Career Decision-Making Models

Choosing a career after 12th feels like standing at a giant crossroad with 10 confusing signboards🤷♀️ Everyone’s shouting directions — parents, cousins, Sharma ji, and the neighbour who once cracked NEET in 1997. So how do you actually figure out which path to take? Here are 3 powerful frameworks/models that can help students or their parents choose a career path that makes sense for them(not just society) ✅ 1. IKIGAI Model (The Japanese Secret to a Fulfilling Career) Ask yourself 4 questions: -What do I love? (Interest) -What am I good at? (Skills) -What can I be paid for? (Market) -What does the world need? (Impact) Example: A student I mentored loved designing, was great at storytelling, and didn’t want a traditional desk job. Instead of engineering, she explored UI/UX design. 3 years later, she’s working at a design agency and building her own digital art page on the side. ✅ 2. Career Triangle:Passion – Potential – Practicality Don’t just chase passion blindly. Check if your interest, your aptitude, and the industry demand align. -Passion: Do you enjoy doing this? -Potential: Do you have the skill or willingness to learn? -Practicality: Will this pay your bills and grow in the future? Example A commerce student wanted to become a musician full-time. But she also loved marketing and storytelling. She found a sweet spot in music marketing – she now works with music labels promoting indie artists! How cool right? ✅ 3.The 3C Filter: Clarity – Curiosity – Coaches This is more process-oriented for those still exploring. Clarity- Start with a broad idea (e.g., "I want to work with people" or "I like solving problems"). Curiosity- Intern, shadow, take short courses to test waters. Coaches- Talk to seniors, professionals, career coaches who’ve walked the path. Example: A student I know thought she wanted to do law. After interning under a lawyer and taking a MOOC in psychology, she realised it wasn’t for her. She’s now studying psychology and plans to become a behavioural therapist. Career clarity doesn’t come overnight. It’s a mix of self-awareness, experimentation, and conversations. And it’s okay to not have it all figured out by 18. Instead of following the noise, choose a method that works for YOU. Your career is not a race. It’s a journey of alignment. Would you add another framework to this list? #CareerAdvice #CareerClarity #CareerFrameworks #Ikigai #Careercoach #dhairyadecodes

Through years of guiding professionals in career and business transitions, I’ve learned this: 👉 The ones who thrive don’t control more. They control differently. Most people waste energy trying to control the uncontrollable - market timing, restructures, client decisions, hiring freezes. The ones who land faster, pivot smoother, and stay resilient? They know exactly what belongs in Control, Influence, and Accept, and they anchor themselves with resilience traits that keep them steady in the storm. 𝗠𝘆 𝗴𝗼-𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖.𝗜.𝗔. 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 Control → What’s 100% in your hands. ✔ Updating your LinkedIn profile. ✔ Sending that proposal. ✔ Practising your interview. Influence → What you can’t control, but can shape. ✔ How a recruiter perceives you. ✔ Whether a client trusts you. ✔ How your brand lands. Accept → What you must let go of. ✔ Hiring freezes. ✔ Market downturns. ✔ Budget cuts. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: List your current challenges. For each one, ask: Control, Influence, or Accept? Put 80% of your energy into Control. (Daily actions, skill building, consistency). Dedicate 20% to Influence. (Relationships, reputation, storytelling). Release the Accepts. (They free you to move forward instead of staying stuck). 𝗔𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆: Map your situation. Write down everything that’s on your mind. Label each: Control, Influence, Accept. Double down on Control. (Daily actions → profile, outreach, interview prep). Play the long game with Influence. (Relationships, positioning, visible thought leadership). Release the Accept. (You don’t need to carry the company’s decision with you). 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Transitions are when this mindset is tested most. ➡️ Into a new role: You can’t control when the perfect job opens. But you can control your preparation, influence how decision-makers perceive you, and anchor yourself with resilience traits that keep you steady in the wait. ➡️ Into a business: You can’t control every market force. But you can control your clarity of offer, influence your audience through consistent visibility, and rely on resilience anchors to keep you moving when progress feels slow. P.S. If you’re in a transition right now (new role, new business, or both), where are you putting your energy: Control, Influence, or Acceptance? P.P.S. And see comments for 6 resilience anchors needed during transitions - which do you lean on most? ♻️ Repost if you found this helpful

