Navigating Career Shifts Like A Pro

People's careers are like rivers. Sometimes they are a straight, smooth run from mountain ridge to open sea without much of a twist or bend. At other times they meander greatly, flowing around hills or diving underground only to reappear and continue at unexpected locations. Their exit point at the sea can be a soft and gentle delta or a majestic cliffside waterfall.

If you've never mapped your career before, I recently put up a simple and (hopefully) fun exercise that might give you some insights into where you've been and where you're heading career-wise.

In short, draw your career as a river running towards the sea from a mountain, where the sea is the end of your professional career (retirement in most cases) and the mountain is the starting point (where you first entered the labor market). Waterfalls represent big changes in your role (new job, different career track or a different company), Rapids represent a straight promotion or increase in seniority in an existing role, and Lakes represent a career or role that is no longer developed or used currently.

See below for the simple example I drew of my own career so far:

As you can see it involves a little bit of everything, but it's not a very branching, complicated structure. It also includes one career (Engagement Manager) which I acquired the skills for, but ultimately decided not to pursue. That doesn't mean I couldn't perform that function or lost those skills - but that in my current career map it doesn't play a role.

Now, one aspect I did not include yet in that post is potential. For most people, there is an emotional value in youth, when the slopes are steep and rivers run fast. As one's career progresses there's the sense of slowing down, as if we're in the flatlands, and big career moves are less and less likely to become possible.

So when you consider your sea-side retirement position and compare it where you are at right now, it might seem like a really tall order to achieve that. It's often accompanied by thoughts such as "I wish I had known this when I started this study" or "If I had only realized what I wanted to do earlier in my career" and can be really demoralizing to take away from this exercise.

Because of this, I'd like to offer some opportunities that help you achieve that sea-side dream after all, and relativate the efforts that are needed to accomplish that.

Now remember that this is a visual exercise, so apologies beforehand to more text-based thinking readers.

Consider Your "Flow Time"

You will have to make a quick assumption what age you want to be at that "seaside" position (let's call it your "Cliff Job") and thus how many years you have to achieve it. I am currently 38 years old, if I'd want to be "C-level executive at a Forbes 500 company at age 55" then it gives me 17 years to achieve it.

Possible? I don't see why not. More importantly, it gives me constraints to work with which help me make decisions. Any time somebody tells you to "think outside the box" they likely are ignoring the structural benefits of working within well-defined limits and the clarity they give in accepting or rejecting available options.

Comparing Toolkit Requirements

Research the traits, experience and skills demanded of your Cliff Job and write them down. You could for example look at the Linkedin profiles of people in the same position, or derive them from any job postings you might find. This is the "toolkit" a person in that role is expected to work with.

Divide them into things you must be capable of doing (active skills), things you need to know and understand (knowledge) and capabilities you must have to manage that role (talents) which are less defined. Mark which ones need to be evident to your employer by prior experience, and which need a certification as proof of skill. Whatever requirements do not need direct proof can be shown through online interactions, personal causes, or hobbies.

Now you can compare your skills, talents and knowledge and compare them to what you will need. I am sure you will find quite some gaps there, but that's to be expected. Now you get to redraw the map so that it will lead to your desired outcome. This is where the fun begins.

Redrawing the map

From your Cliff Job, draw your river backwards towards your current position. Any positions that are successive upgrades become Rapids, while any big career moves become Waterfalls.

It's very possible that there are multiple positions that lead to the same Cliff Job. It's a good idea to draw a small number (3 or so) alternative river flows for yourself. Make sure to select career flows that share the same skills and experience as much as possible, so that you can move from one track to another if you encounter a chokepoint where you cannot proceed.

Take note where a certain position is a hard requirement to move with the river's flow. This means you found yourself a chokepoint in your career you need to be aware of. A prime example would be a certification requirement that is a huge investment of time, such as a medical or law degree. Unless you started with one at the beginning of your career, acquiring one (especially while maintaining an existing degree) might be next to impossible and forms a serious barrier to progress. For anything less demanding than that, we'll need shortcuts (see the section below).

Those chokepoints and barriers that are really insurmountable means you need to reconsider your priorities. If you have no money saved up and work a full-time job at age 50, you are not likely to be able to pursue a medical career without some form of miracle, and even then you might not be able to reap the benefits of your new career for long before reaching retirement age.

Digging Canals To Close Gaps In Your Map

The biggest obstacles to a large career change are time and opportunity. It might seem like redirecting the flow of one's career in a few year's time might be hard if not impossible, even assuming that you wouldn't require a whole new education.

This means that you will have to find alternative means to acquire the required skills and experience, rather than a standard career path or education. You represent such a shortcut with a straight line, effectively "cutting" a bend in your career flow. This represents an opportunity to accelerate your career growth by putting in well-prepared effort.

For example, say I took my former career map and added in a Canal connecting my roles as a Proposal Specialist and Capability Development:

This means that rather than following the original flow of my career, where I proved my ability by good performance assessments, improvement projects and establishing my expertise, I would need to take a shortcut and become someone considered for this position at a quicker pace.

Such shortcuts can be improving one's network to get your name and expertise out there. It could mean doing additional courses to gain certifications that are at or above the required level for that position. It could also be done by becoming a published author or known public speaker in that field.

Establishing a Canal puts control over your career flow directly in your hands. Rather than relying on promotions, the assessments of others or future potential vacancies, you determine what you need to arrive at your desired destination with the means you have available right now.

Now you have a body of content to work on, a timeframe to do it in, and a clear goal to give you the focus needed to achieve it.

Will things change in the future? Likely. Simply redraw the map and do this exercise again. It won't take more than an hour even if you add a lot of detail and have a very expansive career, and it will give you a purpose and a feeling of accomplishment.

Feel free to show off your career river in the comments, and let me know if this exercise helped you set goals for your future!

Inspired by Andrew Davies' #MyFirstArticle challenge on Linkedin.