Careers have become unpredictable. And we as humans tend to deal rather poorly with uncertainty. We want sure bets and we want guarantees, especially when it comes to something as important as your career. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are ways to make the most of this uncertainty and harness the ‘power’ of unpredictability to make it work in your favor, which can lead to a meaningful life and career.

But first, it is important to understand what kind of career world we live in before addressing how we can make the most of it.

Along with the end of the 20th century came the end of the traditional, predictable and linear career. During most of this century it was not uncommon to start and end one’s career with the same employer and employees generally benefited from more occupational stability. Today thanks in large part to unstable economic conditions of employers (e.g. increased mergers, restructuring, layoffs) and the speed of technological advancements (e.g. occupations becoming obsolete, increased mechanization and automation of tasks) workers face more insecurity and instability than ever. For workers the consequences of such changes mean increased contract and temporary work, greater competition for productivity and a need for continuous learning and ‘re-careering’. In response to this new career landscape, employees of today need to be nimble, adaptable and (alas) comfortable with and ‘good at’ uncertainty.

Previously most career counselling focused on matching employees with professions: “You have traits A, B, and C and interests D, E and F. Employees in careers X, Y and Z have similar traits and interests so these careers would probably be a good fit for you.” For a career landscape that is stable and predictable (unlike today’s), this ‘matching’ model can work rather well and can be considerably predictive in a world where long spells at one job are the norm. But in today’s day and age where instability is the new sheriff in town, this model of career development and planning does not account for the many changes that underlie contemporary careering – it is but a partial solution. The ‘matching’ process does have value in that it can help highlight one’s interests, strengths and weaknesses and even personality; it also can provide information about different careers in the present world of work. It does not however account for unpredictability, chance events or the omnipresent shifting winds of career change. In a way it would be like looking to study the ocean by taking a sample of it and placing it in an enclosed box on land without weather or wildlife. Hardly representative of oceanic realities.

Ask anyone today about their career story – how they ended up in the occupation they currently have or whether they could have predicted getting to where they are presently. Their story will most likely contain unexpected twists and turns, chance encounters, whims, gut feelings and accidents that the career ‘matching’ process cannot address. Our career development is affected by countless influencers or experiences that can shape our career development: some are more obvious than others and some are more deliberate than others. But we cannot predict the outcome of these experiences.

For instance, you may ask your neighbor to borrow a wrench and very naturally get caught up in a conversation about biological cybernetics – a career field you had never heard about – and suddenly and unexpectedly become curious about learning more. Or it could be discovering a leaflet on the ground promoting a free talk about teaching a language abroad, which you decide to attend. Or even accidentally clicking on an online ad for welding training which can become the catalyst for discovering a new field and a welcoming community of tradespeople. Clearly such events cannot be predicted and can be surprisingly influential in shaping one’s career path. This process is popularly known as the Butterfly Effect, simplified as: a small change here can lead to momentous changes elsewhere. Then again such events may have absolutely no influence at all and disappear along with the thousands of messages we are exposed to that we discard on a daily basis.

This is not to say that our careers are only influenced by such random events. We can and do engage in much more deliberate actions as well for instance attending a career fair, listening to the occupational recommendations of family, exploration of self and options with the guidance of a career counsellor, researching different jobs online or paying attention to our interests and acting upon them – all of which can have profound influences on our vocational futures as well.
The bottom line is that unexpected events can and often do influence our careers in completely unpredictable directions. The irony is that we cannot predict how or when they will influence us but when they do influence us it is easy to look back and understand how they did. “Hindsight, oh how mischievously you are 20/20”. This does not mean that we should simply throw career development responsibility to the wind, chalking it up to random unpredictability. There are indeed ways to take advantage of today’s career uncertainty to forge adaptive and meaningful career paths, all of which will be addressed in upcoming blog posts.

Understandably this unpredictability can be both unsettling and troubling. As stated above, we as humans tend to experience considerable discomfort when faced with uncertainty and when the stakes are high even more so. But understanding the challenges and unpredictability that underlie today’s world of careers is the first step in learning how to make the most of it. If you would like to speak to a therapist to manage this uncertainty better or to talk about your career direction, give us a call!

Written by: Julien Elia, M.A.