What We Value

My career path so far has been...well, let's say meandering. I'm on my fourth (!) job since graduating law school seven years ago, and it's not that I've been fired or downsized or anything like that. It's just taking me some time to figure out what it is I really want to do with my life.

I remember having a discussion with a co-worker at job #2 that part of the problem I have with identifying a vocational path is because I've always focused on the values I want present in my life, rather than to any objective career goal. That is, instead of saying, "I want to be partner at my law firm within 6 years.", it's been "I want to have a job that fulfills me intellectually and allows me to use my talents while still maintaining a reasonable work-life balance." As I've said here before, my work is only part of who I am and I try hard not to let it define me.

So when I find a job that isn't intellectually fulfilling, or where I feel like my talents are being wasted, it's really hard to stay focused. I feel that my time is worth more than that. I'm also realizing that I'm not alone in this philosophy. Whereas it used to be that a person got a job after university and stayed there for the rest of his or her career, it seems like most of my age cohort are pros at maneuvering between occupations. Several have started their own businesses. No one blinks twice if you tell them that you've started yet another new job; most of them have been there before.

Still, I often feel the need to justify my work history, to explain that I'm not flaky, that there have been sincere concerns behind my reasons for leaving one job for another. I feel like I should have it all figured out by now and panic about falling behind. I've tried - successfully - to maintain good relationships with my former employers, but I worry that future employers may look at my resume with caution, afraid to hire someone who has more loyalty to her values than to theirs.

I've heard all kinds of explanation for this sort of behaviour, but I think the best summation comes from Tammy Erickson's article, "Why Generation X Has the Leaders We Need Now" on the Harvard Business Review website. How validating to discover that I'm not the only one of my generation to approach my career this way. That I'm not a flake! I especially liked her last paragraph:

You will have the opportunity to change the corporate template, and create organizations that are more conducive to your values. As leaders, you will be able to reshape the organizations you lead to make them better places for future generations and yourselves, make them more humane, and break the cultural norms of corporate life — long hours, a focus on full-time work, heterogeneous perspectives, and language of combat. You will bring your desire to create better alternatives, including how to balance work with commitments beyond the corporation and finding meaning in work. Most importantly, your preference for "alternative" and your inclination to innovate will allow you to look for a different way forward.

Now if I could just stay somewhere long enough to make a difference...