What Happens When You Don’t Have Career Clarity?

Career clarity is having confidence and enthusiasm for a specific career direction. When you have career clarity you’re able to set goals, progress towards them, and grow in the direction of your strengths and interests.

So, what happens when you don’t have career clarity?

Here are a few common outcomes.

Paralysis

When you don’t know where you want to go with your career, it’s very common to stay wherever you are. 

Without a clear vision of something that might be better for you, you won’t have any motivation to make a positive change.

Paralysis looks like months (or years) going by without any change in your career. It feels like stuckness and stagnation.

Overwhelm

The entire world of career possibilities remains open to you when you don’t have career clarity. This may sound like a positive, but a common outcome is not knowing where to focus. You wind up looking at a wide variety of potential jobs. 

You may send in many applications in many different directions, but this scattershot approach rarely works. It’s incredibly overwhelming and very easy to get lost in.

Overwhelm can look like procrastination or avoidance, but what’s really going on is a lack of clarity.

Drifting

If you aren’t steering the boat of your career, then you’re likely at the whims of the currents around you. When opportunities present themselves, you take them. You change jobs without really knowing why or what you’re hoping to get out of the new situation.

While drifting does give you the opportunity to gain new skills and experiences, it lacks a clear progression and sense of directionality.

Drifting can look like job hopping or following a pre-set career path without considering if it is a direction you actually want to be pursuing.

If you’re experience paralysis, overwhelm, or drifting, don’t fret! These are very common symptoms of not having a clear career direction. At Cardy Career Coaching, our specialty is helping talented professionals gain career clarity.

Once you have a clear career direction, you’re able to put your effort and attention on one thing. This greatly reduces paralysis and overwhelm and increases your ability to move forward thoughtfully.

If you’d like support with gaining clarity around what would be a good career fit for you, apply for one of signature Career CLARITY coaching programs today! Supporting talented professionals with gaining career clarity is our specialty.