A career ending mistake — Bitfield Consulting
This isn’t about the time I inadvertently shut down one of Britain’s nuclear power stations, an entirely true story for which the world is nevertheless not yet prepared. Nor is it about the poor junior developer who accidentally destroyed the production database on their first day (they’ll be fine, bless them).
Instead, I want to talk about another kind of career ending mistake, one that affects more than just the unlucky few. Indeed, it’s a mistake we’re probably all making right now. And that’s not planning the end of our careers.
By “the end”, I don’t necessarily mean picking your retirement date. This is really about the aim or goal of your career. Where will you be when you realise that this is where you’ve always wanted to be?
If you love what you’re doing now and don’t ever want to change jobs, great: you’ve reached the end of your career, even if it plays out over many decades. If you don’t love it, though, and that’s much more likely, then it’s worth asking what job you would love, and how you’re going to get it.
