Career development is a lifelong process that influences all areas of one's life, including our identity. Our attributes and personality make us similar and different at the same time. Successful careers require planning, although some people leave it to chance.
If you know your ideal goal, having a strategy will support your goal. Minds can be changed in response to internal and external stimulus, so keeping an open mind helps with resilience. A plan helps to manage the uncertainty and keeping an open mind enables us to see opportunities if we need to pivot.
Mentors can be valuable career supporters, especially those who have been in a comparable situation to what you are in. There are many formal mentoring programmes offered within associations, such as with the Royal Society.
The University of Otago has a structured programme called Otago Mentor Match, connecting current students with Otago Alumni. Mentors can become part of your ongoing social capital, challenging you to grow and inspire you in your career.
Structured mentoring offers ways to learn how a mentor relationship can work, but there is no reason you cannot seek the support of people who you admire and follow this same process.
At the University of Otago, Yvonne Gaut offers career planning workshops through the HEDC training programme and is available for individual appointments. Please email Yvonne to make an appointment.
Email yvonne.gaut@otago.ac.nz