6 Simple Actions Engineers and Tech Professionals Can Take to Get Career Clarity

Most people think they lack motivation when they really lack clarity. —James Clear

My last article was all about career clarity and why it’s important. This one is all about how to find it!

Finding career clarity is not always easy, but it is possible. It takes time, effort, and self-reflection. But if you're willing to put in the work, you can find a career that is both fulfilling and rewarding. So here are a few specific actions you can take to go from confused to clear about what you want for your career.

Let's jump into it!

Get Writing

Often the simplest tools and actions are the most effective, but sometimes that means they are also commonly neglected. A journal is one such tool. From the beginning of this book, I've encouraged you to utilize a journal—if you haven't started yet, now is the time.

Writing in a journal can help you see a simplified view of your life, figure out what's most important to you, break through "analysis paralysis," and get the clarity and confidence you need in order to take action.

Many clients come to me with many possible options for where they could take their career. They have many skills and interests that could be applicable across industries and functions, but they don't know where to go next. The problem is that rather than taking steps to move in the right direction, the uncertainty often paralyzes them, making them unable to progress.

So in almost every case, I ask them to write. We move through some focused journaling activities, but it's also helpful to free write in a journal.

Go ahead and open a blank page and start asking and answering questions.?

• What comes to mind when you think of your future life and career??
• What ideas do you have about which direction you’d like to head??
• What careers sound fun??
• What inspires you??
• What are you truly afraid of??
• What elements are most important to you in a career (such as company, culture, role, location, compensation, travel, in-person vs. remote, etc.)?

Answering these and similar questions will help you uncover insights you have been searching for, but, in many cases, may have been hiding inside of you all along.?

Get out of your head and write. Or, put another way, write to get things out of your head. And see what you discover.

Get Help Instead of Trying to Figure It Out Alone

When we deal with problems in our personal lives, careers, or other areas of our lives, it's so easy to get caught up in the pain and uncertainty of the moment. When we face these problems alone, it can be especially painful and debilitating. So rather than struggling through career clarity questions and challenges alone, reach out for help.?

Find mentors or coaches who can help lift your spirits, broaden your perspective, and help you find new opportunities. Enlist friends and family to support you. They can help you figure out what you want. (And once you have clarity, let everyone in your life know about your goals, which will put you on their radar as they interact with people that might be good for them to introduce you to.) Getting support from others is crucial to wading through the complexities of life, finding clarity, and maximizing your potential.

Additionally, the people who know you best in both your personal and professional life may have insights about you beyond what you would think of yourself. To get more clarity on the strengths they appreciate about you, you can ask questions like:

• What do you see as my greatest strengths?
• If you were to use three words to describe me, what would they be?
• What do you most appreciate about being friends (or coworkers)?
• What do you think I do well, but probably don't give myself credit for?
• What do I do that makes you feel confident in me?
• What are some specific examples of when I have demonstrated my strengths?
• How do you think I could develop my strengths further?

You can start with these questions, but always dig deeper to better understand the information they share with you. Of course afterwards, make sure you thank them for sharing with you.

Don't limit yourself by trying to shoulder the burden of reaching your goals all on your own—lean on others to help you reach higher.?

Ask for Directions

Have you ever been traveling to a new place and found yourself unsure of how to get to your destination? This is one of my pet peeves, especially when I'm the one driving.

When you’re lost, somehow, some way, you need to get some help to figure out where to go.

In modern times, we often turn to our phone GPS (which isn't always 100% accurate in my experience). But if we are in a place with no service, we might gasp actually have to ask another human for help!

When we’re unsure of where to go to find a desired destination, we need to ask for directions. Likewise, when we’re lost or unsure on how to navigate our career, we need to ask for guidance. Asking for help from others as you navigate the uncharted territory of career decisions helps you obtain important insights from others who know the territory better than you.

How often do people respond negatively when you ask for directions? Virtually never, and if they do, it's probably because they are just having a bad day.

Asking for help doesn't need to be complicated and formal. The people you talk to will see your earnestness, curiosity, and passion. This will increase your confidence and at the same time improve your opportunities and insights.

Reduce your stress as you reach out to get insights from others by simply "asking for directions." This will open opportunities in your pursuit of success in the field you desire in engineering or beyond.?

Make Decisions, Not Just Goals

It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. — Tony Robbins

There is a huge difference between creating a goal and making a decision. A goal is mostly just an idea. It's something you want, something you aim for.

