career-defining

career-defining

1. Crucial to determining the future path of one's career.
   • 2004, Brian Freeman, The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty, page 5:

     Now, another career-defining challenge awaits. […] choosing one's medical specialty.

   • 2011, Harlan Steinbaum, Michael Steinbaum, Dave Conti, Tough Calls from the Corner Office:

     Over the years I've become fascinated with these career-defining points in time, not only because they are so often interesting and dramatic as stories in and of themselves, but also because they have so much to teach us.

   • 2015, Will Power, David Malsher, The Sheer Force of Will Power, page 1950:

     He simply packed his bags again, made a career-defining move to America and never looked back.

• defining moment

• “career-defining”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.