There is also a major challenge for some professionals associated with doing the same kind of work throughout their career. Those in the fields of health and mental health can become bored with their work (unless they are confronted with new health care or mental health challenges). They can also find a challenging outlet inside their profession (such as serving as a leader in their local professional association) or outside their profession (such as joining an amateur musical group). This identification of a diversionary outlet is often less of a problem for those psychologists who are working outside a clinical setting. Somehow there is always something new to face in a complex organization with which one is consulting or in a coaching session where one is addressing multiple life issues rather than just an emotional malady.
What about those psychologists who are working in a traditional organizational setting? I turn to the second career setting Linear Incline (LC). As the name implies, this pathway is identified by an inclined plane. One works in a hierarchically based organization and moves up through the organization, having displayed competency and sustained motivation. A hierarchical organization is required to open the possibility of movement up in the organization and to find many opportunities for career advancement. This LC setting makes it possible for one to be recognized for their work-related accomplishment. As a result of this work, one is given greater responsibility and authority.
Most psychologists with a doctorate are less attracted to this second setting than they are to the first one. While there might be job security in an organization (important given the swirling winds of VUCA-Plus), there is also the politics of organizational life, which can make professional competency no longer of greatest importance. Somehow, the joy of moving up in the hierarchy of an organization is not at the top of the list of motivators for many psychologists. They might take a job managing the human relations or employee assistance program in an organization, but this is rarely life-fulfilling. Some organizational consultants move over to a position of leadership in a corporation. However, this usually occurs late in the consultant’s career. And it often doesn’t work very well. As “they” sometimes say: “If you can’t manage, then teach management, and if you can’t teach management, then try consulting!”
Most importantly, the sense of self for a psychologist with a doctorate is rarely wrapped up in the SS-style organization in which they are employed. They are still more likely to call themselves a “psychologist” than an “IBM’er” or “long-time employee of General Motors.” The covenant might have been broken, but not the foundation laid during graduate school of being now-and-forever a psychologist!
The third career setting is quite new. The third setting that I call the Recursive Spiral (RS) is one in which there is an upward movement between multiple careers, each of which builds off the previous one(s). This setting is commonly found in fast-moving technology organizations. One moves from one project to another project and may even move from one tech firm to another. This setting comes with diffuse boundaries between jobs and between organizations. It provides the possibility of one’s movement into job assignments that make use of one’s existing skills and knowledge while also requiring and enabling the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. While this setting provides many challenges (in keeping with VUCA-Plus), it is rarely boring.