A decision, on the other hand, is something you are fully committed to. You are willing to make sacrifices and do uncomfortable things to make it happen.?

Making a decision requires you to move from just having a goal to taking action. You are no longer just hoping for something to happen, you are making it happen.

If your future is uncertain, it might be tempting to stay aloof from your goals so as not to be disappointed if things don't work out. I suggest doing the opposite. Decide and commit. If you don't, you're actually likely to inadvertently self-sabotage your situation to make your goals not happen because you don't really give it your all.

But if you fully commit to a path, you'll give it a full chance. Then, if it doesn't work out, you can know for sure that it wasn't the right path (at least at that time), and can pivot accordingly.

Are you willing to turn your big goals into decisions??

Take Action Despite Uncertainty

In the absence of clarity, take action! — Philip McKernan

When dealing with uncertainty, we have to fight against the natural psychological and biological processes that work against us and make us feel unable to take action. Often when we have less information to go on, we make more irrational and erratic decisions. This is because when we don’t have much information, we’re more likely to feel fear, and that fear shifts control to the limbic system in the brain.?

Making irrational and erratic decisions can sometimes work great as a survival mechanism (like when cavemen had to respond to unknown threats hiding in the bushes), but not quite as well in dealing with modern uncertainty about how our choices may or may not deliver the outcomes we are seeking.?

There is no way to know how any path will turn out. But if you stay stagnant, nothing will happen and you will continue to lack career clarity!

So you have to be willing to take action despite your lack of clarity. In doing so, you'll actually try more things, increase your learning, meet more people, and get more clarity in the process. Essentially you're collecting more data, which is not possible unless you take risks and try new things. And yes, you might end up on the wrong path for a time, but sometimes ending up on the wrong path is the fastest way to get clarity about which path is the right path. As Jeffrey R. Holland said, “There are times when the only way to get from A to C is by way of B.”

No matter what, you can get something positive out of any experience. If you end up loving it, great! Double down and do more of it! If not, that's fine too. You can be grateful for learning from the experience and change directions for the future.

Don't let fear drive you to inaction. Move forward with intention.

Be Flexible and Patient

Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. — Tony Robbins

As we work towards career clarity, if we are flexible and patient, we tend to figure things out eventually. As I started my career, I had certain ideas about what I wanted to do, but as I was flexible, I found a different path that was right for me. For many years, I had the goal of earning an MBA degree. I wanted to balance my technical knowledge, education, and experience with greater exposure to leadership, business strategy, finance, and marketing.?

About two years after my undergraduate degree and still in my first job out of school, I felt the need for a change—I was bored and felt stagnant—I didn’t feel like I was learning or progressing most of the time. I thought that perhaps it was time for me to pursue the MBA degree to propel me towards the next steps in my career.?

I was ambitious, so I started applying for top schools like Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, and MIT. It wasn't long before I started receiving rejection letters, but there was one school that was willing to give me an interview.

In the midst of the application process, a new job opportunity came up. It paid significantly more than my current job and would give me new opportunities such as learning business principles on the job, leading teams, and developing new products, all things I wanted to try.?

Having multiple good paths to choose from created a conundrum for me. I was excited about trying my hand at a top-tier MBA program (something I had dreamt of for years), but this role was exactly the type of role that I was hoping earning an MBA would allow me to explore in the future.?

In the end, rather than continuing to test the waters of MBA programs, I took the job. But I never lost sight of my dream to get an MBA. A few years later, I decided to pursue an MBA from the University of Washington—they had a great program that was flexible and mostly online.?

This allowed me to continue working and even start my business without having to move to a new place or incur crazy amounts of debt. And the things I learned and the people I met were invaluable. I was flexible with my approach, but I still fulfilled my dream.

Often it takes time to realize our desired future. Big things rarely happen in an instant, but we should never stop working towards our vision.

Take Intentional Action

Want more actions and activities you can take to get career clarity?

Go grab my Engineer’s Career Clarity Checklist! It’ll give you specific activities and actions you can take to move from confusion to clarity!

Oh, and it’s free, so that’s cool too.

Accelerate Your Progress

This newsletter is an adapted excerpt from my new book, The Intentional Engineer. It was written just for intentional engineers like you. Go grab your own copy today at: https://amzn.to/3u6bJF2.?

By the way, the Audiobook just recently became available, so go grab your copy on Audible or Apple Books!