Don’t have a life plan all worked out? Don’t panic – you don’t need one. Graduate Fog explains why it’s smart to stay flexible.
Yes, you read correctly. Despite many university careers advisers’ obsession with making 21-year-olds predict what career you might enjoy (before you’ve even had a proper job), the happy truth is that graduates no longer need a crystal ball at this moment in your life. But for some bizarre reason, nobody is telling you this – so Graduate Fog thought we would.
The truth is that it’s entirely possible to enjoy a long and fruitful career without ever planning your career very far in advance. In fact, there is a growing school of though that people who decide to ‘navigate’ their careers as they go along will actually do better in than those who ‘plan’.
Has Graduate Fog been puffing on the crack pipe? Nope – we’ve never felt more clear-headed. In fact, we think it’s the careers professionals who need a bucket of cold water thrown over them. Because, while they were busy studying ‘The Theory of Careers’ (or whatever it is they do), anybody who actually has a career has witnessed a whole New World of Work emerging – in which the old rules don’t apply. To everybody other than careers advisers, the idea of picking your life-long career in advance seems quaint, old-fashioned and – in many cases – impossible.
If you don’t have a fixed career in mind, don’t sit there sweating about it. And definitely don’t sit there waiting to be ‘inspired’. A far better bet is to take an educated guess at the sort of work you might enjoy for a while – say, the next two or three years. Get cracking and see where it takes you. Remember, in a fast-changing job market, adaptability – ie not having a specific goal in mind – can actually work in your favour.
NEXT: HOW TO START YOUR CAREER (WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A PLAN)
