No Career Plan? Don't panic!!!

Posted on by Sue Edwards

4 women walking together in Alexandra Square on Lancaster University campus. They are talking to each other and smiling. One of them is carrying a book titled 'Business studies'.

Let me say this straight away. It’s ok if you don’t have a career plan!

You may look at your friends and see they are ‘all sorted’ but don’t panic, we can look at this in a different way and recognised that being ‘undecided’ isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

People approach writing in different ways(1): there are the ‘Planners’ who have a clear and often detailed plan the beginning and there are ‘Discoverers’ who have a loose idea of the direction and are open to new ideas on the way. This idea can be applied to Careers too. Different approaches suit different people. If you’ve not got a plan, it may be because you are a ‘Discoverer’!

The words ‘Career’ and ‘Plan’ seem to come as a pair, reinforcing the idea that a successful career needs a plan. However, the reality is that for many people chance encounters shape their career direction, and Krumboltz’s theory of ‘Planned Happenstance’ (2,3) explains this in more detail, highlighting how a more flexible approach can be useful, particularly in times of uncertainty.

'Happenstance' refers to chance encounters (being the right place at the right time) and 'planned' is about making plans to increase those chance encounters. The focus in less on working towards a specific end goal, but more on pursuing a general direction, fuelled by personal motivators and interests.

Planned Happenstance encourages people to be:

  • Curious and open to learning
  • Persistent and resilient when faced with challenges, barriers and knock backs.
  • Flexible and adaptable in the face of uncertainty,
  • Optimistic to make the most of chance events and following up on them.
  • Proactive in making new connections with others and ensuring they are nurtured to be meaningful professional relationships.

“So how does this help me get a graduate job?”

One benefit is it helps reduce pressure, by challenging the idea that a plan is necessary. It’s okay to try things out and recognise that your early career steps after graduating are not confining you to that career pathway for life. Careers are not ordered and logical and will likely change direction and will need ‘managing’ to navigate the complicated graduate job market.

Tips to help you ‘manage’ your career and ‘navigate’ the graduate job market

  • Don’t stress about being undecided: reframe this and see this as being open to possibilities.
  • Be open to new experiences and new connections to develop your networks: Think “Who can help me with this?” rather than getting stuck on the “How can I do this?”
  • Be observant and self-aware: understand what motivates and interests you, know your strengths and what energises you. Use your time at university to try different things out and step out of your comfort zone to learn new things is a great way to develop your self-awareness and understanding what kind of roles you will find fulfilling.
  • Be prepared for change: It’s okay not to have a 5 or 10 year career plan because who knows what might change in that time - you, the job market, anything!
  • Make a Careers Guidance appointment: Whilst we can’t and won’t tell you what to do, we can help you to explore options, reflect on what you want from a career and identify actions to ‘discover’ your next steps.

If you are reading this and thinking ‘I don’t want to leave my career to ‘luck’ then remember the ‘planned’ element is really referring to making your own luck, or increasing the possibility of chance encounters.

So, if you recognise yourself to be a discoverer – remember a ‘career plan’ might not be your thing and you can discover your own career pathway.

And if you are a planner - that’s okay too 😊 the tips above are still really useful to help you make plans that play to your strengths and fulfils your career ambitions.

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Sue Edwards is currently part of the Careers Consultant team at Lancaster University and supporting students from a wide range of departments. Recently she set up the GROW Your Future programme and is a passionate advocate for students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds to achieve their career goals.

References:

  1. Sharples, Mike. (1999). Being a writer. In How We Write (pp. 128-144). Routledge.
  2. Mitchell, Kathleen E, Al Levin, S, & Krumboltz, John D. (1999). Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities. Journal of Counseling and Development, 77(2), 115-124. [accessed 13th May 2021]
  3. Krumboltz, John D. (2009). The Happenstance Learning Theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17(2), 135-154.
  4. Sharples, Mike. (1999). Being a writer. In How We Write (pp. 128-144). Routledge.
  5. Hambly, L., & Bomford, Ciara. (2018). Creative Career Coaching : Theory into Practice. Milton: Routledge.

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