We always explain to our students that a key influence on their future career is the development of a career plan; identifying areas and types of work that they would like to be in based on their future skills and abilities.

Just a few days ago a professional who has a long career behind him but who is now, like so many others, looking for work, came to me seeking advice. He was highly prepared, he had thought long and hard, deciding which areas he was interested in working in and what professional expectations he had: he had really put in a lot of work. As my personality tends towards the direct, I had to tell him that his plan, in these times, was obsolete. These days one does not choose a job, often we don’t even choose the sector. The most we can do is to present ourselves as people with a flexible outlook on life (e.g. willingness to move in order to get to know other ways of life, or to work part-time so that we can work with other personal projects), capable of being agents of change wherever we are, adaptable to whatever arises, which is so often unpredictable.

A positive outcome of this is that now the time has come to work on defining skills and motivations instead of a desired career path. A career will come, and will develop, if we are committed to the project of our lives and allow ourselves to adapt happily to whatever arises.

Carme Martinell

Director General of Continuing Education Institute Foundation