A job-it' s tale:from zero to hero and back again

"A Job-it's tale: from zero to hero and back again "
or the fluctuating value of experience (apologies to the estate of JR Tolkien)

When you start your professional career, looking for an entry level graduate position is the likely first step and also the first hurdle. It seems experience is often valued above academic achievements, which is nuts. People looking for entry level professional positions are likely by definition to be inexperienced.

As your career develops, experience is still a valuable currency ,as increasingly it demonstrates accomplishments as well as serving as an indicator of development potential.

When you get to be very experienced however you generally find at a certain point that your accumulated experience becomes pretty much worthless, perhaps as it tends to come with accompanying years on the clock. There may be a few exceptions such as post acquisition ,where the acquiring company sucks up the experience and knowledge DNA of their acquisition , followed normally by disposal of those same people.

I think it is great to see so many successful young entrepreneurs ,often straight out of university, but I wonder about their lack of real life business experience and the impact on the advice they are selling... is experience not seen as either necessary or a benefit;or do they tap into it via mentors , non executive directors or external consultants ?

Before I reached 30 ( which was 6 years into my career/ experiential learning curve) ,I was told I was too old for a career in consulting . By the time I was 40 I was told I was too old to be considered for admission into an MBA course by a highly rated Business school...

Before I go for my afternoon nap I would like to clarify that I put talent above in post seniority in almost all cases. Experience without talent , application, relevance and a thirst for continuous learning and growth is of limited use in business,or in life generally .

So what about using that body of experience of the many people who like me are no longer necessarily looking to work full time ,but wish to leverage their experience and to continue to learn, to be challenged and rewarded? A previous employer of mine BESTFOODS had a great scheme ; it created a corps of retired colleagues who were drafted in to carry out temporary , ad hoc business projects globally wherever there was a specific skill and experience need that matched the profile of a particular person.

My business Brandbuilder consultancy Ltd was set up after I fell out of corporate life for the last time after 30 plus years , in order to give businesses of all sizes bespoke access to my strategic and operational brand marketing skill, experience and passion on a completely flexible basis. From facilitating one off strategic planning or ideation days , project work , helping new market entry , mergers and acquisitions ,or periodic strategic input .Check out my profile on Linkedin and contact me for an informal chat about your ideas and whether I might be able to make a difference.