Career Development Beyond the One True Calling
For years, I believed I was supposed to discover one true calling.
I searched for it anxiously through jobs, volunteer roles, creative pursuits, and eventually university in my forties. Whenever I found something I loved but could not imagine doing forever, I assumed it must not be “the one.” I worried about investing years into post-secondary education only to lose interest later. I looked at people who seemed to have a single, clear path and wondered why I could not settle so neatly into a single identity.
Along the way, I worked in a mental health halfway house, coordinated volunteers, designed kitchens, performed music, practiced photography, wrote journalism pieces, worked retail, cleaned buildings, facilitated groups, founded a community program, and volunteered in a variety of settings, including with people with disabilities. At times, that collection of experiences felt scattered rather than meaningful.
What I did not realize at the time was that my career was still progressing, just not in a straight line.
The Anxiety of Non-Linear Careers
Today, as a Career and Employment Specialist and facilitator, I often think back to that younger version of myself when working with clients struggling to choose a direction. During career exploration and occupational research workshops, many participants express the same anxiety I once carried: the belief that they are somehow behind because they do not have a single lifelong calling or perfectly linear career path.
In my occupational research workshop, I share Emilie Wapnick’s TED Talk, Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling, which introduces the concept of multipotentialites: people with many interests, passions, and areas of curiosity. More participants relate to the concept than not. Often, there is visible relief in the room.
For some participants, it is the first time they have considered the possibility that having multiple interests is not evidence of being unfocused or indecisive. Instead, it may reflect adaptability, curiosity, creativity, and the ability to connect ideas across different experiences.
Career Adaptability in a Changing World
This perspective feels increasingly relevant in a rapidly changing labour market. While specialization still has value, many modern careers are no longer strictly linear. People change industries, return to education later in life, combine multiple skill sets, and adapt repeatedly to technological, economic, and social shifts. Career adaptability – the ability to respond effectively to changing circumstances, opportunities, and labour market conditions – is becoming increasingly important.
For career changers in particular, recognizing transferable skills and recurring strengths can make career transitions feel less overwhelming. The challenge is often not a lack of direction, but learning how to identify the patterns that connect seemingly unrelated experiences.
Seeing Progression Differently
Completing CPC’s Certified Future Strategist (CFS) program reinforced my thinking about career development, career adaptability, and progression. One idea that particularly resonated with me was the recognition that varied work experiences can still represent meaningful progression, even when the pattern is not immediately obvious.
Many clients view diverse backgrounds as disconnected or lacking value because they compare themselves to traditional ideas of career success built around specialization and predictability. Yet when we examine those experiences through the lens of transferable skills, important themes often emerge beneath the surface: communication, leadership, creativity, caregiving, problem-solving, facilitation, relationship-building, adaptability, or a desire to help others.
The Threads That Connect Our Stories
Looking back now, I can clearly see how my own experiences built upon one another. My background in mental health support deepened my empathy and communication skills. Volunteer coordination strengthened my ability to guide and motivate people. Creative pursuits sharpened storytelling and presentation abilities. Facilitation across different environments taught me how to read a room, adapt in real time, and support learning in accessible ways. Even roles that once seemed unrelated contributed something meaningful to the work I do today.
None of those experiences was wasted.
Helping Clients Reinterpret Their Stories
As career development professionals, we often help clients identify skills, interests, and opportunities. Increasingly, I believe we also help people reinterpret themselves with greater accuracy and compassion. Sometimes that means helping clients recognize that their path may not be broken simply because it has not been linear.
For many people, the goal may not be to discover a fixed identity that lasts forever. Instead, it may be developing the self-awareness, transferable skills, and career adaptability needed to navigate an evolving world of work.
Permission to See It Differently
The relief I felt when I stopped searching for one perfect calling was not the realization that I had no direction. It was the realization that my direction had been there all along, expressed through many experiences rather than one.
Perhaps some of our clients need permission to see their own stories that way, too.
– By Shauna Specht –
This article was edited with the support of ChatGPT (developed by OpenAI). The ideas and insights shared are entirely the author’s own.
Image generated with ChatGPT.
What a thought-provoking article, Shauna. I especially appreciated your challenge to the idea that everyone has one “true calling.” For many people, purpose is not something we discover all at once. It develops through experience, reflection, and sometimes through paths we never expected to take.
Looking back, our careers often make much more sense than they did while we were living them.
I’m curious whether others have found that to be true. Did your career unfold according to plan, or did your sense of purpose emerge over time through unexpected opportunities and experiences?
Thank you, Sharon. For me, it was definitely the latter. My career wasn’t a straight path, and I certainly didn’t set out thinking I’d become a career development professional. Looking back now, though, I can see how each role taught me something I use every day.
Several of my previous roles were quite fulfilling and felt right for me at the time. They weren’t just something I was doing on my way to finding my true calling. I think sometimes we have multiple callings that fit who we are at different times in our lives.
Love this article, Shauna. I like to think of our career stories like tapestries – woven together with many colours and textures. Career paths right now are rarely linear – stories that involve detours and pivots are especially interesting (and can be challenging to share on a resume or in an interview). As you say, career progress is not necessarily in a straight line, and I’ll add, it’s never to late in life to follow a new calling.
Thank you for sharing, Shauna.
I truly believe that everyone has a unique journey, and no experience is ever wasted. Every role teaches us something, and often it’s only when we look back that we can see how everything connects.