In my research I discovered that professional
competence was no longer enough to have a successful career. Careers are likely
to become more fragmented, last longer and include breaks and periods of
unemployment. As well as
reflecting on their learning relating to professional competence, the ICAEW
members I interviewed also talked about learning relating to work-life balance,
about issues such as motivation and confidence and about the need to shape
their careers. I chose the phrase career adaptability to encompass these
extra facets of learning and incorporated this aspect of learning into
my model.
Career adaptability is more than resilience which is the ability to bounce back. You also need to move forward as you shape your career
and your future. Within career adaptability I identified the five elements shown
in the diagram. For each of us there will be some of these where we already feel very comfortable but others may need more focus. What we need to do is to ensure we are good enough at each of the elements to
enable us to have the careers and futures we want.
The
thinking behind career adaptability very much resonated with CABA, the
charity supporting ICAEW chartered accountants’ wellbeing. As a result my
concept of career adaptability has underpinned CABA’s course programme for several years. To find out more you can watch this short video and access information
about CABA’s courses programme.
