ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a different way of thinking about career planning, given changes in technology, economic organization, and social context for planning. It suggests contingent planning methods as an alternative to the "blueprint" idea, emphasizing processes that support robust career decisions under many conditions. Career plans may be useless, but career planning is not. The chapter suggests that career planning should be done in a way that respects context and chance. Thinking about career planning naturally leads planners to reflect on the theories and methods they use in planning for communities and clients. As planners know, long-term planning is often undermined by changing conditions and unanticipated events. Career plans as a "blueprint" for the future doesn't match reality. Although prospects for planning employment are good, there is uncertainty about future economic conditions, restructuring among planning firms, contracting out of local government planning functions, and technological disruption of planning work.
