If you had it to do all over again, would you choose the career you are in now? How about a career in a Web startup? A whole new business model that needs years of old-world wisdom is up for grabs.

These lines might read like they are out of a half page advertisement. That is state of affairs in the dot-com world.

This new business model we are talking about is almost completely technology driven. Now, how much of the knowledge you accumulated over the years is going to help to create a successful business? Obviously a lot. The mantra is web integration. Adapt your existing business and functional knowledge in a new environment with a good deal of customization.

Jobs at dot-coms provide you with the change you want. Of course, it takes guts, confidence and ability to toss away the security blanket of a good job and start all over again at something new.

Experience counts
If you are a seasoned professional and you have been thinking about switching careers to an Internet job, now may be the time to make your move! E-commerce companies cater to a money-spending generation that cannot be lured as easily as twenty-something professionals. To keep older people using the web and spending their money, companies have begun to favor seasoned professionals who have a thorough understanding of the business.

Professionals with sound business understanding in the old world brick-and-mortar economy will prosper most from Internet jobs, especially when it comes to e-commerce.

First of all, it is not starting all over again
A job at a dot-com could actually just mean reinventing your current job, with a touch of difference (unless, of course, you change altogether the job role you want to perform).

Dot-com jobs are an ideal transition for professionals in middle management to move up in their career and to explore new avenues. Middle managers, by virtue of their position in the organizational hierarchy, are prone to more risks due to factors that affect the health of the organization.

Jobs in dot-coms involve quick adaptation of your existing business skills to successfully fit in a very technology savvy environment. Typical process cycles in dot-coms are extremely short. Marketing, logistics and inventory, supply chain, money flows will all happen in shorter cycles than in larger organizations. So systems and processes have to be created to achieve a seamless integration in all business processes in the dot-com.

The dot-com job market also provides an opportunity to move up the ladder to a senior management position.

Who is a good candidate?
From the dot-coms' point of view, here are a few general requirements that these companies look for:

1. Has particular functional skills (marketing, public relations, accounting, finance) well honed in a traditional environment for 5 to 7 years.
2. Is energetic, willing to work hard and take risks.
3. Is energized by a startup environment.
4. Is good at seat-of-the-pants rapid judgment and decisions.
5. Fits in well with the culture and environment of the new economy.

Tech skills are helpful, but not required. Dot-coms need more workers with traditional skills than ever, but don't be surprised if you join a dot-com and find yourself boning up in technical skills.

@ the speed of
For most professionals who move to from large companies to Web startups, while they fit into the functional roles well, they tend to have problems in getting their act together at the speed required. In a sense, the time to fruition of a job is many times faster in a web startup when compared to a pure brick-and-mortar model. So, professionals who can browbeat twenty-somethings at their own game have a chance to hit a bag of gold.

Volte-face
As I write this feature, there is a major restructuring happening in the dot-com world. If pop.com popped off yesterday, today it was the death of living.com. And we all know what happened to boo.com.

Everyday, we hear about dot-coms merging with their competitors, searching for more funds and “biting the dust”. Yet new ones are still being founded. That is the dynamism of the business.

Professionals who have spent time pondering such a move now realize there is undeniable risk with any Web startup. Unproven business models, spotty revenues and uncertain guarantees regarding long-term survival make a dot-com career one of the riskiest around. While the media is touting a number of high-profile winners, a larger number of them are groveling in the dirt.

Besides, a major problem for the old lot working at a dot-com will have to work with senior management who are more than a few generations younger than they.

The big guys jump into the fray
Many big companies have come to realize their inability to cope with the rapid rate of change and the cultural uniqueness of the Web. To move forward, they have begun to establish separate divisions or companies to take their e-commerce strategies forward. Joining one of these organizations may make more sense and be far less risky than a full-fledged jump to a dot-com.

Considerations

• Take the leap into the dot-com universe only if you can weather any possible storm.
• Carefully research the organization that you join. A lot of dot-coms that exist now don't deserve to be in business and won't be around in a year's time.
• Be cautious in joining online retail ventures. The long-term survival of many of these is suspect. The real opportunities are in companies focusing on B2B commerce, Internet infrastructure, and e-commerce software development. Companies that concentrate on supporting serious e-commerce ventures are bound to be a big emerging market as well. Look for opportunities in customer-support applications, business re-engineering firms, consulting organizations and other such support businesses.
• Make sure that your leap into the dot-com world involves a job that blends technical and business skills.