What's in a Career?

It goes without saying that a 'career' means different things to different people.

To the older generation, a career was something you started with a reputable employer and hopefully finished with that same employer. A successful career was sealed with a gold watch at retirement, a momento to commemorate 40, 50 or even 60 years of service and dedication. There are still people at my company that are celebrating 45+ years of service and I'm sure they don't plan to leave soon (at least not unless they get paid out!).

To Generation Y (which I am part of), a career means something quite different. I've read that for Gen-Y, 2 years with the same employer is a long time and that for most Gen-Y individuals it's "all about me". I joined my employer over 3 and a half years ago as one of 12 graduates on their graduate recruitment programme and now I'm the only one still around. It's pretty hard to argue with those statistics!

The reason I'm still around is that I've had many different opportunities and roles that have kept me interested. I've had Consulting, Pre-sales and Service Delivery Management roles which have taken me to interesting places like Shanghai, Singapore and Australia. I've worked with a lot of people and seen a variety of different organisations at work which means I now have some fantastic experience in the bank to draw upon.

To me, my own career is going to be one that goes down many different paths, as I'm one that likes to try many different things. As long as I can keep moving and keep learning at full speed I think I'll be happy and there's definitely an entrepreneurial spirit within me that'll burst out before too long...