Careers vary in types, formats, and the lifestyle they support. A long-term role within one company, a job that spans different industries, or even a mix of two totally unrelated skills. Still, this is not the full list.
In a world with so many career paths, it is easy to get caught up in traditional routes and miss opportunities that could fit you better beyond the usual options. The career choices are limitless, and the article will guide you on paths, whether you are entering the job market or considering a career change.
Types: careers by professions and industries
By reviewing the core career types, you can uncover your true calling, avoid getting stuck in meaningless jobs, and ignite the spark of your interests.
- Public sector careers with clear structures. These jobs stand for stable, secure environments like hospitals, schools, or governments with a path for progression that needs formal education and often years of experience to advance to senior levels. Traditional careers are fueled by commitment and human-focused impact, such as healthcare and social assistance that improve people’s lives, health, and well-being.
- Creative careers with the freedom to express yourself. These jobs, like writing or design, typically promote flexibility, original ventures, and fresh perspectives.
- Technology careers with fast-growing innovation, like data science and software development. Tech professionals are in demand in every industry because of digital advancement. These jobs offer secure, high salaries, remote schedules, and engaging tasks to tackle.
- Academic and research careers with opportunities to contribute to specialized fields and be devoted to long-lasting learning. If you are driven by questions, exposed to discoveries, and pursue knowing more, you could take a closer look at research and academic roles.
- Hands-on work, such as plumbing and mechanics, which is the best fit for specialists who prefer solving practical problems and working with their hands. Here, job availability depends on location.
- Mission-driven non-profit jobs that give a sense of purpose and align professional work with personal values. In addition to fulfillment, you get a supportive, people-oriented culture.
- Entrepreneur-based careers with independence and autonomy. Generally, business owners, freelancers, or consultants are self-motivated individuals with risk tolerance, focusing on managing their services to navigate market demands.
Organization size: companies, firms, startups
Organization size determines responsibilities and the level of bureaucracy. A role in a corporation is shaped in other ways than a role in a small company. In most scenarios, large companies assign defined tasks around designated roles where you don’t need to cope with something outside your scope of work like legal or financial directions. For example, a marketing specialist in a corporation orients solely on content strategy, leaving a video production piece to a scriptwriter. Multiple layers of management take more time for decision-making, though. Still, they offer opportunities for promotions, performance reviews, and development programs linked to career growth over the long term.
Small companies prioritize a dynamic approach to adapt to changes quickly. Employees in small companies may deal with activities crossing into several departments. For example, a marketing specialist might handle content strategy, email campaigns, and social media. Startups are fast-paced environments with opportunities to scale up at lightning speed and take ownership, but sometimes, you may need to sacrifice supporting resources and time.
Formats: careers by direction
Some careers require niche skills tailored through experience in a particular area. Other careers—a broader range of skills applied in multiple contexts throughout industries. Mastering operational and leadership roles simultaneously is also a possible career scenario. What about career growth in these cases? Let’s figure out what vertical and horizontal careers are and if blending projects, as well as unrelated directions, can be within your reach.
Vertical career growth
The vertical direction of career development means moving up a career ladder and a single field of expertise. You get promoted within one organization. Picture a consultant junior specialist in retail taking the role of project manager in retail in 4 years.
Best fit for: A professional who sticks to a stable, clear path to advance their career, get a higher salary, and make linear progress. For those who aspire to leadership roles.
Horizontal career growth
The horizontal career growth does not always lead to a promotion or pay raise. A position grows in level, responsibility, or role over time, progressing from junior to middle, then senior. You move across fields. You deepen your skills and experience. Imagine a writer expanding their expertise from technical writing to copywriting.
Best fit for: A professional who strives to broaden knowledge and flourish in various domains. For those valuing flexibility and cross-functional roles.
Unrelated career directions
Mixing different jobs builds a unique professional profile. You gain insights from many areas and cover your aspirations to the full extent. While embracing unrelated directions seems to be a rewarding experience, it takes effort to balance.
If you have many interests and can’t imagine choosing between them, mixing careers might be the best way to be equally passionate about two or more. Take the example of an engineer at a mid-size company working as a project manager for a non-profit organization with initiatives that help create positive change.
Best fit for: A professional who craves variety and feels limited by a single focus. A person who is open to constant shifts and challenges. And, of course, who is proficient in time management.
Lifestyle: careers by schedule and environment
To piece together the final part of the puzzle, we will examine careers based on hours:
- A full-time job, nine-to-five, has been a conventional career path for the last decades. You commit around 40 hours a week for long-term career development and consistent income.
- A part-time occupation or flexible hours can, on the contrary, support your secondary commitments or interests. Like freelance projects or gigs where hours can be customized.
- Speaking about the projects-based career path, you may be hired for short-term assignments with specific objectives, allowing for breaks or time off between involvements.
Working environment is another essential as weighing options between on-site, remote, or hybrid equals defining your style of living.
- On-site work is perfect if you thrive on routine and enjoy in-person engagement: you are more productive in a dedicated workspace, and you want a clear boundary between work and home. Certain careers strictly expect physical presence as part of hands-on work or direct interaction with machinery and customers.
- If supported by a company, hybrid models present the sum of two: online and offline collaboration. With fewer days spent in the office, you save time on commuting but add a bit of personal connection as opposed to remote.
- Remote jobs are common in tech and provide flexibility if you are comfortable working from home without needing a physical office. You handle tasks from a living room, a cafe, a coworking space, or even a different city without sacrificing job stability.
How to find the right career path with career coaching
Career self-coaching practices or, to be more precise, free available career instruments can help you understand which path is for you. No matter whether you are searching for a new job or changing career direction. You can become your own career coach.
Self-coaching usually goes in the form of exercises to practice: you choose an exercise, take it while reflecting on your experience, and get the results. It’s like putting yourself in the driver’s seat and taking ownership of your path. The Amy career coaching platform has a library of exercises, like Personal SWOT Analysis and Skill Development Plan, each with the timing, ability to review answers, and progress tracking.
In the case of finding the right career path, the career coaching practices will be to:
- Self-reflect. Think over, realize, and evaluate your interests, needs, and experience. Analyze your current job format or your future one:
- Do I value stability and structure, or do I prefer flexibility and independence?
- Am I comfortable with the risks of working independently?
- Am I into continuous learning or mastering a skill and putting it into practice?
- Do I prefer to shape my own journey or assume responsibilities in a traditional work environment?
- Take a closer look at preferable career paths. Follow companies’ websites and social media to learn about their culture and potential opportunities, or meet people in the industry to expand your network and simply communicate. This way, you will stay updated on organizational structures, vacancies, and other news.
- Set actionable goals. Draft your career plan with goals and information from self-assessment. You include a goal, a timeline, and how you will measure success.
Ask for help if you feel confused and uncertain
So many professionals struggle to find clarity and direction. This causes frustration and missed opportunities. A career counselor can support you in exploring paths you hadn’t considered, expand your view of what is possible, and create a tailored roadmap to bring those goals within reach. The benefits are personalized guidance in identifying strengths, setting realistic career goals, choosing a suitable career type and format, and creating steps to advance while addressing any blocks. Rediscover your worth as a professional with a personal career coach.
What’s next?
Career coaching services can absolutely ease navigating the turns of your career path—current and future ones—and assist you with job searching and career transition to pave the way for new career opportunities. Try the Amy career coaching platform for more.