In Praise of the Meandering Career

Instead, the one common trait was one the researchers weren’t looking for: high degrees of fulfillment. Subjects talked about their purpose, passion, and engagement in their work. They spoke of finding their calling and living their dream.

Nearly three out of every four college graduates work in a field unrelated to their major. The average worker holds over a dozen jobs by their fifties. And over half of today’s college students will work jobs that don’t yet exist

The greatest benefit of a nontraditional path is that you have to figure out what you care about. Rather than an employer telling you what you should value, you have to do the hard work of determining what you value for yourself. This may sound self-evident, but in a world where the pressure to chase prestige, status, and money is ever present, it can be difficult to ask whether you are playing a career game you actually want to win