The Career Mosaic

My post content

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

If that question makes you want to hide under your duvet and pretend you never applied for the job, you're not alone. It's the professional equivalent of asking someone what they want for dinner when they can barely decide what to have for breakfast. Yet somehow, we've convinced an entire generation that career success requires a detailed roadmap, complete with milestone markers and a final destination that absolutely must involve a corner office, private healthcare and a company car.

But have you considered: the most interesting careers rarely follow straight lines. They're more like mosaics, built from seemingly unrelated pieces that somehow create a beautiful, coherent picture when you step back and look at the whole thing.

My Own Career: A Masterclass in "Making It Up as You Go Along"

Take my own professional journey, which reads like someone threw a dartboard at a careers fair and decided to pursue whatever it landed on.

I started by founding a theatre company after graduating with a degree in Theatre and English. Predictable enough, you might think. Then, at the ripe old age of 26, I somehow convinced someone to let me manage a sailing resort in Greece with 23 people reporting to me. I'm still not entirely sure how that happened, but I suspect it involved a combination of youthful confidence and the fact that I could string a sentence together without using "like" every third word.

From there, I pivoted into corporate training and development (because apparently, keeping sailing and windsurfing instructors in line is excellent preparation for teaching engineers how to effectively deliver culture chage ). Then I relocated overseas and set up my own consulting business for SMEs and not-for-profits, before becoming the manager of a Chamber of Commerce, then a regional manager for a national mental health charity, and finally landing in executive search.

If you'd told 22-year-old me that I'd end up helping companies find their next CEO, I'd have assumed you'd been sampling the theatre company's post-show refreshments a bit too enthusiastically.

The Secret Sauce: It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know (And How You Communicate)

Here's the plot twist that careers advisors don't always mention: 90% of my roles came through my network. Not through carefully crafted applications or strategic five-year plans, but through conversations with people I'd worked with, met at events, or simply got chatting to over coffee.

That fellow resort manager who remembered I was a confident presenter? She recommended me for a training role years later. The training and development colleague who'd moved into consulting? He threw my name in the hat when a client needed help. The mental health charity contact who knew I could handle difficult conversations? Perfect fit for executive search.

Your network isn't just your net worth (though that's catchy); it's your career safety net, your opportunity pipeline, and sometimes your sanity saver when you're wondering what on earth you're doing with your life.

The Common Thread: Communication is Your Career Superpower

Looking back at my seemingly random career trajectory, there's actually one skill that threads through everything: communication. Whether I was devising and performing theatre, managing resort staff, training executives, consulting with business owners, representing Chamber members, supporting mental health initiatives, or interviewing C-suite candidates, it all came down to one thing: could I communicate effectively?

In theatre, I had to translate creative vision into arresting performance. Managing a resort meant communicating expectations ensuring safety protocols were adhered to whilst people had fun learning. Corporate training was literally professional communication about communication. Consulting required translating complex business concepts into digestible and practical advice. Mental health work demanded the most sensitive communication of all. And executive search? That's basically professional matchmaking through conversation.

The lesson? Don't underestimate the power of being able to articulate ideas clearly, listen properly, and adapt your communication style to your audience. In a world of AI and automation, human communication skills are becoming more valuable, not less.

Why the Five-Year Question is Fundamentally Flawed

The traditional "where do you see yourself in five years?" question assumes that careers unfold in a predictable, linear fashion. It suggests that success means knowing your destination before you've even started the journey. But here's the reality: the world of work is changing so rapidly that half the jobs our Gen Z clients will do probably don't exist yet.

Think about it. Five years ago, "Prompt Engineer" wasn't a job title. "TikTok Content Strategist" would have sounded like gibberish. "Remote Work Culture Consultant" would have been met with blank stares. The pace of change means that rigid career planning is not just unnecessary, it's potentially counterproductive.

Instead of trying to predict the unpredictable, focus on building transferable skills, maintaining curiosity, and staying connected with people in your field (and adjacent fields, and completely unrelated fields while we're at it).

Embracing the Mosaic Approach

The career mosaic approach means accepting that your professional life will be built from diverse experiences, some planned, some accidental, all valuable. Each role, project, or even career pivot adds another piece to your unique professional picture.

This approach requires a shift in mindset. Instead of viewing career changes as failures or signs of indecision, see them as evidence of adaptability and growth. Instead of panicking about not having a five-year plan, focus on being excellent at whatever you're doing right now while keeping your eyes open for interesting opportunities.

The most successful people I work with in executive search aren't necessarily those who followed a predetermined path. They're the ones who remained curious, built strong relationships, developed valuable skills, and were brave enough to seriously consider opportunities that didn't fit their original plan when they came into their line of vision.

The Bottom Line

Your career doesn't need a GPS. It needs a compass. Point yourself in the general direction of work that interests you, uses your strengths, and aligns with your values. Build relationships with people whose work you admire. Develop skills that will serve you regardless of what job title you hold. And for heaven's sake, stop apologising for not knowing exactly where you'll be in five years.

The most beautiful mosaics aren't created by artists who know exactly how every piece will fit from the start. They're built by people who understand the medium, trust the process, and aren't afraid to adjust as they go.

Your career mosaic is uniquely yours. Embrace the uncertainty, celebrate the unexpected turns, and remember that the most interesting stories are rarely the ones that went according to plan.

Ready to start building your career mosaic? Let's chat about how to make your next move, even if you're not sure where you're heading. Because sometimes the best journeys are the ones where you discover the destination along the way.