Plan overboard:
Not all long-term career goals were meant to stay afloat
For the first 14 years of her career, Amanda Brandt knew exactly where she wanted to be by the time she was 40. “I saw myself as an executive with a marketing firm, preferably a small one that specialized in restaurants, coffee shops and cafes,” she says. “I always took on projects and jobs in those areas because I assumed that taking a granular approach to a product would be the best way to gain expertise in how to uber-market a particular brand.”
Today, Brandt is a sales representative for a chemical company, selling components to companies that manufacture plastic parts. “This is absolutely the opposite of what I thought I would be doing at my age but sometimes it’s better that you work with fate than fight against it,” says the 41-year-old resident of Arlington, Texas. “I was out of work and a friend from school was looking for a sales rep and texted me that they were ‘looking for someone smart.’ I took the job because I needed the work but I learned that I’m good at sales and that I’m a quick study when it comes to scientific and technical material.”
Brandt, who minored in chemistry at the University of Texas, says she loves how her current job works both sides of her brain. “I can be creative on how I approach a sales call and I can be technical when working with our team to make sure we are selling the best, safest chemicals to a company that will put them to their best possible use,” she says.
Brandt is at the tail-end of a generation that values loyalty and stability. Right behind is a younger generation that places little in either. “For a lot of us who came out
of college or entered the ranks of the working world in the ’80s and ’90s, we still view our career as a timeline,” says Ryan Meyer, a career strategist in New York who specializes in working with individuals who want to enter new fields of work. “Today’s younger employees aren’t as committed to following one plan or staying loyal to one company. While you’ll still find some people who have some long-term goals, today’s employees are much more focused on short-term rewards and short-term promotions.” And that’s a good thing.
“I’m not opposed to long-term planning. I think for certain professions it’s an absolute must and even for a
casual employee who has long-term goals, a long-term plan can be very helpful but you reach long-term goals by hitting short-term goals,” Meyer says. “I think sometimes we look at the big picture and fail to see all the small steps involved in getting there.”
Derrick Toth, 56, says he used to have a plan to own his own business by the time he was 50 so he could pass it down to his two sons. “I’m already two years behind schedule so if I still was set on having my own business, I’d be pretty depressed,” says Toth, who lives in Chicago’s
Edgebrook neighborhood. “I’m a housing analyst who has always been intrigued by the next big thing so the plan was to create a small construction company that would specialize in flipping houses in areas that were still off the radar.”
Two problems, though. First, Toth says at one point, “everyone and their brother” decided to flip houses so the opportunities decreased.
And the second problem? “I can’t fix or build anything to save my life. I’m the guy who smashes a hole in the wall when he’s trying to hang a frame on the wall,” Toth says.
Still, Toth says he assumed he could hire people to do the work and he’d be the brains behind the operation. He quit
his job, formed an LLC and printed up some business cards. “I bought one house in Franklin Park to try it out but I didn’t have the contacts to hire an honest, competent crew. I
would put the word out and I’d be approached by guys with different angles — ‘I can do this for a lot less but don’t pull
any permits’ or ‘This will be a side job for me so I can only work overnights,” he says.
Frustrated after only a few weeks, Toth looked for an immediate out after realizing his own limitations. “As my wife likes to joke, my knowledge of homes literally ends at the front door,” he says.
Toth ended up selling the house to a relative who rehabbed the property and made a decent profit when selling it four months later. “It was kind of emasculating, to be honest, but we both made a few bucks,” he says.
Still, the extra cash didn’t sway Toth from making a quick exit. “I was one and done,” he says. “I’m back to working as a consultant for a property firm in Wisconsin and one in China. It’s interesting work and it pays well. My dreams of Toth homes all over Illinois are dead and I’m OK with it.”