How many Buzzfeed quizzes have you taken? Are you Pam from The Office? Beast from Beauty and The Beast? The Fingers-Crossed hand emoji? 

Let’s try Which Career Development Type are you? 

Pick a CEO:

1. Marvin Ellison
2. Sundar Pichai 
3. Meg Whitman
4. Indra Nooyi
5. Elon Musk

You already know this isn’t how this works.

Let’s try again.

Which best describes your career so far:

1. I have made thoughtful professional choices since before undergrad school.
2. I made a thoughtful choice in undergrad, but boy was I wrong.
3. I knew halfway through undergrad that I made the wrong choice, but I was so far in I kept going.
4. I kind of fell into my first job, and it has really worked out ever since.
5. I fell into my first job, and I have been drifting ever since.

Some of you may have honed in on one of these: “That’s totally me!” 

Some of you may have thought, “None of those are me.” 

Here’s the thing: practically speaking, there’s no career development type. In the question above, I probably could have listed options through the letter z. Further, everyone’s journey is very personal.

But I love labels. Labels are helpful.

Here’s the second thing: If you are pursuing movement in your career, we in the CCWP could probably label you. We wouldn’t like it, but we could do it.

So, what are the labels?

1. Advancer
2. Pivoter
3. Entrepreneur

How do I know what I am?

It depends on where you NOW and where you seek to go next. You are in the Advancer category if you seek to stay in your current function and industry, but move up to a higher title (and salary). You are in the Pivoter category if you seek to change your current function or industry (or both). You are in the Entrepreneur category if you seek to start your own business.
 
Can I be in two categories at the same time? Yes. You may be seeking advancement in your career while exploring entrepreneurial opportunities. You may be seeking a pivot while exploring opportunities for advancement, in case the pivot doesn’t work out.

You also may not know right now, and that’s OK, too. The last year has given a lot of us extra time for reflection, and you may be in a category that’s more like: “I’m doing well and I like what I do well enough, and I’m good at it, but is it really what I want long term?”

Regardless of the category, the Career Center for Working Professionals has resources to help you, and our upcoming posts will zero in on each category. For now, here are some resources we love for all categories:

• Your Career Account! If you haven’t set yours up, please do so!
• Your Career Resource Hub, found under the “Resource Library” tab in your Career Account. Explore both your Career Compass and the Resource Database.
• DESIGNING YOUR WORK LIFE, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Don’t have time to read the book right now? Check out their Resources page for worksheets, discussion topics, and their newsletter.