Academia trains us to follow pre-defined paths when planning our careers, but the most exciting and rewarding careers are designed by their owners. If you’re willing to take some risk and create your own design, you can have a more exciting career than you ever imagined.

By David M. Giltner, PhD, Founder of TurningScience

If you’re like me, you entered university with a plan: to follow a career path that many had followed before. This is common, because school trains us to follow directions. Earning a degree involves predefined steps:

‘Complete this application adequately, and we will admit you.’

‘Answer this list of questions correctly, and you will pass the test.’

‘Pass this list of classes, and we will give you a degree.’

It’s natural to continue looking for a path to follow after graduation, but, in my view, that’s not how the most exciting careers are built. I’ve found my own way, founded a company, and enjoyed an immensely rewarding career along the way.

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