What Do You Actually Want In A Career?
Know thyself, they say — sometimes it’s easier said than done
“I don’t love my job, but I’m not sure what I want to do next.”
“I don’t know what else I would want to do.”
It’s totally fair. A day-to-day job often eats most of your life, and often constrains your exposure to very similar people in very similar roles. You know you want to do something different, but you’re not sure what that is.
Most people progress through their careers with far less understanding of these factors than you’d expect. It’s a big reason why MBA programs’ applications entail such open-ended questions and rigorous self-reflection. You’re faced with an unprecedented amount of opportunity during those two years — coming in completely blind to yourself is a surefire way to be overwhelmed and potentially disappointed by your experience.
Even those with a little orientation on career goals on one dimension of their career can struggle to decide what might be next. In engaging clients on both career and MBA work, we sometimes contextualize career orientation and goals along a multi-point framework. Thinking through each:
- Industry: Industry is defined by the type of primary activities the business you’re working at does. Think finance, healthcare, technology, CPG and more as examples. Are you deadset on a particular sector, or more open?
- Function: This is so often confused with industry, but really is quite separate. What do you want to be doing in your role? Do you want your target responsibilities to be broad/flexible, or more defined?
- Geography: Geography doesn’t just include where your office is, but also things like face time requirements, ability to work from home, the amount of travel and structure of work. This aspect can sometimes be a primary constraint, affecting access to all the others significantly.
- Culture/Organization: Culture is a nebulous word, but encompasses the latent principles that organizes a company. Different organizations vary in size, autonomy, communication, internal development, and many other aspects. Do you want a fast-paced organization where you can execute on your own, or a hierarchy that’s structured around developing you methodically?
- Financial: Everyone wants money, right? Financial considerations go beyond maximizing dollars, however. Thinking realistically through stability vs. upside potential, as well as your tolerance for risk on both a personal and organizational level, can often make your career options clearer very quickly.
The above may seem simple, but so often we encounter applicants who have only explore one or two dimensions. And, even if a career path seems interesting, applicants are often scared off by another, final consideration: Opportunity.
So many applicants aren’t sure how to even begin pursuing a career shift, even if they’ve decided on what they might want. It’s how we pride ourselves on helping — helping you sort your frameworks into targets, strategize paths towards those goals, and develop tactics on-the-go.
If you’re interested in figuring out what your framework means, or how to execute against it, shoot us an email or drop us a note.
