We ask children what they want to be when they grow up. High school seniors asked to narrow their career choices as they transition into college. Well meaning adults ask college freshmen “What are you going to major in?” Silently many college students ponder the same question again and again over the next few years.
In the United States we are encouraged to make decisions about our careers. Those who are undecided about their future careers often are made to believe there is something “wrong” with them.
Typical career-planning often examines matching interests, skills, and abilities to a particular job and designing a plan for one’s life for the next 5, 10, 30 or 70 years. This can be very helpful in planning and deciding upon a career. But sometimes, this single minded focus to find the one right decision about our careers, fails to recognize the importance of chance.
According to John Krumboltz, a leading career theorist, chance or unplanned events have a place in the career-planning process. Planned happenstance (see K. A. Mitchell, A. S. Levin, & J. D. Krumboltz [1999] Planned happenstance: constructing unexpected career opportunities, Journal of Counseling and Development, vol 77:115-124) explores creating and benefitting from unanticipated opportunities throughout your career.
Planning is valuable. However, enhancing the frequency of chance encounters can positively influence your career.
Just like you might never get a date with that special person if you don’t ask, you can place yourself in situations where chance events can happen. Planned happenstance theory suggests that you can create chance events by using the five skills of curiosity, persistence, optimism, flexibility, and risk-taking.
Curiosity: Curiosity keeps your mind active. By becoming more observant to new ideas, you will be able to see new world and possibilities which are normally not visible. Plus it brings excitement to your life!
Persistence: Many people give up on their dreams or goals at the first sign of disappointment. Disappointments are simply opportunities for learning. Persistence directs you to explore other strategies to reach your goal.
Optimism: An optimistic attitude helps you remain persistent when you experience setbacks. Optimism keeps you moving forward with the belief that there are new realistic opportunities available.
Flexibility: Remaining open-minded with a positive attitude allows you to recognize and take advantage of a chance event when it does occur.
Risk Taking: Each of us has an individual risk tolerance level. If you have low risk tolerance and find yourself not exploring new opportunities, you might want to explore taking some strategic intelligent risks. If you are considering a new profession, you might want to explore volunteer activities to expand your knowledge and possibly open yourself up to happenstance.
Regardless of your employment status today, I encourage you to stop and think about your own career.
Who knows what you will discover about yourself and possible career opportunities when you feed your curiosity and explore.
Â
