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At Indeed Flex, our mission is to give you the fastest way to find temporary work that fits your lifestyle. In 2024, we want to take that a step further and help you build the skills and experiences that will enable your career to thrive.
We’re pleased to introduce Grow with Indeed Flex.
In 2022, our Flexers told us that they want more career development support. And that’s what Grow with Indeed Flex is all about; a new initiative where we’ll be actively investing in all sorts of exciting development opportunities for you.
At the start of each year, businesses tend to need fewer temporary workers due to the seasonal decrease of consumer spending (ie. less eating out and shopping). So while things are a little quieter than usual, it’s a great time to think about our careers. To help with that, over the next few weeks we’re delighted to bring you a mini-development programme on ‘Squiggly Careers’.
Inspired by the folks at Amazing If, consisting of a mixture of blogs, guided exercises, and support materials; this 4 part series will help you explore more about yourself, to develop some key skills which will help you thrive throughout your career.
The Squiggly Career
When most of us think about a successful career, we think about promotions, and pay rises, and ‘getting to the top’, and the trajectory looks a little something like this:
We imagine steps, or a ladder: a linear journey with certain points we have to get to, in order to progress. For example ‘if I want to be a restaurant manager I must first be a waiter, then I must become a team leader, then I must be an assistant manager, until eventually I reach the top of the chain.’
But what if the obvious next step isn’t one you want to take?
What if you want to try something that doesn’t traditionally move on from the step you took before?
In the world of temporary work, it can be difficult to take certain steps at all. So the question is, can you be a temporary worker, and still build a career? Absolutely.
The world of work is evolving, and moving frequently between roles, industries, locations, and even careers, is becoming the new normal. Your path might look more like this one, a squiggle:
A squiggly career is both full of uncertainty and, full of possibility. Your squiggle is as individual as you are.
One week you could be working at the world’s biggest sporting event, and the next you could be creating handmade products, serving at luxury banquets, or delivering gifts.
A squiggly career means trying lots of different things, all of the time. Hiring managers across the world are increasingly appreciating the value of the squiggly career, because it creates employees with varied, diverse, and tested skills and experiences, far more than somebody on a traditional career ladder.
For instance, somebody who’s been coaching their kid’s football team for years may be better suited to managing a warehouse team than somebody who’s only ever worked on a production line.
Maybe somebody who’s been creating content on Tiktok or podcasts, is better suited to being a host in a restaurant than the person who’s only ever worked as a waiter.
It’s time to get off the ladder and into the squiggle.
Where do I start?
Granted, re-thinking your career path in this way can be overwhelming at first. Where do you even start? That’s why we’ve developed Grow with Indeed Flex, a programme led by our in-house Learning and Development team, supporting our Flexers to explore their individual wants, skills, and beliefs, and ultimately build a career that works for them.
How will it work?
Each week, we’ll send Flexers who are signed up to the programme a written article with some new ideas to think about, followed up with some video recorded guided exercises to help you apply the theory to your life, the following week. You can do as much or as little as you like. Simply dip in and out when it suits. The programme is designed to fit your lifestyle and it’s completely free.
What will I learn?
Module 1: Super Strengths – we’ll help you discover your strengths and how to use them more successfully at work.
Module 2: Values – explore what you really care about in a career and how it motivates and drives you to happiness at work.
Module 3: Confidence – identify what lowers your confidence at work and how to overcome this.
Module 4: Future-proofing – how to identify future career possibilities and develop the three keys skills to future-proof your career, whatever you do.
Keep an eye on your inbox for weekly email updates on the series.
Recommended Read: The Squiggly Career – Helen Tupper & Sarah Ellis
Recommended Watch: Why Squiggly Careers Are Better for Everyone (9 mins)
Recommend Listen: The Squiggly Careers Podcast