Career: Sink or swim?

Ok, so here is where I go all "working girl" on you.

Unfortunately, despite sometimes wishing otherwise, my carefree college days are definitely O-V-E-R. While I do have grad school plans, never again will my life revolve around classes, beer, friends, beer, snowboarding, beer, boys, and of course: beer.

When it comes to actually starting a career post-graduation, it seems we sometimes feel like we've jumped off the deep-end and are required to learn to swim on our own, with suddenly no idea what to expect. With every job description slightly different, every company, sector, economy and country with different expectations, procedures and assumptions, it's impossible to find much direct guidance or relevant advice because there is probably no one in the world out there with the exact same career as you. Unless you work at McDonald's, but I digress.

From what I've heard, the general rule is you should stay in your first post-college job for a minimum of 12 - 18 months before looking to move on/up. This demonstrates dedication and reliability to a position/company, with the assumption you've learned something and been productive in your role. But every sector is different and every situation more-so.

Do you stay for 12-months in a job that makes you a glorified paper-shuffler if you're not actually learning anything and a monkey could do it? Do you sit out abusive managers, sabotaging co-workers or ridiculous directors just to make your resume look good?

Or do you leave a job after 12-months because that's what you're "supposed" to do, even though you love your organization, your co-workers and your position still leaves you challenged?

As I've mentioned before, with my degree in sport science, I work in a non-profit organization in the sport sector in Melbourne, Australia. It's a pretty unique field and 'generic' career advice directed to managers and coordinators of private sector, American corporations rarely applies to me or my career trajectory.

Often I find myself floundering. I wonder when the best time to return to school is? When is the best time to move on to another company? Should I stay in non-profit or move to the professional sport sector? Is this what I always thought I would be doing? Is this what I want to be doing? Hundreds of questions, often without much of an answer.

Also, I'm in a competitive industry. Everyone in Melbourne thinks that the sport sector is glamorous and full of money. It's not. Even once they realize it, everyone still wants to be involved. Honestly? There is probably someone in this city who would volunteer to do my, or anyone elses sport-related job for free. More often than not, a lot of our positions are voluntary, I'm just one of the lucky ones.

Perhaps this is sport specific, but I think it applies to many other careers as well. Recently someone speaking at a networking and HR function mentioned that particularly as sport is often seasonal, 12 or 18 months in a position isn't adequate these days. In 12 to 18 months you've barely had one year, or cycle of experience. You've run events, competitions, procedures once, but you haven't been able to demonstrate, learning, competency and improvement in only 12 months. This person suggested 2 - 3 years in a position was more adequate before you could expect to move upwards/onwards. An interesting thought, when so many theories say you should move on before this.

What are the expectations in your career sector? I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling like I sometimes have no clue what the right answers are when it comes to my career.

I think those last two words are important. MY career. No one in the history of the world will have the exact same working career as I do over the next 40 years. It's probably unlikely that someone has my exact same goals, plans, or expectations when it comes to working, and thus, the right answers for me probably aren't the right answers for someone else. This is my career, to make of it what I want.

What about you?