The 'oh sh*t' moment

Most people I talk to have one experience in common — they’ve progressed in their careers for some time and suddenly find they have no idea where they should head next.

I wish I had a better term for this, but nothing else really captures this the same way: it’s the “oh sh*t” moment. Let’s call it the OSM from here on out.

When people tell me about their OSM, it usually sounds something like this: “I’ve been working in (this field) for years, but now I can’t find any jobs I’m interested in doing next. Have I been wasting my time? How can I find other possibilities? Would they even want to hire me?”

The person experiencing the OSM has questions upon questions that the career ladder simply can’t address. It turns out, not everyone wants to move up an organizational hierarchy. In fact, the path to fulfillment could be entirely unrelated to your job title or salary — and yet, that’s the model we’ve been trained to pursue.

I designed Career River after my own OSM, slumped on my kitchen floor. Longtime readers may remember other pivot points we’ve seen: the journalist who embarked on a three-month break to redefine the role of work in his life; the marketing manager who narrowly avoided a Sept. 11, 2001 event at the World Trade Center; the recent graduate who used the career river mapping exercise to prepare herself for what could come next.

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🌊For the Career River to best support your career goals, three things must be true:

⏰ You have spent enough time working that you’ve developed particular skills and interests that may translate to different roles;

🧭 Your circumstances are shifting, either professionally or personally (or both); and

❓You’ve reached a moment where it’s not clear what your next move should be.

Certainly, Career River can be useful if you don’t check every item on this list. I believe students should understand this framework along with the ladder; I believe hiring managers should think about new ways to consider candidate resumes and experience; I believe people approaching retirement can look back on their professional journeys to gain insight into where they might go next.

To be honest, though, for all those people Career River is interesting, but not essential. I’m looking at the group that really needs this approach.

If you’re like most professionals, you’re going to move between these areas at different points in your career. Perhaps you became aware of the Career River concept at one of my workshops, and later on you become interested in applying the framework to your own hiring process. Perhaps you came to Career River because you needed direction, and once you’ve settled in to your new role you move to sharing out the model with others.

Our OSMs don’t have to be frightening or isolating. They can give us the chance to reexamine what matters to us, professionally and personally. Uncertainty sparks exploration.

I want Career River to help you get from “oh sh*t” to “hell yeah.” That’s why I’m offering subscribers early access to a new worksheet download to map your own Career River, coming soon. Leave your email through the link below to claim your early access invitation.

Happy navigating,
Bridget