Most people think career success comes from making the perfect decision. It doesn’t. It comes from making timely, values-aligned ones. Especially when the next step feels unclear. One of my clients, a brilliant VP, spent 3 months stuck on a single choice: “Do I speak up about being overlooked, or wait for my work to speak for itself?” She called it strategic patience. But it was really fear disguised as overthinking. We ran it through this framework. She made the call. Six weeks later, her promotion was fast-tracked. She was finally seen, heard, and most importantly, included. Because here’s what I tell every high-achiever I coach: You don’t need more time to decide. You need a better way to decide. Try the 2-Minute Decision Framework™ (Career Edition): 1. QUICK DECISIONS → Handle it NOW For low-stakes tasks that clog your mental bandwidth: → Can you respond to that email in < 2 minutes? → Is the request low risk and easily reversible? → Are you spiraling on something that just needs action? ✅ Do it. Momentum builds trust and confidence. (Your career doesn’t stall in the big moves, it drips away through tiny indecisions.) 2. TEAM DECISIONS → Resolve it TODAY For collaborative work or project bottlenecks: → Who’s recommending this approach? → Who’s doing the work? → Who’s accountable for the final call? ✍️ Assign roles. Align expectations. Move forward. (Most team confusion comes from no one knowing who’s driving.) Use this anytime you’re: – Leading a cross-functional project – Navigating performance reviews – Building team trust through shared clarity 3. CAREER DECISIONS → Make it THIS WEEK For decisions that affect your growth, visibility, and voice: Use the 3–2–1 Method: → 3 options: Brainstorm career paths, scripts, or solutions → 2 perspectives: Ask two mentors, not the whole internet → 1 call: Choose the path aligned with your long game 🎯 Clarity > complexity. Every time. This works for: – Deciding whether to advocate for a raise or promotion – Considering a lateral move for growth – Navigating visibility or speaking up on tough issues The truth is: courageous careers aren’t built on perfect plans. They’re built on small, aligned decisions made with intention. That’s C.H.O.I.C.E.® in action. So here’s your coaching moment: 🔥 Pick one decision you’ve been avoiding. Run it through the framework. Make the call within the next hour. Then ask yourself: What changed when I finally decided? ❓ What’s one career decision you’ve been sitting on too long? Share it below, or DM me, and we’ll run it through together. 🔖 Save this for your next “Should I…?” moment 👥 Tag someone who needs this framework in their toolkit Because alignment isn’t found in overthinking. It’s built through C.H.O.I.C.E.®. ➕ Follow Loren Rosario - Maldonado, PCC for tools that actually work in real life. #CareerCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment

On making smarter decisions as an early career (or late career) academic. As I started my career, I found the number of decisions that I faced overwhelming: What projects should I pursue? Should I join a collaboration? Which conferences should I attend? Should I submit to a journal? Where should I work? As my career progressed, I came to understand that not all decisions carry equal weight. And. To navigate them, I have found applying the Jeff Bezos' one-way door vs. two-way door model. What does that mean? One-Way Door Decisions These are high-stakes, high-commitment decisions. Once made, they’re difficult—or expensive—to reverse. Why? They require long-term investment of time, resources, or reputation Examples for early-career academics: Accepting a tenure-track position in a new location Committing to a multi-year grant or research center Taking on a long-term leadership role Take your time approaching them ... Consult trusted mentors or advisors Gather diverse perspectives Consider long-term alignment with your values and goals Simulate the “worst-case scenario” to gauge true risk As Jeff Bezos put it: "These decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly, with great deliberation and consultation." In contrast, two-Way Door Decisions are reversible decisions that allow you to test and learn. If it doesn’t work out, you can easily pivot. Characteristics: Low cost to change or exit Allow for experimentation and learning Provide real-world feedback with minimal risk Some examples: Submitting a paper to a new journal Attending a different conference for exposure Trying a new method in a workshop or side project Starting a newsletter, podcast, or blog Collaborating with a peer on a small project How to approach them: Act quickly Don’t over-analyze Reflect and adapt as needed View them as chances to test hypotheses about your career Bezos recommends having a bias for action here: “If you’ve made a suboptimal decision, you can reopen the door and go back through.” Thinking about one way and two way decision are important, bc they shape how quickly you make decisions, the stress tited to it, and their impact on your progress as an academic. What it also lets you acknowledge is ... Not every paper shapes your legacy. Not every collaboration locks you in. Not every conference defines your field visibility. By identifying which decisions are one-way and which are two-way, you’ll spend your energy where it really matters—and stay agile and curious where it doesn’t. And taken together, that means you'll experience less stress, make better decisions, and navigate academic life more adroitly. Best of luck! #academicjourney

