The Squiggly Career
By Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis
Ditch the Ladder, Embrace Opportunity and Carve Your Own Path Through the Squiggly World of Work
The Squiggly Career (2020) covers research and tips on how to best navigate a career full of frequent transitions and modern-day challenges. If we learn to identify our own strengths, values, goals, and motivations, we can apply them more often at work -- and notice when they're being neglected. The authors reveal how to network by helping others, the merits of starting a side project, and how to make the most of the newfound control we have over our careers.
Throughout our lifetimes, most of us will spend an average of 90,000 (10 36540 = 146,000 according to my estimates) hours working
Compared to previous generations, we have more freedom to decide how our careers play out
Besides glaring spelling mistakes on your resume, job-hopping used to be a surefire way to get a hiring manager to disregard your application. Nowadays, it's not only more common, but increasingly seen as a positive facet in an applicant. After all, multiple starts in your career indicate an unwillingness to settle for anything less than the best. Trying different routes suggests adaptability and open-mindedness, and it usually means you've picked up new skills and perspectives along the way.
Automation is also constantly transforming and replacing professions. According to a study by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, as many as 375 million people might have to change their career fields in the next ten years.
Three main phases in life
- The first period is theimprint phase, which begins at birth and continues until we're about seven years old. Our parents, as well as others we spend time with, provide our first taste of right and wrong. For the most part, we don't challenge what we see and hear; we soak it up like a sponge.
- The second period is the copy-cat phase, also known as the modeling period. From ages eight to thirteen, we start acting in various different ways, copying the behavior of people we look up to. We imitate teachers, other kids at school, or older siblings.
- The final period is the rebel phase. It starts in our teenage years when we become more influenced by friends, the media, and friends of the media. We then have to iron out the friction between what we used to believe and what we now think is right.
Networking is an exchange of help, and offering to support others can lead to valuable relationships
The quality of your network connections will always be more important than the quantity. The anthropologist and psychologist Robin Dunbar claims that we have a limited number of each friend type. According to his research, we can have a maximum of 150 casual friends. For close friends, that number is 50. For confidantes and supporters, it's 15. And we can have just 5 best friends.
Rather than vaguely asking someone to mentor you, be specific in your requests. For example, you could contact someone working in your desired field or position, and ask her how she got there. What skills and experience would you need to do her job?
Focus on exploring future possibilities rather than on following linear plans
In this day and age, we're likely to change careers five times over the course of our working lives. The classic life track of "education-work-retirement" is rapidly going extinct.
Your obvious possibility is the next logical step from where you are right now. If you keep doing what you're doing, where will you end up? Your pivot possibility is a new position that would use your skill set and super strengths in a fresh way. Your ambitious possibility is something you've always considered but have decided against for some reason. Usually it involves overcoming a hurdle such as a lack of experience or education. Finally, your dream possibility is the work you'd choose to do if you had nothing holding you back. It could be your current work, but it could also be something completely new. Perhaps you're an accountant who wants to be a pilot. Anything is possible!
Curiosity, feedback, and grit are increasingly sought-after workplace skills
Stay curious to avoid tunnel vision
So how can you stay curious? The possibilities are endless. Subscribe to a magazine on a topic you know nothing about. Discover new podcasts. Talk to strangers or new acquaintances.
When giving feedback, try using the "what went well/even better if" technique. In other words, first tell your colleague something positive, like "Your presentation was really effective, and you managed to keep everyone engaged the entire time." Then, give your suggestions for improvement, like "It would be even better if you gave more concrete examples to back up your claims."
Grit -- that is, the amount of effort you put into something -- turns out to be a better gauge of success. There are four main ways to cultivate your grit
First, recognize what fascinates you, and explore it. Second, use deliberate practice every day to continue advancing your skills. This is the act of deciding what skill to improve, how to improve it, and then training it extensively. Third, identify a greater purpose for your goals to communicate what you wish to contribute to your organization, industry, or the world in general. Fourth, adopt a growth mindset. Simply having an attitude geared toward constantly growing and developing your mind and skills relies on your grit as fuel.