivate it, and see where things take you.
That’s not to say that your job is inevitably going to become obsolete in the years to come. It’s not even to say that you’ll need to change fields mid-career, as many Americans are now compelled to do. Rather, preventative strategies designed to head off bouts of unemployment should empower you to make the most of whatever career you choose. If your employer values your contribution, but knows you’ve got other options, you’re in a much better position to negotiate for whatever it is you want—more security, more flexibility, more compensation, or something else.
Like with the advice you get from the doctor at every checkup—eat more vegetables, lose a bit of weight—the payoff won’t arrive the next day. You may never see a straight line between the time you spend cultivating your own prospects and the career you enjoy before you retire. But that’s the point: The benefit of career-wise living is that you’re less likely like to get the pink slip you fear, and more apt to thrive in each new adventure.
There is, however, one last big parallel between health and career. There is a longstanding debate among public health professionals about the benefits of individuals taking responsibility for their own health, and systemic initiatives like, for example, the banning of large sugary drinks from New York City. This extends to the career health question easily. The fact is, the advice we have given is universal, but certainly applies more easily to people with stronger educations, more means, deeper networks, and better starting positions in life. Not everyone has the luxury of that flexibility.
So, as a society, we have to think of “public career health” initiatives too. Start-ups, corporations, and governments are all looking to help people expand their skills, recover from traumatic career events, and prepare for the work of the future. But we need to do better. Savings initiatives, affordable upskilling and training programs, community funds, and other methods are an important part of the solution.
Rarely do we celebrate the day we didn’t suffer a heart attack. But as anyone whose lost a family member to heart disease will tell you, failure to prepare in the years before a crisis will eventually haunt you. At a systemic and individual level, as a society, we must do the work now so that we are ready for healthy, long, and fruitful careers.