Stop Obsessing About Having the Perfect Career Plan

livemint.com:

Get the degree, get the job offer, get that first promotion. Then what? The set paths that used to shape so many careers are eroding fast these days. Instead of handing out fancy new titles at every performance review, companies like Meta Platforms are cutting layers of middle managers.

Law firms are testing watered-down partnership models. A Washington, D.C., area lawyer I talked to said that even partners at his firm were gripped by uncertainty about keeping pace on the corporate treadmill. A police officer in Tennessee told me his career path felt more like a narrowing tunnel.

Positions above him never seemed to open up, and the raises he’d expected felt just out of grasp. No matter the profession, the promise of a system propelling you steadily forward is now often a facade. Companies are changing strategy on a dime—from hiring at breakneck speed, to cutting jobs just as fast.

Technology like artificial intelligence is reshaping the value of white-collar work. “The idea that all of us could continually step up the career ladder was a false promise," says Helen Tupper, chief executive of a global career development and training firm. Instead, Tupper suggests asking yourself: What is it I want to be known for? The answer might be a brilliant presenter or a decisive leader.

Exactly where is less important, she says. Look for not just new roles but projects that expose you to new people, like sitting on a committee or helping out an international office. Preserve your earning power by negotiating a raise with a lateral move, or ask for money to use toward education.