To find your career “North Star”, get specific about three things: the work that puts you in flow (aim to spend 70% or more of your week there), the redlines you will not cross for any salary, and the label the market files you under. Do that and you will recognise a good opportunity the moment it appears — instead of drifting into roles simply because someone offered one.
By Mark Hurren, Co-Founder, Hurren & Hope
Having some direction in life matters, especially when it feels like outside forces are calling the shots. Your career is no different. How do you know what a good opportunity looks like if you have no real idea what you want? This won’t replace a proper conversation with someone who knows the market, but in over two decades advising organisations and thousands of professionals, I’ve found it gets people asking themselves the right questions.
Life moves in chapters, so be realistic
Life is made up of chapters, and now and then it throws you a curveball — redundancy, a health issue, a family change — where you make a decision for the short term. That’s fine. But it pays to keep half an eye on the longer game.
This one is lost on non-snooker players: when you’re building a break, you play for position with several reds open to you, not one specific red. If the shot doesn’t quite line up, you’ve got options to fall back on. Managing your career is the same — it’s rarely a straight shot to where you’re heading, and the trick is to avoid getting snookered along the way. A project manager moving between change and delivery environments is still moving forward; a sideways step into something off-track might quietly dilute the very thing the market values you for. Ask yourself how many times you’ve taken a role because your current employer knew you could do it — and ended up a jack of all trades, master of none. If the move is really just for a salary bump, it’s worth reading how much you actually need to earn to be happy first.
Start with what you hate
It’s usually easier to say what you don’t want than what you do. “I don’t want to be client-facing” rules out a whole swathe of paths in one line. So use that. Draw a simple Venn diagram: on the left, the tasks where you’re in flow — they come easily and don’t drain you; on the right, the ones that leave you out of flow; the overlap is the stuff you don’t mind but wouldn’t want as your focus.
Don’t try to do it in one sitting. Leave it somewhere with a pencil next to it and fill it in over a fortnight as things occur to you. By the end you’ll have the bones of your North Star. The aim is simple: spend 70% or more of your working week on in-flow work. Get that right and a surprising amount falls into place.
Know your redlines
We all have things we won’t compromise on — and when we lose sight of them, our health and happiness pay for it. Yours don’t need to be grand. “I want to have dinner with my family most evenings” counts. “I’m not willing to work past 7:30pm” counts. Whatever they are, stay true to them; playing the martyr and soldiering on just breeds resentment.
These are non-negotiables. Sell one for a pay rise and, in my experience, it won’t work — the extra money quickly stops mattering when you’re crossing the line every week. Try reversing it: how much would you pay to eat with your family every night? Sometimes the right role isn’t the highest-paying one. If you can hit your salary expectations and keep your North Star on track, it’s all gravy.
Mind your label
Recruitment loves a label. It’s not always a pretty truth, but if you want to play the game you need to understand the rules. Employers tend to think in products, so run with the analogy: work out which superstore you’re in, which aisle, which shelf, and what it says on your tin. Nobody looks for baked beans in the bakery aisle, and no employer looks for a programme manager in the service-delivery section.
Wear a label too long, or wear too many hats with no definition, and you risk being hard to find — or starting from square one at your next move. So be deliberate about what you say yes to. Everything you say yes to is a no to something else. Shape your week towards the work you want to be known for, and chase the experience and qualifications that point that way.
Remote working makes this harder
All of this matters more now that so much work is remote. It’s far harder to drift across departments or learn from a passing conversation with an experienced colleague at the coffee point. Those incidental moments — asking someone how their career actually unfolded — happen far less than they used to. So be proactive: cultivate the right contacts on purpose, and give real thought to your North Star so you can seek out the people who can take you closer to it.
Lean on perception
Perception is reality. When you’re stuck in the 9-to-5, it’s easy to keep digging and only later realise you’ve spent five years moving in a direction you never chose. Lean on the people around you — a trusted recruiter, a former boss, an older friend, family. An outside view cuts through the “managing stakeholders” fog and keeps you honest about what you’re really looking for.
Putting your North Star to work
Once you’ve got it, two practical moves follow. First, hold it up against what’s actually out there — browse current technology roles and notice which ones light you up and which break a redline. Second, when you do get in front of someone, prepare properly: our guide on how to prepare for a tech interview walks through three simple techniques to make sure your ability gets seen.
If you’d value a straight, no-spin conversation about where you’re heading, that’s exactly what we do — get in touch and we’ll talk it through, no hard sell.
Frequently asked questions
What is a career North Star?
Your career North Star is a clear, personal sense of what you want your working life to look like: the work that puts you in flow, the redlines you won’t cross, and how you want the market to label you. It’s the reference point you measure every opportunity against.
How do I work out what I want from my career?
Start with what you dislike. Over a couple of weeks, list the tasks that energise you (in flow) and those that drain you (out of flow). Aim to spend 70% or more of your week on in-flow work. Then set your non-negotiable redlines, and decide what label or specialism you want to be known for.
How do I know if a job is right for me?
Hold it up against your North Star. Does it let you spend most of your week in flow, respect your redlines, and move your chosen specialism forward? If it ticks those and meets your salary expectations, it’s likely a strong fit; if it crosses a redline, no pay rise tends to make up for it.
Should I take a pay cut for a role that fits better?
It’s not necessarily a step backwards. If a role protects your redlines and keeps you in flow, that can outweigh a higher salary that costs you your time, health or happiness. Weigh the trade-off deliberately — there’s more on this in how much do you need to earn to be happy.
