Unless you have a plan and a sense of purpose for the future, you may wind up feeling empty and unfulfilled. And while it's OK to check out the options for a short time, many employers want you to state your goals up front. We want to hire people who are motivated, with strong technical, verbal, and written skills. Determine how your temperament translates into work choices. Consider what you value in a job.
Some people thrive on the pressure of juggling a plateful of projects.
For them, consulting is the ticket to adventure. If that pace is not for you, you may prefer the stability of a large corporate IT setting, which offers daily structure and less travel. After your self-inventory, set your course. Boeing Co.'s Kay Williams, manager of computing skills and management, emphasizes that today's career model is best mapped as a spiral, instead of a the more traditional linear concept. In the spiral model, a person can move around the organization in many positions that are significant and highly respected.