Why you should not follow a traditional career path as it will make you obsolete on the market and what to do about it.

Waves of the Indian Ocean. © Marcin Konkel . All rights reserved.

The traditional career path was about climbing the corporate ladder from junior to senior, manager to head etc. You followed your profession along the ladder.

Today, especially in IT, the roles have changed (literally). An Agile Coach has to know agility, psychology, coaching, development, transformations and others. A Product Manager has to understand how to build products, entrepreneurship, research, UX, communication, business etc.

🚀 This invites all of us to use a broader scope of what we were exploring. Whether that’s hobbies or interests but also different roles along careers, it’s the celebration of the diversity of choice, not being confined by a single title. We are much more than the titles we use.

Enter career portfolio: “It represents your vast and diverse professional journey, including the various twists and turns, whether made by choice or circumstance.” It expands to different fields and professions and connects those. Read more 👉 https://hbr.org/2021/10/why-you-should-build-a-career-portfolio-not-a-career-path

🤹 It happens through:

• side hustles

• hobbies

• working different jobs

• voluntary work

• travelling

• …

I do it through (to name a few):

• Photography — including my photographs in my writings on Medium and using them as metaphors to open the imagination. I also use visual arts in some meetings to spark new conversations.

• Coaching & behaviourism — help me ask better questions, understand what’s behind words and behaviours, support others better and become the best version of myself.

• Writing — through my reportage work, I learn how to tell stories and be mindful of other cultures, ways of living and expressions, being curious more and judgemental less. It helps me structure my workshops, ideas and conversations.

• Volunteering — has helped me to find myself in contexts in which I would never have the opportunity to be and learn how to motivate people without hierarchy or monetary gains.

All of the above, I use as an Agile Coach. I also use agility in my other contexts. I’ve done and continue to do my side gigs like leading an HR meetup, a podcast, consulting work, professional 1–2–1 coaching, mentoring, and documentary work as a photographer.

🤔 So why might this be important to you? Career portfolio helps to:

• Cross-pollinate — your ideas to other fields, create new, unique products.

• Be less dependent on the market in your role — as you can offer many services, not only one.

• See a bigger picture than others — connect the dots, and offer new perspectives.

• Create new opportunities — for yourself on the market

You can be made redundant, but your career portfolio stays with you.

🗽Embrace all your experiences and start using them in your role. It’s more about designing your life the way you want rather than bending towards the old-fashioned ways of working up a title. Read more in Pam’s book.

Now, go make waves 🌊