Am I stuck?

Earlier in my career, I was at an inflection point where I was questioning where I wanted to go. I was working for an insurance company where there were lots of opportunities. I loved their culture, I loved their values and I loved my colleagues. I had successfully moved from sales and service towards training and development. I loved creating learning experiences and introducing new team members and new brokers to insurance and our systems. 

There was a lot that I loved. However, I wasn’t sure if the insurance industry was where I was meant to continue to apply what I had to offer. 

On a walk with a colleague, I mentioned that I was thinking of applying to a role with another company and it happened to be outside of the insurance industry. My colleague said to me “Now that you have insurance on your resume, that’s all people are ever going to see.” 

I was 26 years old. And now I was terrified. What…I’m locked in for life?!

I didn’t know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do, however, I did know that it was my job to make sure people saw what I wanted them to see on my resume. 

Now how do I figure out what it is that I want them to see…?

There is something very wrong with how we talk about careers. I wish I could tell you this is a localized problem, however, having worked with people from around the globe, it is a shared experience. 

Look out there. What are the jobs of the future? Get those qualifications, squeeze yourself in and you’re off!

Oh, and if something isn’t quite fitting for you - “You can’t have it all”, “you’re asking too much of your job/career”, “it is what it is”… and on and on it goes. 

Making career pathway choices can be daunting. At InceptionU we see people at all ages and stages of career who wonder, is this it? Is this what I’m supposed to be doing with my career? 

When asking themselves those questions, the even bigger one we often hear is “Where else can I go? I’ve got a background/certificate/diploma/degree in ________, that’s all employers see. Making a transition will mean starting all over again.”

As my grandma used to say “Oh, what a bunch of malarkey!” 

Basing your career future on your career past is a longstanding belief that I have loved challenging. The world of work is evolving too rapidly for us to base future career decisions only on past and present experience. 

According to a report published by Dell Technologies and authored by the Institute For The Future (IFTF), 85 percent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven't even been invented yet.

In today’s context, basing your career path on past experience and future trends is just as risky as ignoring the market altogether. 

And this is not an article about “follow your passion and make it your living.” It is important to meet your needs, right now. And what if you don’t have a “passion”? Now where do you start? 

What you need to start with is YOU. 

There are likely some common threads across every experience you’ve had, whether it’s volunteering, your education, your work, even if they weren’t a complete fit for you. 

Finding those threads, naming them and getting clear on what brings you purpose and meaning is a great place to start. 

If the ultimate skill in life is learning how to learn, the ultimate skill in career leadership is identifying and navigating the matches between what you have to offer and what the marketplace needs. 

Get curious about yourself. Ask others what they see as your accomplishments and see what commonalities you can find across them. 

• What skills were you using? 

• What interests were involved? 

• How did it fit you and your personality? 

• What values were aligned to make that an accomplishment for you? 

You can look to select pieces of your past to identify your own, unique patterns and trends and pull the ones that have the most significance for you forward to your next career steps. 

The reason we have career exploration at the BEGINNING of our Tech Adjacent and Full Stack Developer programs is to minimize the risk of getting into a career field or job and finding out “Yikes, this isn’t it either!” 

Even if part of your path is taking a necessary job to meet your needs now, knowing it is part of a path as you work towards what is meaningful to you alleviates that “stuckness” feeling. It is a choice you are making on your way to something that is a great fit. 

We have far too many living, breathing examples from alumni and from the 2000+ people I have had the privilege to guide through career leadership sessions to uphold the antiquated belief that the path you are on must be the path to retirement. 

If being locked in were a reality, I would not be doing what I am doing. 

Why do I get to do what is meaningful and purposeful for me and not you?

You’re not locked in. You’re not stuck. YOU are the key to your career fulfillment. 

- Margo