The questions that have been posed in this section are challenging for all of us and raise another question:

How can we feel any kind of security in such a changing situation?

Peter Hawkins, in his book The Art of Building Windmills, argues that security cannot lie in the role we currently occupy, but must be based in the skills, knowledge and qualities we have and their relevance and marketability within the labour market generally. To put it another way, security lies not in the job you have, but in knowing you would be able to get another one because you have skills and qualities other employers want.

Taking this point of view leads to a different approach to managing your career and seeking security: rather than looking for a ‘safe job’ or a ‘hot industry’, it becomes important to constantly update and improve your skills to maintain your general employability, irrespective of what happens to individual employers.

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