This paper sets out career-related stories of people and their struggle to make sense of a life through work. They show that career management is not primarily a matching process but, for most, the making of a life the best way one can. The nine stories from five continents have these focuses: a feeling for a career; a career is other people or peer attachment; career and culture which frames belief about how things work and what is important; career over time; cultural capital or the processes of working out how things work begins in the toddler years; points of view on a career move; the inner life of a career; career as purpose knowing what to do to survive, escape, thrive, and flourish; and career learning as learning for action. The paper then argues the power of complexity, including that matching is not the first thing to do; deeper understanding is needed of what is going in the lives of people; and more ways are needed to get to grips with what is happening and what might be done to help. The paper concludes with this implication: among the many things needed to be done is local research for action, so one knows what to do, alongside people, in their communities. There are 28 references. (YLB)