“These are strange times” is an understatement, but it really does feel strange.
Yet people still have to live their lives and…work. For new graduates, it’s still a beginning. They join the ranks of people with careers, whether they are gainfully employed or not. Some more than others have varying levels of support.
Everyone, however, has the opportunity to reframe their thinking at this moment in time. Given these circumstances, it’s a necessity.
The concept of work is changing.
Boundaries are being redrawn. New industries are emerging while others are declining. Socially-minded businesses are established as “not only for profit,” companies are collaborating internally and externally, and work arrangements are decidedly less and less traditional.
Workers are no longer bound to one career or one job in one company. A person might be working for one organization while starting their own business, or even working different projects at the same time while investing elsewhere.
Others might be making do with multiple part-time jobs. Opportunities to experiment with different roles, jobs, and seemingly unconnected careers are possible.
There’s a field called the Future of Work full of thought leaders that explore what’s to come. The Future of Work that matters to an individual is one that offers fulfillment, employability, and quality of life.
Everyone’s work is unique.
They have their own combination of talents and places where they can add the most value. One doesn’t have to conceptualize a career in the long-established analogy of “climbing the ladder” and attaining job titles — regardless of life stage.
If at all possible, stop staying in less than satisfying jobs and force fitting into ill-suited roles defined by others. Just because someone can do something capably, doesn’t mean they should do it.
Instead, consider what’s important to enhance life first, and then seek the endeavors that best meet them — if only for now.
Everyone has their own version of what’s important, but here’s how to define it:
1. Establish a purpose statement comprised on what brings passion and meaning to work. Answer the why of what you do. Declare ambitions. This should drive the career and span across different roles and companies as a common thread.
2. Narrow down core values to no more than 5–7. (Co.-Design of Work Experience has a methodology for this as part of executive coaching.)
3. Force rank the characteristics and conditions that are necessary to do the best work. The top 5–10 are must haves. Everything else below that might be nice to have.
There’s help for this if needed. Here are three resources for starters:
Be Your Best Career Architect!: Here are the Blueprints by Rochelle Parks-Yancy and PhD & Delonia Cooley, PhD
FOCUS: Creating Career + Brand Clarity, 2nd Edition by Danielle Beauparlant Moser and Debra Fehr Heindel
The Ultimate Career Pocket Guide by Francine Parham and Dolores DeGiacamo
“What’s important” should have a fairly long shelf-life. However, things do change over the years, so be sure to revisit this from time to time. Make these the guidelines for career decisions, beginning with purpose. They will keep you true to yourself.
Every career path is different.
Mentors and role models might serve as great inspiration, but they are not intended for mimicry. A person has their own one-of-a-kind career path.
There is no one way to do anything, no formula that is failsafe. Successes and failures alike are learning opportunities. Stick with “what’s important,” utilize talents, constantly learn new things (more on that below), as well as share and collaborate with others for the greater good.
Establish, cultivate, and grow networks to get help and to help others. Instead of building a resume, combine traditional and non-traditional ways of collecting experiences that bring meaning and fulfill purpose.
Lifelong learning provides Career growth and Career security.
Learning is not about taking as many classes and certifications as possible. It’s about gaining and demonstrating knowledge through experience.
To emphasize, a person shows learning through changed behavior: they come across new information, synthesize it, and act differently as a result of that encounter.
The point of collecting experiences throughout a career is to learn. Those that learn, grow as talent. That makes them more likely to remain relevant, highly marketable, and most importantly employable.
Learners will always have opportunities, which is why they would never need to worry about job security. They have career security.
A person is bigger than their work.
Yes, work occupies a lot and it enables livelihoods, but there’s more to life than that. There are friends, family, hobbies, good causes/social movements, and spirituality, just to name a few.
Defining oneself by a single role or even an entire career can lead to poor work-life balance and an identity crisis when the unexpected happens.
Determine the constants both in and outside of work. Use them to see and live beyond the day-to-day grind.
Economic downturns present more anxiety and different challenges. But employment — even in the best of times — is no guarantee.
“Necessity is the mother of invention” as the saying goes.
Now more than ever, flexing mindsets and exploring new and different career possibilities is necessary. If opportunities don’t come, create them.
It’s never too late to see a career in a different light. Remember, there are lots of constraints in this world, but the worst kind are self-imposed. Now go for it.
Karen Jaw-Madson
Karen holds an MA in Social-Organizational Psychology and is an expert in organization and work culture. She is also the author of “Culture Your Culture: Innovating Experiences at Work”. She is the Founding Principal of Co.-Design of Work Experience.