People used to think career paths are to be selected like a holiday from a stack of brochures, now it’s clear we must forge our own

According to that old-fashioned approach, your career path was something you chose, like selecting a holiday from a stack of brochures. Maybe things were once this straightforward; maybe it’s all a cultural myth. Nonetheless, this type of model hasn’t been applicable for the last couple of decades, and the way careers are shaped now, it’s likely to move even further away from it in the future.

In today’s work environment, and in the foreseeable future, your career path is something you have to forge. There are many reasons behind this change. Let’s start with the digital tools that have become prevalent in the corporate world — word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software and general information management. A new base business literacy has emerged: everyone is expected to master these tools. It’s no longer enough to be able to work with and on multiple platforms: these tools constantly develop and change and employees are expected to adapt quickly to the new software.

The pace of technological change is compounded by the financial volatility we’ve seen over the last two decades. The cycles of boom and bust are becoming shorter and whole industries are experiencing disruption to their business models. Many of us will encounter instances of working for a business that goes under. And even if your company survives, redundancies are common: many will know the feeling of being made redundant by a changing business, despite strong personal performance.

When the time comes to do more with fewer people, you need a broad skillset to stand out from the crowd. This is especially true when you’re in relatively junior positions. Be self-motivated and quick to adapt. Above all, broaden the type of business you can work for, as it’s becoming harder to gain the initial experience required for entry level positions. Luckily, many disciplines increasingly share similar skills and tasks across sectors — marketing, project management, service design, HR related roles and office management, to name but a few.

What happens to specialisation in this type of environment? Specialisation is still important and exists in many areas of business, whether it’s knowing a specific development platform inside out or understanding the detailed dynamic of a vertical industry sector. However, there are two important caveats. Firstly, specialisation is more important later in our careers because of the need to demonstrate a broad skillset and go after a wider variety of businesses at the beginning of a career. Furthermore, you should always keep specialisation in check, as too much focus can become a hindrance if the market changes. It’s hard to predict not only whether the company you work for will survive, but also, due to the proliferation of category-wide disruption, whether your entire sub-category will survive.