Zig-Zag Career Paths

Would you describe your career as linear, like a nice straight line in a specific job or profession? Or, like mine and many others, is it a bit of a zig-zag with a haphazard path? Having worked for more years than I care to remember, I’ve had several different careers and many varied jobs. Most of my roles zig-zagged across core skills and general transferable skills that I applied from one industry to another. While my sometimes chaotic career path may not reflect the experiences of most people, I am sure many can relate. So, how does a career develop— is it planned or does it simply happen? That is the question.

This reflection was inspired by an interesting article by Peter Honey called “Muddling Along” (2017). Honey describes himself as a “classic drifter,” stating, “My whole working life has seen me drifting from one project to another.” Conversely, Peter Drucker suggests in a Harvard Business Review article titled “Managing Oneself” that “Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values.”

Don’t come back on Monday!

With my headmaster’s parting words ringing in my ears—“and don’t come back on Monday!”—I left school at the tender age of 16. Being expelled for being a tearaway with no qualifications felt like a badge of honour at the time, but that quickly faded. Unemployment benefit in the 1970s was £7.70 a week, just enough to give my mother £5 for housekeeping and fill up the petrol tank of my motorbike for a week. Then things changed. After a few months, I managed to secure a four-year apprenticeship as a lithographic printer at a Kent-based print shop, Whitstable Litho.

A printer’s life for me

With the indentures signed by my father and the company, I felt incredibly proud and finally had a purpose. All this for £18.50 for a 40-hour (double day shift) week. How naive I was about the fun and exposure to adult working life that lay ahead. That experience established core values and beliefs about how work operates, the nature of people, management, and the discipline required to do a great job.

I was justifiably proud of my title as an apprentice lithographer until one evening on the train returning from the London School of Printing. Sat opposite a man who was noticeably intoxicated, I proudly announced at full volume that I was an apprentice lithographer. The man struggled to comprehend my answer for a few moments and finally slurred, “And I’m a photographer too!” I left it there and stared through the condensation on the train window, feeling deflated, like an old party balloon.

Careers by accident

I never planned to become a printer, a training officer, or to work in the paper industry, research and development, production/operations management, customer technical sales/services, or marketing. I didn’t plan to lead international technical development teams, develop training and learning and development for sales and management, work in quality systems and environmental science, run large multinational coaching programs for sales performance, or design and deliver welfare-to-work condition management and health & wellbeing programs. I didn’t even anticipate working with numerous diverse clients in my own business. My true purpose, or “why,” only really emerged when I realised I wanted to become a psychologist. That’s when I knuckled down to get a proper education, achieving a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, an MSc in Occupational Psychology, and an MSc in Ecology, along with many certificates and courses for my ongoing professional development.

Clearly, my multiple career paths and working life were not carefully planned at all. We received little to no career advice apart from simply getting a job. The best I could hope for was to acquire a trade. My school felt like a factory, with a lack of expectation for its students. I didn’t help this reputation with my behaviour and lack of accomplishments, leaving with no qualifications and a flea in my ear. If I had received better career advice and had some interest in education as a teenager, things might have turned out differently. However, on reflection, I wouldn’t change a thing. My zig-zag career path has helped clarify career visions for countless individuals.

What will you do when you grow up?

Few people emerging from university or school have any clear idea of what they want to do. For those who do have clarity, it often stems from excellent career advice, coaching, and guidance. The theories of Planned Happenstance and Chaos Career Theory suggest that we should be flexible and open to opportunities as they arise. Perhaps these theories are closer to the truth than we often acknowledge. Being prepared to take a chance on a job might steer you toward a career that you will find rewarding and interesting.

On the other hand, creating a five- or ten-year career vision can help you focus on increasing your skills and achieving your goals.