8 Career Compasses
VUCA Careers started as a thought experiment, trying to picture what my children’s professional future might look like, twenty years from now. It was 2019 at the time, still pre-ChatGPT launch.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was thinking about my own future too.
My wife and I knew we would homeschool our kids long before we became parents. But a few months before the birth of my first child (and after answering, ad nauseam, the same three questions: what if he wants to become a doctor, what if he wants to become a lawyer, and what about social skills), I started thinking about the end game.
What kind of world, and what kind of jobs, are we preparing our children for?
I quickly gave up on focusing on actual jobs and actual skills related to such jobs. I do not own a crystal ball, for one. But more importantly, the world is moving at such speed and is so increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, that I needed something else.
I do not know what “jobs” will look like in 2045.
So decided to focus on “career directions”, professional paths, instead of jumping to a job title and precise skills.
What I ended up with are eight keywords, that I’ve named career compass.
Eight words that I believe can eventually lead anyone to a job market where “there will always be demand”.
These eight words will also serve as categories for the newsletter.
1. Attention
A Signal-Maker earns and stewards scarce attention. They spot emerging conversations early, craft narratives, and build followings that move markets or movements.
2. Care
A Caretaker notices what others overlook. They protect, nurture, and tend to the humans, systems, and environments that sustain life and work.
3. Change
A Catalyst turns foggy strategy into forward motion. They align people, tame chaos, and keep projects shipping even when the ground is moving.
4. Craft
An Artisan brings skill, pride, and presence to physical work. In a world of AI and abstraction, they remind us what quality feels like.
5. Design
A Shaper translates ideas into reality. They give form to futures — designing products, experiences, systems, and aesthetics that didn’t exist before.
6. Engineering
An Engineer builds what must work. They apply logic, discipline, and foresight to design real-world systems that won’t fall apart under pressure.
7. Money
A Rainmaker sees where value lives and makes it flow. They find clients, close deals, and keep businesses alive with revenue and relationships.
8. Risks
A Navigator maps uncertainty and guides others through it. They anticipate danger, model outcomes, and build safe paths forward.
Career building, in turbulent times.
For some reasons, we all think of career orientation as something you do once. But…
