Be Your Own Career Coach

Introduction

When I left school in the late 1970s, ‘career planning’ was summed up by looking at milestones: ‘If I join the management trainee scheme at Marks and Spencer, I’ll be a store manager by the time I’m 25 and a regional manager by the time I’m 30’; ‘If I join the RAF, I’ll be a Squadron Leader by the time I hit 32’; ‘I’m going to work at the Weetabix factory and I should make it through the apprenticeship and up to shift supervisor by the time I’m 35’.

Career planning was seen as a ladder-climbing activity, often with precious little thought as to what you’d actually be doing with your time 9 to 5, five days a week, 48 weeks a year, year after year …

Since then there has been a seismic shift in the world of work. As with everything, ...