Taking Charge of Your Career (HBR Women at Work Series)

INTRODUCTION

Charting Your Path

A fulfilling career starts with you.

by Amy Bernstein, cohost of Women at Work

For most of my career, I had no career plan. Sure, I wanted to be challenged and I wanted my work to matter somehow, but beyond that—nothing. I’d stick with a job as long as I was interested, and when I started to get a little too comfortable or a little bored, I’d take the next interesting job that came my way.

Then, when I was about to turn 50, I found myself in a role that just didn’t feel right. The job didn’t play to my strengths, and my work seemed to have little impact. I was busy but lost, with no sense of where I wanted to go. I was stressed out all the time and just plain unhappy.

How did I end up there? It was time for a ...