By Nechia Khuzwayo, senior account executive at Tribeca Public Relations
We are often taught to think of a successful career as a straight line: study something, find a job in that field, gain experience, move up and keep going. But many careers do not always play out this way which may be more useful than we realise.
Someone can start in social media, move into data and analytics, find themselves working in marketing and eventually build a career in public relations. On paper, these moves may look disconnected. In practice, each one changes the way you think, the questions you ask and the way you approach your work.
Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” This idea applies just as well to careers. Skills that seem unrelated at the time can become surprisingly valuable later, particularly when they begin to work together.
I have experienced this in my own career. I studied BCom Information Management, with a particular interest in data analytics, and started my career as a data and reporting specialist in a Social and Innovations department. Along the way, I found myself learning more about social media management and digital communication, areas that were not necessarily part of my original career plan.
Today, I work in PR and communications, with much of my role focused on media relations. On paper, these may seem like very different paths, but each one has given me something I use in the next chapter of my career. My understanding of data helps me think about insights and measurement, my social media experience helps me understand audiences, and my current PR experience has strengthened my ability to communicate and build relationships. Looking back, I realise that the twists in my career have not taken me off course. They have helped me build a much broader skill set.
For me, that is where the real value of versatility comes in. It is not simply about knowing how to do different things, but understanding how those skills can work together. People who have worked across different disciplines are often able to see connections others miss, because they understand a problem from more than one angle.
This matters because workplace challenges rarely stay solely within one department. A reputational issue can become a social media issue, a marketing decision can create a communications challenge and data can reveal something that changes an entire campaign. The more you understand how these areas connect, the more useful you can be beyond the boundaries of your job title.
Of course, versatility should not be confused with being unfocused. There is still value in developing real depth and expertise. But depth and range are not opposites; in many cases, they strengthen each other.
Perhaps this is the better way to think about a non-linear career. Not as a series of detours, but as the gradual accumulation of perspectives, skills and experiences that become more valuable when combined.
A career does not have to make perfect sense while you are building it. Sometimes its value only becomes clear when you look back and realise that the path you thought was inconsistent was actually teaching you how to see more of the bigger picture.
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