Building Your Career Curriculum: Mid-Career
When discussing how to build a career curriculum, my definition of “career” is a job, or set of jobs, in an industry to which you’re committed for more than five years and in which you anticipate your continued growth and advancement over time. Especially once the early years pass and once you find yourself in the transitional years, this definition matters, not just to me or to you but perhaps especially to those involved in your advancement. You need to know how not just your manager but her/his manager and other executives in your company or industry view and value a career arc. Let’s say you’ve passed the five year mark at a company: is your manager looking at you to grow into a long-term leadership role, or are you “just” an employee who performs a specific set of tasks each day? Have you already been promoted? What do you need to do next to make sure that you are on a path that meets your goals as well as the goals of those above you and of the company? Transitioning to mid-career is where you need to find your wiggle room -- and then start wiggling upward.
While the first five years in a career are all about hard and focused work with others, something which doesn’t change a lot in the next five years, mid-career adds a layer of personal care and of company focus to your career arc. In mid-career, it’s time to pay attention to what you need in order to feel like you have a good career seated amid a good life. It’s also time to show that you’re paying attention to something bigger than you and your team if you do have aspirations of being in an executive role someday. So, how do you do those things?
Mid-career is no longer just about getting tasks done but, rather, about getting them done in the context of what else is happening throughout the whole company. That may seem obvious, but, as we all know, it’s easy to get heads-down on tasks in tech without seeing the bigger picture. In your mid-career, it’s no longer about debugging one line of code or marketing one product; it’s time to lift your head from your desk and showcase your everyday agility, shifting course as needed for the good of a bigger whole. Focusing on results with concrete milestones for which you hold yourself and your team accountable and against which you can, and do, report, are hallmarks of someone I want to promote to the next level. Checking boxes with completed tasks is an early career skill that needs to be honed. The person who makes the next level on my teams is the one who then takes the initiative to compile those checked boxes into useful next steps that, as director of innovation, I can parlay into something useful company-wide. That person is the one who sees and considers the bigger picture when operating on tasks big or small.
In mid-career, you also have to have a good sense for when to act and react (and when not to). Judgement comes into play. In your early years, someone is usually telling you what to do and when to do it; in mid-career, you have to take more ownership. That doesn’t mean that you go rogue; managers don’t like surprises! Amid increased responsibility, you have to be able to show predictability in a changing environment. The more you progress, the more you solve problems versus asking for help or advice. As you grow more and more in your career, you should be showing up with more options or recommendations and fewer questions. In mid-career, you also have to have a good sense for when to act and react (and when not to). Judgement comes into play. In your early years, someone is usually telling you what to do and when to do it; in mid-career, you have to take more ownership. That doesn’t mean that you go rogue; managers don’t like surprises! Amid increased responsibility, you have to be able to show predictability in a changing environment. The more you progress, the more you solve problems versus asking for help or advice. As you grow more and more in your career, you should be showing up with more options or recommendations and fewer questions.
Finally, as you move into mid-career, consider that advancement may not be linear. Perhaps your role allows you to stay in your department and rise, but if your eye is on executive or C-level leadership someday, your mid-career moves may look like climbing a ladder sideways. Engagement and communication with your leadership is critical at this juncture; hopefully, you laid the groundwork for this great communication in your earlier years. Make sure your manager sees what you’re doing and advocates for your growth and advancement within the whole company, even if they’d rather keep you in their own stable. A good manager with whom you have a good rapport will trust and value you enough to support you in drifting away from your tried-and-true path for a while in order to hone skills in other departments or other areas.
Mid-career is an exciting time. It’s likely that you’re making more money and have earned more trust, responsibility, and flexibility. This is your key time to seek out opportunities for your own growth. If you love what you do, this is when you shine. And if you don’t love what you do but do love your company, this is when you look around and consider how you might contribute differently. These are the years that make or break you for what’s to follow. Those who thrive in this space are those who advocate well for their teams and for themselves and who have built great relationships with a management team who will advocate for them ongoing.
Originally published on LinkedIn