My father worked for the same company for 40 years and told me that would not happen to me. His advice was to find what I was good at, and then find a company that could use my skills. In choosing that skill, he told me to make sure it was something I enjoyed doing.
He was right in all respects, and he told me these things 40 years ago. He's still around at 94, and his choice enabled him to enjoy a long and happy retirement. In those 40 years I've learnt the following:
Choose a skill, develop it, and see how far it takes you. If it doesn't work out - you don't enjoy it or it doesn't take you far enough - try something else.
Careers that have width, not height, are more satisfying and get more satisfying as you get older.
Skills in the fundamentals of every Company - selling, buying, finance and product development - are the most rewarding, both personally and financially. The better an educational qualification you can get in your chosen skill, the better a job you can do.
Despite the attempts of the last 20 years to turn every tertiary college into a University, the only degrees worth the name come from the 27 Universities there used to be before that mayhem started. Do whatever it takes to get into one of them, and do a degree in one of the fundamental skills.
If you have a qualification, key skills in one of the fundamentals and some experience, then you can switch industries as they ebb and flow. If you choose an industry, then you ebb and flow with them.
Hope that helps.
