The difference between a “job risk” and a “career risk” matters

A job risk essentially means that there is a possibility that your job will no longer exist. A great way to think about this is through startups, which has a high likelihood of not existing year after year. That’s because the percentage of startups that fail after four years in the U.S. is over 50% A career risk is the probability of a negative outcome in your career due to action or inaction –– potentially hurting your career in the long run. The two are easy to confuse but it’s important to note that they are in fact, drastically different. For example, you have less of a career risk with joining a startup than you do with joining a big company. And that’s because you can wear more hats and have a lot of responsibilities that aren’t necessarily aligned with your job title. And speaking of job titles, that’s also something that could drastically change within a short period of time. And if the startup is successful with your successes, the reward can lead to very high outcomes. The big warning here is that a failed startup can leave you without an income quickly. But if you plan for that and decide that the job risk is worth it, go big! Have you taken a job risk before?? And/or are you thinking about it? Would love to hear more thoughts on this.