WHAT TYPE OF CAREER GOER ARE YOU?
I designed this short quiz to help you get a sense of which type of career goer you might be. Read the questions below and answer each one. You should recognize the five drivers of change in these questions.
Are you thinking of leaving your career for a completely different one?
yes
no
Is your current career an important part of who you are?
yes
no
Did you used to love your job, but you no longer do?
yes
no
If you answered yes to question 3, would you like to find a job that is similar to your old job, when you last enjoyed it?
yes
no
Do you have multiple roles at work? These include job titles and any additional roles or responsibilities, such as being on a committee or in an employee resource group. If you do it at work, it counts.
yes
no
Do you find yourself getting interrupted at work when you're trying to complete tasks?
yes
no
Do you feel stressed about the amount of work you don't get done by the end of the day?
yes
no
Are you currently employed and having a hard time landing a promotion?
yes
no
Do you feel like people with your level of performance who work for another company are better compensated than you?
yes
no
Do you feel like your effort goes unappreciated or unacknowledged at work?
yes
no
Now think of some of your work skills. For each of them, ask yourself whether they are rare, whether they positively impact performance at work, and whether you are better at them than other people. Do you have at least one skill that fits all those criteria?
yes
no
Answer Key: If you answered yes to 1, you're probably a Crisis of Identity career goer. If you also answered yes to 2, then you might not be ready to leave that career yet, but this chapter is still for you.
But if you answered no to 1, and yes to 3 or 4, then the Drifted Apart chapter is for you.
Which categories are the most common?
Across four hundred people I interviewed in nine countries and twenty-two industries, about 41 percent identified as Crisis of Identity, 28 percent as Drifted Apart, 35 percent as Stretched Too Thin, and 42 percent as Runner-Ups or Underappreciated Stars. Remember, people can belong to more than one category—the average was about two. Stretched Too Thin was the second category for most people.
Most people are many things, as you probably are.
