When it comes to career planning, the vast majority of us aren’t sure where to start. Career coach Shayaan Malik joined us this week to talk us through a treasure trove of tools you can use to design a career that works for you.

But first, she helped us bust some myths.

Myth #1: Life and careers are linear

Society often tells us that our lives have to follow a series of linear steps in order to be ‘successful’; that we have to move from school, to internship, to associate, to manager, to executive in one field or industry.

In reality, though, our lives and our careers can and will have a series of twists and turns that don’t align with what we originally planned. There will be obstacles, and changing circumstances, layoffs, study breaks, sick relatives, years abroad, career pivots, children and global pandemics. Whatever path you have taken, or will take, is the right one.

Myth #2: There is only one perfect occupation or career for me

Society also tells us that, in our lifetime, we must work our way upwards in pursuit of this one perfect career. This perfect career, realistically, does not exist. There could be a number of careers or occupations that suit you very well, it’s just about finding the one that suits you most at this point in your life.

Shayaan explained that each of us have many great lives that exist within us. A recent Australian study actually indicated that young people today will potentially have 17 different jobs over five careers in their lifetime. The exciting part is getting to choose which one to pursue next.

Myth #3: I should choose an occupation in demand

It is tempting, and frankly quite common, for people to look for occupations in industries that are currently in demand in the labour market. However, it doesn’t mean that these roles are right for you. Shayaan’s advice is to think about the careers that will simultaneously bring you joy and also contribute to the world. She encourages people to draw on the Japanese concept of ikigai to look for an occupation that combines what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for.

Myth #4: My career choice should be related to my degree

Your studies are just one chapter of your life. It doesn’t mean you have to do a job related to it. Nothing is a waste of time if you’ve been able to learn from the experience, and any skills or experience you’ve gained will add to the breadth of your skillset. What is more valuable than a degree is having a combination of surface skills, deep expertise and broad knowledge.

Myth #5: It’s too late for me to do what I want

Perhaps most importantly, Shayaan expressed her disdain for those glorified lists of ‘Top 30 under 30’, where people who achieve “success” at a young age are celebrated so highly. This gives the impression that professional goals are best achieved at a young age, and are only to be celebrated if they are achieved at a young age. The reality is that there is no right age by which to achieve your life goals! Shayaan names a number of women who have achieved success later in life.

Identifying your values, strengths and personality traits

The key to approaching any type of career planning with confidence, is taking the time to understand yourself. This includes understanding:

• Your values: The guidelines or ‘compass’ you use to direct how you want to live and what is important to you. Shayaan recommends using the Career Values Card Sort to narrow down a list of 3-4 core values for both work and life.
• Your strengths: Areas that you naturally excel in and get recognised for. Shayaan recommends the VIA Character Strengths survey to figure out what your top 5 strengths are.
• Your personality traits: Characteristics that make you, you! Shayaan recommends the 16 Personalities Test, which draws on the Myer-Briggs Type Indicators, to help you identify these personality traits.

Shayaan encourages people to reflect on these results, to discuss them with others, and to think about the times in your life when these values, strengths and personality traits have shone through! These will be crucial in helping you in the career design process.

Career design and Odyssey planning

An Odyssey plan is a visual representation of three possible alternative lives you might live over the next five years. This technique reframes the idea of the ‘five year plan’ and gets you to apply a design thinking approach to career planning.

Your three possible paths might look a little bit like this:

• Life #1: The story you tell today about how life most likely will be.
• Life #2: The life you would live if the above option was no longer possible.
• Life #3: The life you would lead if money, time, or status were of no importance.

You can then find ways to test each of these lives and experiment with them in small ways. How can you begin accessing the resources you need to try out each of these lives to see what suits you? And remember, the goal is not to design the rest of your life, it’s just to design what’s next and to explore the questions that come with each option.

Next steps

The aim of these exercises is to get you feeling excited about the potential and possibilities of your future career paths. While you might not uncover what it is you want to do next, these tests can help you move toward a path of greater clarity and confidence.

None of these exercises are exact or will deliver the answer you are searching for. Take on board what resonates with you and disregard the rest.

Like many things in life, there are no shortcuts. Developing clarity takes time. To continue developing your clarity, you could:

• Complete all of these self-reflection exercises;
• Ask those close to you for their opinions on your results;
• Attend a small group mentoring session to soundboard possible next steps; and
• Continue researching, reflecting and talking to others in your desired profession or field.