I drew out where my career path might go

Is the linear life over?

Hello friends,

Let’s talk career ladders (and labyrinths). Here’s a diagram devised by a guy called Donald Super, born in 1910. He was a ‘vocational counsellor’ – essentially the OG career coach. This is what he thought a typical career should look like:

A few things caught my eye. One: life starts with birth and ends with disengagement. Two: curiosities, fantasies and interests die before you’re aged 11. Three: the model is perfectly linear. You explore, focus, optimise, consolidate and decelerate. A beautiful arc. Highly efficient. And boring.

I’m 33 so according to this model, I should be stabilising, going into consolidating. This pretty much perfectly describes the opposite of what I’m doing. I proudly made it to the stabilising bit but then decided it was more exciting to go back to the beginning.

The world today looks pretty different to Donald’s, yet models and expectations haven’t shifted so far. His career ladder might seem archaic but I was presented with a similar trajectory when I entered the working world as a lowly junior account executive at a London ad agency.

I’m deflated just looking at it. I remember one performance review where I was asked to kindly keep any creative feedback to myself… Account Executives shouldn’t have creative opinions, “that’s the Creatives’ job”. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t stay long. But even later on in my career, as a well-regarded and high-achieving marketer, I felt like I had to hide the fact that I had little aspiration to be CMO. I loved the challenge of setting up a Marketing function and solving problems; I had no interest in keeping the machine oiled and efficient.

Back then I thought I would be judged for not seeking out this linear path. Luckily, today, the internet is doing a great job to normalise a less conventional approach.

So it’s great news. Alternative, non-linear paths are becoming a thing. There’s even a fancy name for them: the Protean Career. Protean means versatile in normal English and comes from proteus according to my favourite website www.etymonline.com:

“of or pertaining to the Greek sea-god Proteus," 1590s, from Greek Prōteus, son of Oceanus and Tethys, who could change his form at will; hence, "readily assuming different shapes, exceedingly variable." His name is literally "first," from prōtos "first" (see proto-).

It’s defined as a new type of contract in which careers are flexible and dynamic and managed by the individual instead of the organization. It involves frequent changes of organisation, work setting, and job content, as opposed to one that involves commitment to a single organization or line of work. (Oxford Reference)

“Individuals who follow a protean career guide themselves with their intrinsic values, interests, and passions rather than linear career paths and external expectations.” - Heba Salman

But there’s still a problem.

Ok we’ve finally recognised that the traditional model is broken. That’s a cool first step. But it’s only the very first step. For those wanting to embark on this Protean odyssey, the waters are unchartered. There is no route, no guidebook. We’re at sea.

The siren call (can there ever be too much of a good analogy?) of a life on your own terms – a job that is purposeful and holistically integrated with your beliefs and values – is strong. But there are real anxieties too:

• Is this promised land a real place? Will I ever find it?

• Is it dangerous to try and combine passion and work?

• Will it make me enough money?

• Will the sense of purpose make up for earning less?

• Will I have to sacrifice free time?

• Is it worth the effort and insecurity when I could have a nice stable job?

These are all things I think about a lot. The thing that drives me is the idea of finding something (or rather a combination of things) that adds value to the world in some way and gives me energy – that would be ultimate freedom.

The challenge is that there’s no obvious path (or blueprint, you might say) bar a few writers out there like Paul Millerd who have openly shared their atypical journey. He talks transparently about his projects and how he makes money which is refreshing amidst the waffling, generic advice. But because each journey is specific and unique, we need more of this: more people sharing more examples so we can find the bits that are relevant to us. In this spirit, here’s my “alternative CV” to date. It’s very much work in progress and the revenue figures are less impressive than Paul’s.

After a linear track (school > university > advertising grad scheme > rising up the marketing ranks), a career coach asked me an important question: “do you ever feel like you’re being pushed,” she asked. The answer (a surprise to myself too) was no.

Cue the “Exploration phase”. I quit my job and decided to throw myself at things a bit more. In the last year I’ve done as much as in the last 14. For years, I had circled around in my own head writing down the same thoughts again and again in my journal. When, a few weeks after quitting, I received an email to be a volunteer for a local mountaineering charity, 82-4000, I just went for it.

That experience was transformative in several ways. What better antidote to the Dementor-esque drain of making decks that go nowhere than to spend 4 days helping people discover the mountains for the first time? The interactions were meaningful, concrete and human. The feedback (oh foreign friend) was handed out freely.

"I'm amazed by the beauty of the encounters. It's the meeting of two worlds who are not supposed to meet. We share the same path for a bit, we overcome internal challenges. And in that moment, everything goes away." - Christèle, a beneficiary of 82-4000

This experience also made me realise the magic of just doing things. When you’re just looping the same loops in your head, it’s impossible to break new ground. To note how different things make you feel. To learn if you actually like what you thought you did.

And so, I kept throwing myself at things that came my way and created opportunities to explore the things I was interested in. Some of these things were dead ends (sometimes because it turned out I didn’t really want to do them after all). A few of these things are open-ended, and may lead to something in the future. Many of these things have led to something else: new opportunities and unexpected conversations. None of these things I regret. And all of these things have taught me a ton.

It would have been impossible to set myself a goal for this kind of exploration because I could have never predicted where it’s taken me. What I thought would happen inevitably didn’t, and chance conversations led me down different paths which will in turn lead me down paths, further still, that I don’t yet know exist. But success so far is measurable insofar as I have a newfound and strong conviction about the kind of work-life I want to lead. I’d like to:

• Build community and meaningful connections with others (not necessarily working for a charity though)

• Provide real, tangible, concrete, palpable value (feel useful)

• Achieve some of this through creativity, expression and the natural world

Despite my initial resistance to do instead of think, the “Exploration” phase turned out to be quite fun. I’m a bit daunted by the next bit though - narrowing down and going deeper. But as much as I’m an advocate of exploration and diversity, I have to admit it’s impossible to do ten things well, especially when you’re trying to build momentum. It’s time to tie some loose ends, and follow through. This will require a bit of graft and grit and doing unpleasant things like spamming people about my Substack (so please help me out and share it if you like it ;)

I’d also love to hear if any of this was useful/ resonated and any experiences/ stories you’d like to share.

A bientôt!

A few shamelessly self-promoting links:

• Outlines art exhibition: an exhibition bringing together local Chamonix artists. This year’s 3rd edition, Wild Lives, was in the woods.

• Là-Haut: a creative project exploring life up high in mountain refuges (in French)

• Podcast: more like two mini episodes where I interview hut keepers including the youngest female hut keeper in France (in French)

• Instagram: where you can see some of my art and other things