title: Plans and detours.
abstract: At various stages of my career, I made and followed plans for progress and growth. However, owing to several unexpected challenges, I had to make detours into unplanned vistas. When I look around at the careers of my former students and younger colleagues, I see fewer long-term, stable positions and frequent changes both in employers and in functions every ten or twenty years. Our curriculum prepares our students for manufacturing careers in the United States, but the current trend of corporate merger and outsourcing can suddenly turn their work into marketing or finance in the Far East. A fox that knows many tricks may be better suited to changing environments than a hedgehog that knows only one single trick. Perhaps future education should not only teach few subjects in depth for immediate career needs but also teach adaptability to unrelated challenges.
authors: Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5263; email: jameswei@princeton.edu.
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Wei
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D004738:Engineering / Q000266:history*; D005178:Faculty; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D007221:Industry; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities
keywords: Autobiography; career; dedication; detour; plans