I asked all the right questions. They still chose the opportunity with the red flags. As a career coach, that's humbling. A young professional I was working with had narrowed their search to two incredible opportunities. One checked almost every box. Strong leadership. Clear growth. Long-term stability. The other came with more uncertainty. More questions. More risk. We spent hours talking through the trade-offs. I challenged assumptions. Pointed out blind spots. Asked the difficult questions. By the end, I thought I knew which direction they were leaning. I was wrong. They chose the other opportunity. For a moment, I wondered: Did I miss something? Then I realized I was evaluating the decision differently than they were. I was comparing opportunities. They were imagining futures. That's when something clicked. I've come to believe that career decisions happen on three levels. Logic. ▪ Salary. ▪ Benefits. ▪ Growth. ▪ Stability. Emotion. ▪ The manager. ▪ The culture. ▪ The energy. ▪ The relationships. But eventually, every meaningful career decision reaches one final question: Who do I become if I choose this path? That's the identity level. And when logic and identity point in different directions... Identity often wins. It doesn't always mean it's the right decision. It doesn't always mean it's the safest decision. But it does explain why intelligent people sometimes make choices that confuse everyone around them. As coaches, leaders, and mentors, we naturally focus on helping people make better decisions by giving them better information. Information matters. But information isn't always what makes the decision. Because facts answer one question: "Which opportunity is better?" Identity answers another: "Which future feels like mine?" The best career decisions happen when logic, emotion, and identity all align. When they don't... Don't just ask whether someone made the "right" choice. Ask which version of themselves they were trying to become. That question often explains everything. If this changed how you think about career decisions, someone in your network may need this framework, too.

Many amazingly talented PMMs make wrong career decisions because they believe what works for someone else will work for them - whether it’s chasing a prestigious company, a higher salary, or a fancy title. But here’s the thing: what works for others might not work for you. In fact, focusing on extrinsic motivators or what “looks” good is, in my experience, one of the biggest sources of unhappiness. I’ve made those mistakes in my career too. Every time I went against what I truly value, I regretted it. Over time, I developed a system to help me make better career decisions. One exercise in particular has been a game-changer: the balanced wheel (inspired by the balanced life wheel). Here’s how it works: ✅ Draw a circle and divide it into 8 slices. ✅ Label each slice with areas of your work life that matter most to you—things that truly reflect your values. Be honest with yourself! ✅ Rate your satisfaction with your most recent full-time job for each area on a scale from 0–10 (0 = the center, 10 = the edge). ✅ Connect the ratings to create your “wheel.” Now, take a step back. How bumpy is your wheel? What patterns stand out? This exercise is helpful for evaluating both your current role and future opportunities. To take it a step further, you can create a weighting system to assess jobs more objectively - I’ve built a decision matrix based on this. If you want a copy, send me a DM! After coaching over 200 clients through this process, the three most important values people highlight (and often rate the lowest) are: 🧑 A great manager: People quit managers, not jobs. 🧠 Learning potential: Growth keeps you engaged and excited. 📈 Company stability: No one wants to be stuck on a sinking ship. If you’re feeling uncertain about your role or career, I highly recommend giving this exercise a try - it’s been transformative for so many people. Let me know what you think! #career #productmarketing #growth #coaching #tech

Every so often, a candidate or client shares a piece of career gold with me that is worth sharing. Case in point: The five-point job decision framework. Each time you are offered an opportunity, put it through this framework: 1 - Culture: Do you have a connection to the organisation, the mission and the key people? 2 - Role: To what extent does the role and content interest you, stretch you, and play to your strengths? 3 - Future: Does this open up new opportunities in the medium term? 4 - Holistic well-being: What positive or negative effect will this have on your personal and professional wellness? 5 - Compensation: Does the comp and benefits work for you? So, sit down with pen and paper, and thoughtfully write down your perspectives on each of these to reach a go or no-go on that next career opportunity (noting that compensation is listed last for a reason, as the weighting on this category is very personal).

