‘It seemed so easy for all of you, but I have no idea where I want to go – how did you know?’ was a frequent comment after our Nonlinear Career Paths event in October. Why do careers seem so hard when it comes to deciding on the next step, when in retrospect, they seem to just have happened? ‘I met this person, and then one thing led to the other, and now I have my dream job’ or ‘I never imagined myself in this place but X happened, and got me interested in Y, so now I am here’, are frequent answers when asking people how they got to the position where they are today. Do you have to be lucky, or can you plan a career?
When listening to others talk about their careers, it may seem that things just fell in place, they were introduced to the right people, and given promising opportunities. We may even think that they needed to do nothing but say yes to a path that was already laid out for them. Certainly, there are many factors you cannot influence when it comes to your future career: the needs of the job market, whether a company culture matches your personality, the people you happen to meet, or who decides on your application. Being in the right place at the right time will help, though, nobody can tell you what the right place and time are.
Still, universities offer career planning courses and career counseling, so surely, there must be something you can plan in your career? There are factors you can influence, e.g., you can decide to be open to opportunities, reflect regularly on your goals, interests and competencies, actively search information and network with people who can help you move forward, and get the skills that are required in your dream job.
People plan their careers to different degrees; from defining what is interesting for them right now to highly sophisticated long-term plans. In any case, the first step is knowing what you want and gathering information. Knowing your values and priorities will help you decide whether or not to jump on a new opportunity. Career plans can evolve and change over time. This is very similar to research projects: You would not start on your research project without a good plan, or at least some hypotheses you want to test. At the same time, the moment you encounter some weird data and spend time on understanding those, or decide to test something nobody had thought of during the planning phase, you will adapt your plan.
What does that mean for your career? An initial plan will likely help you get started. At the same What does that mean for your career? An initial plan will likely help you get started. At the same time, be ready to adapt the plan if an interesting opportunity shows up along the way.