This article explores Finnish polytechnic master's degree graduates' career development about one year after graduation. Twenty interviewed graduates were first classified on the basis of their initial educational motives yielding a typology of goal-oriented, learning-oriented and drifters. After this, their career development was analysed. As a result, six different career development types were identified. Nearly, half of the interviewees were termed as goal-oriented careerists. The remaining types with a couple of interviewees in each were named as goal-oriented career-fighters, learning-oriented progressors, learning-oriented adaptors, career-satisfied drifters and discontented drifters. In conclusion, the career development of the goal-oriented followed a planned and predictable pathway while others benefitted from various happenstances. Regarding the discussion in current career development literature on whether utilising chance in careering is better than rational planning, this small-scale qualitative study shows that both ways can yield equally good results. (Contains 1 note and 1 table.)