Career Center: Shaping Your Career Progression

Finding the Right Career Path

Very little in life defines you as much as your career. Whatever you decide to do will inform most major facets of your life, from where you live, to what sort of house you have, to the car you drive, to the friends you have, to how you spend your days, etc.

Some people say that a job is just that, a way to earn money, but the truth is that it is so much more. And while you might consider your job not a “career,” if you settle for a job that’s not what you want it to be, it still becomes your career, and will dictate your quality of life.

In fact, you spend more time working than doing almost anything else in your life, so your job essentially defines who you are. It’s important to choose wisely.

Since much of your happiness and your quality of life depend on your work, it is vital that you choose something that will bring you both satisfaction and rewards, whether intrinsic in the form of feeling that you are contributing or giving back, or extrinsically, meaning that you are rewarded with money and status commensurate with your output. Obviously, the ideal career is one that provides both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, something that you feel good about for both what you are doing and how you are rewarded.

While many of your options may depend on the education and experience you have, there is always the opportunity to shape your career as you move forward. Allowing yourself to be stuck in a rut means that it’s unlikely you’ll feel fulfilled.

In addition, as you spend more time working, you become clearer about the type of work and structure that are important to you, whether it’s a large company or a small entrepreneurial environment. The more experience they have, the more many people realize they are in the wrong line of work. Perhaps it doesn’t challenge them sufficiently or it doesn’t provide the intrinsic or extrinsic rewards needed. Very few people spend their entire career in one place, as they used to long ago. The era of the pension and “gold watch” is gone. Today’s successful careerists no longer climb the corporate ladder at one company. More often than not, they are nimble, switching companies and possibly even industries when new opportunities present themselves. They may even make lateral changes instead of being 100 percent focused on constantly moving up.

With so much of your life defined by your career, it is vital that you take control and make sure that the career you choose and pursue is the one that will sustain you throughout your life. Changing, updating and upgrading are all ways to make sure your career meets your needs, for today and beyond.

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