The world of work has changed drastically over the past generation or two. Whereas people once went to an employer as a young person and stayed there for most of their working lives, people now expect to have multiple employers for shorter and shorter periods of time. More than that, people expect to have multiple careers over time. Quite often these careers are completely different from each other.
The ideal path of high school to college to entry level job to promotion through the ranks is no longer a helpful guiding narrative. Sheryl Sandburg uses a jungle gym rather than a corporate ladder analogy. It assumes more lateral moves within the same basic theme as we move sideways to move upward. Even that analogy is somewhat dated.
Enter the idea of squiggly careers. As we experiment with different careers, we are developing different skill sets. Some are latent within us and some are results of our resourcefulness to adapt to a new job role. The path of how we got to where we are now is probably anything but linear. And as they say, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The interesting challenge here is to articulate how these varied job or life experiences yield a wide-ranging toolbox of skills and mindsets. With some intentionality, you can examine those experiences for underlying themes that map onto your purpose and abilities. This process will take some time and intentionality. It’s also iterative. The payoff to yourself is having a more grounded sense of who you are and what you contribute in the world. (We’re not talking about spin or an excuse to sit on the couch and play video games. We’re talking about how you show up that really contributes.) The payoff when speaking with others, perhaps to a potential employer, is that you are reframing the narrative from “job-hopping” to a diversified portfolio of professional skills.
Puzzle Pieces Coaching 