Confused about where to take your career next? Here’s a simple decision-making framework I’ve used to discern the right next move. Step 1: Map your options. Create a table with each option as a column. Note: - Company type - Example companies - The specific role you’d pursue (For example: a CXO role at an early-stage company vs. a VP / #2 role at a public-scale company.) Step 2: Pressure-test qualitatively. Write out a clear list of pros and cons for each option. The act of putting this on paper is often clarifying on its own. Step 3: Score the options. I use an adapted version of the Ikigai framework, scoring each option across: - What I love - What I’m good at - What the world needs - What I can be paid for (risk-adjusted) And given my personal context, I added a row about location flexibility. You may have other criteria to include as well. Step 4: Stack-rank. Score each category (e.g., 1–8), total the columns, and see what rises to the top. Of course big life decisions are never purely mathematical, but frameworks like this help you process clearly, revisit your thinking in moments of doubt, and build conviction as you move forward. If you’d like a Google Slides version of this framework, comment below and I’ll DM it to you.

5 models I swear by to be more strategic (especially when the stakes are high.) I wish I could tell you, "The smartest decisions I’ve made came from instinct." But that would be a lie. They came from having the right tool. At the right moment. No one has all the answers. And being strategic isn’t about pretending to. It’s about knowing how to think for the most impact. Here are 5 models I use to think more strategically: SWOT Analysis See what’s working. Spot what’s holding you back. ➟ Use before: big moves or career pivots. Second-Order Thinking Think past the obvious. Spot long-term impact early. ➟ Use when: decisions have ripple effects. VRIO Framework Find your edge. Identify what sets you apart. ➟ Use to: pitch your value or prioritize strengths. McKinsey 7S Fix what’s out of sync. Align how you strategize, plan and act. ➟ Use when: progress stalls or things out of sync. Impact vs Effort Matrix Work smarter, not harder. Focus where results are most impactful. ➟ Use when: you’re overloaded or stuck. Being strategic isn’t about knowing everything. It’s about knowing how to think when it counts. The right model can change how you lead, plan, and win. Reshare ♻️ to help someone in your network. And give me a follow for more posts like this.

7 Mental Models Everyone Must Download Into Their Brain Your brain is running outdated software. Let's upgrade it. I've tested these 7 mental models across 5 companies and 10+ years of entrepreneurship. They're not just concepts—they're neural shortcuts to better decisions. 1. The Fosbury Flop Conventional wisdom is often conventional mediocrity. Dick Fosbury revolutionized high jumping by going backwards when everyone else went forwards. He won Olympic gold. The neurohack: Your brain's pattern-recognition system loves the familiar. Override it deliberately to find breakthroughs others miss. 2. Inversion Thinking Stop asking "How can I succeed?" Start asking "How can I avoid catastrophic failure?" Your prefrontal cortex processes negative outcomes more effectively than positive ones. Use this to your advantage. 3. Second-Order Thinking Amateur thinkers stop at immediate consequences. Your brain must go further. When making decisions, ask: "And then what? And what happens after that?" I nearly destroyed my first company by optimizing for short-term growth over sustainable profitability. 4. Parkinson's Law Work expands to fill the time allotted. Give yourself 3 weeks for a project, it'll take 3 weeks. Give yourself 3 days, and your brain will find a way. The hack: Cut your deadlines in half and watch your productivity double. 5. Depth Over Width "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." -Bruce Lee Your neural pathways strengthen with repetition, not variety. Master the fundamentals before chasing novelty. 6. Regret Minimization When deciding, fast-forward to age 80. Will you regret not taking this chance? Jeff Bezos used this framework to leave his cushy job and start Amazon. Your deathbed is brutally clarifying. 7. Network Razor If two people in your network would benefit from knowing each other, always make the introduction. "Networks don't divide when shared, they multiply." -Chris Williamson Your brain is designed to process information through models. These seven will transform your decision-making from reactive to strategic. Which model will you implement first? Share below 👇 - Follow me Dan Murray-Serter 🧠 🧠 for more on habits and leadership. ♻️ Repost this if you think it can help someone in your network! 🖐️ P.S Join my newsletter The Science Of Success where I break down stories and studies of success to teach you how to turn it from probability to predictability here: https://lnkd.in/ecuRJtrr