In July of last year, I achieved the status of an octogenarian. I have been working in the profession for close to 45 years. During my 45-year journey, I have had the privilege of witnessing practitioners who have had successful and prosperous careers, and unfortunately, those who tried and did not reach the success that had wished for.
I have always had an interest in looking at the question – How did these practitioners achieve success? Also, I discovered early in my career is that the definition of “Success” varies from one practitioner to another.
Here are my observations about How did they get that job?
Most of those who gained success came from the military, government, or law enforcement backgrounds. They entered the profession by first acquiring experience, and from that experience, learned the knowledge and skill necessary to survive and flourish in the business.
It seems that the paradigm today is to get the skill and knowledge via training, then try to gain experience. That is not a criticism; it is an observation.
It has been my experience that those who have gained their place in the profession via experience first, training later, have a different outlook on the profession and opinion of the requirements needed to gain employment and to advance in the business. They were able, through their “experience,” learn what works and does not.
When one looks at job metrics experience is the common denominator – although that may not be true in the Gig Economy, it is a top requirement in the Corporate and High Net Worth community.
Some additional information The ISDA Roadmap Checklist is a free download (from ISDA) that consists of 19 checkpoints separated into three stages, Planning for Your Success, Growing Your Success, and Managing and Enhancing Your Success. But as important as the checklist is the experience and wisdom of the ISDA Members contained in 38 online and downloadable documents.
ISDA Protective Services Roadmap Checklist