How to Find Your Career Sweet Spot: A Simple Framework to Get Unstuck
- Nicole Banar
- Jun 23
- 3 min read
When it comes to finding the right job, skills aren’t the only thing that matter. Yes, your experience, technical know-how, and professional toolkit are critical—but fulfillment, motivation, and longevity in a role come from something deeper: alignment.
If you're navigating a career transition, looking to pivot into a new industry, or feeling uninspired in your current role, this framework is for you. It’s a tool I return to again and again in my coaching work and in my own career journey, and it’s one of the most effective ways to build clarity around next steps.
What Is the Career Sweet Spot?
Your career “sweet spot” is the intersection of three essential elements:
What the business needs – These are the skills, functions, and capabilities companies are actively looking for to achieve results.
What you are good at – This includes your strengths, technical abilities, professional experiences, and transferable skills.
What you enjoy doing – These are the tasks, responsibilities, or environments that energize and motivate you.
At the center of this Venn diagram is your sweet spot. It’s where your skills, business value, and personal joy overlap—and it often points directly to where you’ll thrive.
Why It Works
I was first introduced to this model during my time at WL Gore, where it was used as a career development and internal mobility planning tool. Since then, I’ve used it personally and with coaching clients to navigate questions like:
Should I stay or go?
What other roles could I be successful in?
Why am I good at my job but still feeling disengaged?
When you’re feeling stuck, this tool offers a tangible starting point for ideation. It brings objectivity to what can often feel like a messy or emotional process.
How to Use the Career Sweet Spot Exercise
If you’re ready to try this framework, grab a piece of paper or open a blank doc and jot down your thoughts for each area:
What are the Business / Market Needs
Research job descriptions, talk to people in your network, or observe trends in your industry. What are companies hiring for right now? What problems are they trying to solve?
What You Are Good At
Make a list of your professional skills, past roles, and achievements. Think beyond titles—what kinds of work do people ask you for help with? Where have you created real impact?
What You Enjoy Doing
Reflect on moments when you've felt in flow at work. What tasks or challenges do you actually look forward to? What types of work leave you feeling energized instead of drained?
Once you’ve answered these questions, look for overlaps. What patterns are emerging? Where is the greatest alignment?
What Happens Next?
This exercise doesn’t give you an immediate job title or a five-year plan—but it does offer clarity. And from that clarity, you can start to take intentional steps forward:
Explore roles that sit at the intersection of your sweet spot
Reframe your resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect what you *want* to do
Start conversations with people in adjacent fields or industries
Look for stretch opportunities in your current role that align more closely with your sweet spot
A Career Pivot Doesn’t Have to Be a Leap
Sometimes the most sustainable change comes from small, thoughtful shifts. Finding your sweet spot doesn’t mean overhauling everything—it means making more aligned decisions, one step at a time.
If you're feeling stuck or unsure what your sweet spot is, let's talk!