Protean and Tradition Career Paths

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In a protean career, the person is in charge of his or her career path. The core values are freedom and growth, with a high degree of mobility. One's success is determined by his or her happiness. This differs from the traditional career in which the organization is in charge, and the employee is primarily concerned with advancement. There is low degree of mobility, and one judges his or her success based upon the position and salary level. A traditional career employee feels a commitment to the organization, whereas a protean career person is more concerned with personal satisfaction from work and commitment to his or her profession over the organization.

My career has definitely followed a protean path, in which I started a career as a corporate buyer when I was at a point in my life that work was center stage. I was fortunate to work for a company that was constantly evolving which trained me to also change and adapt. Once children came into the picture, they became the priority and I adjusted my career to fit my family's needs. I scaled back on work, and was able to continue working in distribution but at a different level so that I could prioritize my children. I also set up a home office and was able to work primarily from home, commuting to the office for meetings with management and staff. During this time I continued to read and attend seminars to stay current in the industry, and to assuage the guilt of not working in the office in the traditional work environment. As time passed and family demands changed, I have been able to redesign my career more, engaging in freelance business and achieving greater mobility in my career. As a result, my career has been driven by personal values (being present for my children and family) rather than organizational rewards. This has allowed me to live a full ...