Getting Started
May 23, 2022
Today we embark on a 70-day camping expedition. I suspect for the next few weeks, my career blogs will draw from our trip. Follow me on instagram @fortnerew for all the details and pics. So many good themes related to careers come from traveling—exploration, endurance, engagement with others, to name a few. But no better place to start than GETTING STARTED.
We now have a pretty good idea where we’re going, but it didn’t start that way eight months ago. What do you do if you don’t know where you’re going? What if you really want to get started on your career search, but don’t know where to start? Here are three things I did—maybe you’ll make some connections:
I took it one day at a time, with some “design criteria” to help me.
My traveling buddy (Sally) and I sat down over a few glasses of wine and talked about what we wanted from this first trip—not where exactly but more the criteria that would make it a memorable, exciting adventure together. Things like: engaging up close with nature, visiting new places, making space for visits with friends and relatives, lots of time for kayaking, biking, and hiking. You get the drift. Career searches also require design criteria. Career exploration and job search is a long, arduous journey. It can be intimidating even to start. So start with design criteria. In an ideal life and career, what must the future contain? Things like:
working in collaborative teams with supportive team members;
using my quantitative skills to solve complex problems;
engage in problems that will help our environment.
Okay, you get the idea. These design criteria come from broad aspects of your life like your values, skills and interests.
I created some possibilities, but kept agile for unexpected surprises.
I had some ideas of where I want to go, so I started some possible paths to get me there. But as I had conversations, and researched, I discovered new directions. I also felt paralyzed by so many possibilities, so I selected a few, and kept open-minded. The path you see in the picture was probably my 100th iteration. And frankly I’m still open to changes along the way as I talk to locals (experts) with new insights. Same with careers: you start with a couple of “possible lives” that match your skills, interests and values. But as we talk to people (‘prototyping conversations”), we learn, we adapt, we find new possibilities.
I engaged others who had gone before me.
Exploring careers is like planning a trip. When planning a trip, you start by asking others where they’ve been, what they liked, why they liked it, how did they get there. This part is really fun—everyone likes to talk about their trips. It’s similar with careers really. You start by talking to others who are doing things that sound interesting. One conversation leads down a well-traveled road; another leads down a new, unexplored one. You learn what you might like, and what you might not. Other people are invaluable to your eventual success.
Today’s drive is rainy and gray, like some of those days/weeks of your career search. But there’s fair weather ahead tomorrow. You just have to get started.
