What is Personality Based Career Mapping, And How Can It Cure Professional FOMO?

If you’re like most people, you probably see your present job as a stepping stone to something better—whether that’s better pay, better work environment or better opportunities.

But your plan from “here” to “better” may be somewhat vague at the moment. That’s normal, especially for younger workers. It’s not desirable, however, since you’re unlikely to get very far if you don’t start planning for career advancement sooner rather than later.

One of the simplest yet most powerful ways to become more proactive in this regard is to create a career map. This exciting career planning tool is often created by bosses for their employee’s benefit. But you can make a career map all on your own just as easily, personalized to land your dream career in an impressively rapid timeframe.

So What is a Career Map, Anyway?

A career map is a milestone-based, visually striking representation of how you’re going to move from the job you have now to the job you really want, one achievable step at a time.

It probably won’t be a linear plan. To complete that journey, you may need to do quite a bit of job hopping. Your new jobs could come through promotions within one company, or you may land a series of jobs with several different employers—the only goal is that each new job will be more rewarding than the last, either financially or personally. 

And if you’re lucky, more fun as well.

There may be some additional education and training required for some of these jobs. For example, you might need to take continuing education courses or attend workshops where you can sharpen your skills and increase your knowledge to qualify for a particular position. In some instances, you may be required to achieve additional certifications or degrees to qualify for the most attractive promotions.

You may also need to find mentors in your chosen industry who can help you refine your performance level. You could build up an impressive network of professional contacts in this way, as you get to know influential and respected people who can act as references when you’re applying for better positions.

So what does all this have to do with a career mapping? The answer is, everything, as these are exactly the elements that should be included in your career map.

Your career map will outline a progressive path of advancement toward your ultimate career goal. It will be organized in a series of steps or stages, which will basically consist of entry-level, intermediate and more advanced jobs that you may want to pursue on your way to your dream job.

At each level on your career map’s chart or diagram, you’ll create detailed descriptions of the qualifications needed to land each new job or promotion. As you continue climbing the ladder of success, in your imagination on your career map and eventually in real life, you’ll be moving closer and closer to your final career destination. That is what makes it such an exciting project to work on.

You can find templates for career maps all over the Internet. You can make them as basic and simple or as colorful and complex as you like, depending on your preferences. You may have to redo your map from time to time, based on any changes you decide to make in your short-term or long-term plans.

The Many Benefits of Career Mapping

There are many advantages to career mapping, especially compared to just making it up as you go along! 

They include:

• Greater clarity. A carefully prepared career map is a clear and comprehensive guide to success in any profession.
• A sense of purpose. In those moments when you’re feeling discouraged or low on energy, just reading through your career map again will remind you of how much you’ve achieved the amazing accomplishments still to come.
• Motivation. When your path to your dream job is outlined in detail right in front of you, with all the procedures needed to complete your journey fully explained, how can you not be excited about your future?
• Detailed knowledge about specific careers. The mapping process will challenge you to do tons of research on many different career options, and what you learn may surprise you and even change your perspective on which option you should pursue.
• Greater self-awareness. Before creating your career map, you should do a deep dive into your personal preferences and personality traits. This will be incredibly enlightening, and it can help you make career choices that are sensible and will produce sensational and satisfying results.
• Eliminates FOMO:  A career map can eliminate the fear of missing out (FOMO) on potential job opportunities. By having a clear understanding of your ultimate career goal and the steps needed to get there, you are less likely to be tempted by other jobs that do not align with your long-term plan—and much less likely to envy others who seem to have it all.

What is Personality Based Career Mapping?

Personality-based career mapping is career mapping supported by results obtained from taking personality tests and career tests.

Simply—you take time to figure out your most essential needs, desires, preferences and motivations before drawing up your map. You want jobs that will challenge, reward and energize you, and taking a personality test can help you find a career field that will check all of these boxes.

It doesn’t matter which personality system you use: Typefinder, Enneagram, Big Five, DISC and Holland Code career aptitude tests will all give you insights into what really makes you tick. Use as many tests as you like to figure out:

• Which kinds of job duties might cause you to experience stress, frustration or boredom, so you can strike them off your map.
• Which workplace environments will help you thrive, so you can add those to the map and remove any jobs that could make you burned out.
• How you tend to behave when working in a team, so that you can seek out jobs and industries where your natural tendencies will be appreciated instead of suppressed.
• What kinds of leadership styles feel most authentic to you and which types of bosses might cause clashes with your personality, making for uncomfortable work situations down the road. This way, you can avoid those environments altogether or prepare yourself for potential conflicts.

Simply put, personality tests and career tests can assist you in figuring out where you might fit in the best so you’re not wasting time, energy and morale working in jobs that aren’t suited to you. You don't want to fall away from your career map or even get angry with it, just because you find out the hard way that your dream job isn’t so dreamy. 

What you learn may also broaden your horizons in unexpected ways—who knew that you had a knack for data analysis or public speaking, or that brainstorming out-of-the-box ideas is your jam!

Career Mapping for Fun and Reward

Career mapping is fun, but there is nothing magical about it. No matter how thorough and detailed your career map is,  it will still be up to you to perform the hard work necessary to transform your dreams into reality.

Nevertheless, a career map can be a tremendous tool for personal and professional empowerment, and that is especially true when you take a personality-based approach to creating it. Knowing yourself can help you unleash your full potential, as you’ll finally understand what you need to do to become the star performer on the movie screen of your life.