Flexibility is Key to Success in New Economy, Google Exec Tells SuperFutures Students

When Sean Harvey was writing travel books, little did he know that one day he’d be running the AdSense business at Google, responsible for everything from software engineers to marketing the advertising service to big name customers.

“I used computers zero-time in high school but now I run a scarily amount,” he told some 50 students who gathered for a SuperFutures "Discover Your Future" seminar in Fairfield, Connecticut. “I got a temp job at the United Nations, and then started writing travel books. It wasn’t paying much, which is why my wife told me to stop.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

The “Discover Your Future” seminar featuring Harvey is one of several offered by SuperFutures.org designed to help high school students discover their career options and possible college majors. The organization was founded by Connecticut resident and nationally known financial commentator Jennifer Openshaw, a columnist for Dow Jones’ MarketWatch who has appeared on Oprah and many other programs.

Harvey, joined by Openshaw, radio executive Dick Ferguson, and career coach Tara Blackwell, told students that there are three keys to succeeding.

• First, he said, passion, which drives hard work. “If you work hard and keep your eye on the ball, you can work your way up,” he said. Sean was a tech writer at DoubleClick, the giant advertising agency, which was bought by Google.

“We got bought by Google and, Voila! I’m there.” He said that while he got to Google in a “not-so-obvious way,” he attributes his success to the fact that he got started early working hard at something that he was passionate about, and never stopped learning.

“That got me very far in the job world, ridiculously far.”

“This is an exciting time in the world,” he added. “As long as you’re excited, the work won’t be painful and opportunities will open up along the way. My career is about money, but it’s also about having fun and doing things I never thought I could do before.”

• Second, flexibility. In the “old days,” he pointed out, “it used to be one job, one skill. Today, companies aren’t hiring for a specific position but rather people who are smart and flexible. The way you demonstrate that is by showing you can do multiple things well.”

Sean said community involvement is just one example where young people can show their flexibility and curiosity, another key hiring ingredient. “Today, it’s more about: ‘Am I the kind of person who’s flexible and can do different things?’ It’s different from the world our parents were in.”

A one-time musician, Sean said that some might not see that experience as valuable. “Being a musician shouldn’t have had any benefit to my job, but it has. People find it interesting and it impresses people – and that helps me in my job today.”

Finally, Sean also pointed out that the winners in the US will be those with “high-end, valuable skills.”

“There are winners and losers in this new economy,” he said. “Some work can be done more cheaply elsewhere. So our workforce succeeds when it has high-end skills that are not easily replicated.”

For young people, that means thinking about what skills are missing but needed. He said computer programming is “so desperately needed in the US that if you learn how to code and learn a computer language, it will virtually be impossible not to be working. We are sucking them away because our schools are not training them. It’s a key toward permanent high paid employment.”

Having highly transferrable skills – skills you can take to other jobs or companies – will also help young people as the economy changes. Finally, Sean noted that it’s important to be able to work globally, learn more language skills and expose yourself to other cultures, through programs like SuperFutures summer Global Leader Program.

“This is all so different from my parents and your grandparents’ economy in that jobs aren’t as secure. Being in the software business is about as secure as it gets; but you should assume it’s never secure. There aren’t the same kind of lifetime buy-in and benefits as the 60s.”

And that’s precisely why it’s all about flexibility in today’s economy. To register for the next Discover Your Future seminar, visit www.superfutures.org. SuperFutures will soon be launching a virtual Discover Your Future program for students nationwide. Be sure to get notified.

SuperFutures’ CEO Openshaw started the organization after talking to parents and teens about their fears and stress related to transitioning to the working world and realizing that she, too, lacked smart guidance early-on in her career. Through SuperFutures’ classes and coaching, says Openshaw, “we help teens turn their passions into impact and, in the process, teach them real-world skills needed to succeed in college, career and life.”