Driver and Brousseau’s fourth career path (the “Spiral” career concept) is particularly salient when considering the challenges of our new economy. This is a spiral pathway represented by the movement of men and women through several different careers—each career building on and making use of the expertise and experience learned during the previous career. A school teacher leaves her job to become the executive director at a small non-profit organization. An electrical engineer moves over to project management in his current organization. The insurance executive leaves her job to acquire a graduate degree in theology and accept the pastorate in a small community church.

This fourth career path is not new. Along with the third career path, this fourth one often describes the way in which many women entered the job market during the 20th century. The big difference in the 21st century is that the third and fourth paths are often chosen by men as well as women. The new economy and employment challenges should suggest that both paths are likely to become even more descriptive of many careers. Clearly, those coaches who are trained in life planning and have access to many career development tools will be of great value to those who are preparing for new careers while on the spiral path. Coaches can help clients identify transferable skills and career overlaps, while also providing support during difficult career transitions. What expertise and tools might organizational coaches be able to offer the multi-career (path four) client?

Protean career

In his 1976 book Careers in Organizations, Douglas T. (Tim) Hall speculated about careers in the future in response to the broken psychological contract with his “protean career” concept. The term “Protean” is derived from Greek mythology. Proteus was the Greek God of Sea who could change forms at will in order to adapt to oncoming threats. Thirty-four years later, the concept is reality. As the organizational environment has transformed due to market conditions, so too has the workplace transformed. Now employees must be equally flexible and adaptive. Hall described protean career as an orientation that is controlled by the person. He defined this orientation as:

The protean career is a process which the person, not the organization, is managing. It consists of all of the person’s varied experiences in education, training, work in several organizations, changes in occupational field, etc. The protean person’s own personal career choices and search for self-fulfillment are the unifying or integrative elements in his or her life. The criterion of success is internal (psychological success), not external. (Hall, 1976, p. 201)

Psychological success means attaining outcomes that are highly valued when measured against one’s own personal goals, as opposed to externally defined goals. It’s also holistic, whereby the whole idea of protean career is not just about defining what’s good for you, but also the family and the community. By defining all aspects of self and associated values, a detachment of identity to career lessens and an increase in self-awareness and identity of the whole self increases, thereby minimizing impact to the self when a job is lost or another major transition occurs in one’s life.