Looking Back at a Disjointed Career and Deciding the Next Step (Introduction)
What is it that I want to do?
There are days when I feel intimidated by the promotions and impressive titles of my peers. At times like that, I find myself looking back at my past and thinking, 'My industries and job roles have been all over the place; what is it that I actually want to do?'
This isn't a dilemma meant for explaining to someone else. It's a feeling that, regardless of whether I can talk about it well in an interview, I am not personally convinced by my own career. Even when I have no plans to write a resume, this feeling strikes me in unguarded moments.
I have changed jobs four times and worked at five different companies. In this article, I will write about what I have thought about so far, not from the perspective of how to explain it to others, but from the perspective of how I myself perceive this career history and how I decide on my next step as well.
Who this note is not for
I will state this upfront.
People looking for strategies on how to explain their number of job changes in an interview (I cover this in a separate article as interview preparation).
People who have built their career in the same industry and job role since graduation (this note is written on the premise that the industry and job role have continued to change).
People who are looking for a 'correct career plan' with clear numbers and a roadmap.
Conversely, for those who have a vague anxiety about how to decide their future path, even if they don't need to explain it to anyone, I think there will be parts that you find helpful.
Is a disjointed career really just wandering?
Looking back now, I realized that all the dots of my past decisions are actually connected.
Speaking from the actual experience of having worked at five companies, the honest truth is that when you move with 'what you want to do' as your axis, your next job is often naturally derived from your current work. The experience and insights gained in your current role become the trigger for your next interest. In other words, there may be many cases where there is actually consistency even if the person is not conscious of it, and they just haven't realized it yet.
However, not every job change was like that. Only my third job change (to a foreign-affiliated startup) was a decision where I intentionally went out to connect the dots myself. I moved intentionally, thinking that if I combined my industry experience up to that point with the way of working at a startup, I should be able to produce results quickly.
In other words, there are two types of career consistency: 'things you realize were connected later' and 'things you intentionally connect yourself.' What I want to deal with in this article is how to distinguish between these two and apply them to your next decision.
Looking at the overall flow in 3 steps
Step 1: Write down not just your decisions, but also what you 'valued' at that time.
Recall not just what you did, but also what you prioritized and what you gave up at that time. This is the point to ensure you don't end up with just a list of facts.
Step 2: Mark the things you 'valued' that appear repeatedly.
Even if each one is a separate decision, you may start to see commonalities in what you have prioritized. This is the true nature of what is called an 'axis'.
Step 3: Use the core values you've discovered as a standard for future decision-making
Don't just stop at looking back at the past; build a habit of evaluating things against these core values whenever you make a choice in the future. I will cover the specific ways to do this in another article.
Common pitfalls
To be honest, I knew I would be asked for my reasons during interviews every time I changed jobs, so I always made sure to articulate the reason for each individual job change. Therefore, it wasn't that I was convinced I had no consistent core values.
Rather, I stumbled elsewhere. One issue was that even though each reason for changing jobs made sense, I only saw them as "dots" and had never thought about what they pointed to as a whole. Even if I was satisfied with each individual reason, I couldn't put it into words well when asked, "So, in the end, what is it that you want to do?"
Another issue was that when I found commonalities later on, a moment of doubt crossed my mind: "Are these really core values that were there from the start, or am I just conveniently making them up?" I think the turning point was whether or not I could accept that it didn't matter if it was a convenient rationalization.
Things you can do starting today
Since this article is an introduction, I will write down just one thing you can do right away.
Try writing out the turning points in your career so far in a timeline format. Don't just write what you did, but add a note about what you "could not compromise on" at that time. It's okay to wait on finding commonalities. First, focus on keeping a record of your emotions, not just the facts.
Summary
Even a career that looks disjointed can, when looked back upon, actually have a consistent core. Or, even if the core wasn't there from the beginning, you can discover or create it later.
Apart from the question of how to explain it in an interview, the first step is for you yourself to be satisfied with your career history. I believe that is the foundation for making your next decision without hesitation.
I wrote this in the hope that it might lighten the feelings of anyone who is feeling anxious because they feel their career lacks consistency.