Careers are developed in phases. Knowing which phase you’re in is critical to finding the right support.

Phase 0 is before you’ve launched your career. You were in this phase when you were in high school, college, or possibly even graduate school.

Phase 1 is when you’re trying to design a career path that aligns who you are with the work you do. Sometimes, professionals have to revisit this phase if they’ve gone too far out of alignment in their current career path, or if they’ve never done a comprehensive exploration of their options.

Phase 2 is the job hunt—many people jump into this prematurely without first discovering their options. It’s like marrying the first person you date…it can work out, but it’s usually a very bad idea. If you came to look for help with your job hunt—consider if it would be valuable for you to determine your options before you invest more time into your current career path.

Phase 3 starts once you’ve landed the job. You could coast in your new role, or you could continue to develop yourself, enhance your skills, and even tailor your role to fit your strengths.

Phase 4 is where you’ll be when you’re getting close to retiring. Whether you’re looking to be financially independent and retire early or you’re intending to work until you can’t any more, at some point you’ll be passing the torch to the next generations—and what you do and how you do that is up to you.