This probably isn’t a question you expected to ask today, either as an employee or an employer. It certainly wasn’t one your grandparents or parents asked, as Baby Boomers often stayed at the same company for their entire careers. But times have changed. With Gen Z, Millennials, and soon Gen Alphas entering the workplace, the demand for fulfilling work environments has surged. This has paved the way for more frequent career changes that aren’t strictly upward.
Let’s explore what fulfilling career journeys look like today, and how employees and employers can create them.
T-Shaped Careers
T-shaped professionals have deep expertise in one area, paired with broad skills across others. For example, a marketing expert might specialize in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) but have general knowledge of email marketing, content or events.
These individuals often rise in seniority due to their expertise but later broaden their skills rather than pursue management. Their versatility makes them valuable in collaborative environments as they understand diverse perspectives.
V-Shaped Careers
These professionals have deep expertise in one or two areas but less awareness of adjacent fields. For example, a software developer might master one programming language but have limited business context.
They excel by becoming authorities in niche areas, solving complex problems as high-performing individual contributors.
N-shaped and M-shaped Careers
People with n-shaped careers (and the lower-case ‘n’ is relevant here) develop two areas of deep expertise, for example project management and automation, alongside broad sector skills. M-shaped professionals take this further, mastering three areas while maintaining some broader skills.
These creative problem-solvers connect seemingly unrelated dots, such as combining technical expertise with emotional intelligence.
Broadening both depth and breadth creates adaptable, innovative employees. This career shape also benefits employers as people no longer need management roles to advance, fostering more engaged, tenured teams.
Creating Career Shapes
So, what can you do to influence your own career shape? A good place to start would be having proactive conversations with your manager. Sharing your envisioned career shape helps your manager create or point you toward opportunities.
You might also consider coaching. As an employee retention and career coach, I help people take ownership of their career shape. Coaching creates a safe space for people to identify and act on growth opportunities, boosting retention and productivity [1]. Working with a coach can also help you to develop confidence and the skill to take ownership of your regular 1:1s, making the most of this regular, but often under-utilised, interaction with your manager.
Finding a mentor and asking them insightful questions is another great tool at your disposal to help navigate your career shape. A great question to ask them could be “if you were me, what would you focus on?” Getting an outside perspective can often give you some clarity.
Creating peer-to-peer accountability with team members or colleagues in other part of your organisation by asking “how can we support each other’s goals?” is another way to broaden thinking about how to create a career shape.
[1] Increasing your return on talent: the moves and metrics that matter – McKinsey article April 2024
What Now?
As a first step, I would encourage you to be open with your manager about your desired career shape. Having a more powerful conversation during your regular 1:1s creates a new two-way dialogue that can unlock new ways of thinking.
However if you’re feeling dissatisfied or stuck in your career, or have no idea what career shape you want or how to achieve it, then a career coach could well be for you.
Laura Parker is a highly experienced career and employee retention coach.
She can be contacted via:
