Career Path Curves
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This opening week, let's keep it short and sweet by talking about career paths. After graduating with my master's degree in cyber security last weekend, I took some time to reflect on my career path. It certainly has not been linear and at times -- it was filled with uncertainty.
In complete honesty, I find myself creating prisons of expectation for myself when it comes to my career. I raced to complete my undergraduate degree in three years, took aim at physician's assistant graduate school, found myself working in the middle of the night in an emergency department, delivered patients from home to hospital in an ambulance, and ultimately discovered that I did not love medicine. I explored working as a project estimator in construction working on a never ending stream of bids. My expectations for a swift climb of a ladder in a corporate setting by maximizing performance looked great on paper. The path left me with poor health habits and a course set for burnout and destruction due to stress.
I was so focused on the linear path and the next to do on my list of expectations, I forgot to check in with myself.
Do you ever do the same?
When the pandemic hit, I took some time to reset and focus on what drives me as remote work offered a lifeline.
I found a home in cyber security where I could work from a place of comfort; from the computers I built and on my own terms. I wanted to be home with my son, work remotely, and have a flexible schedule. I could not be happier to be finding success in this space.
It's tough for all of us to manage expectation at times in our career, no matter the source. We might hold ourselves to unreal expectations from family, friends, or even the people we observe on social media. Competition is a great motivator but can also be the prime disabler in your journey.
In my opinion, a curvy career path gives you the maximum exposure to information, a larger set of skills, and the experience to set you apart from the crowd. Take a breath this week, reflect on your path, and shed the expectation. As the digital age has expanded to offer learning online, it's okay to take time to get organized since the number of learning opportunities seem endless. Set your goals, create achievable steps, and keep drilling away at it.
It may not be traditional to give yourself a break in that linear path to test a project or idea, but you can walk away with skills and experience without losing ground. Shift fields if you feel lost, it has never been easier. Take everything you've learned from your curvy career path, fit it into your resume, and pack a bigger punch.
See you again next week, send me a message directly or book a Bastion Builder if you want to talk about your path.
