How to create a successful career plan
When you think about mapping out your career it is always tempting to say you will do it next week, but next week turns into next month and next month into next year. Yet, taking the time to map out a great future for yourself can really pay off later. Forming your career plan couldn't be easier; here are some tips to help you achieve a successful future:
1. Make career planning an annual event
Find a day or weekend once a year, more often if you feel the need or if you're planning a major career change. Try to block out all distractions so that you have the time to truly focus on your goals and what you really want out of your career and basically out of your life.
2. Map your path since last career planning
One of your first activities whenever you take on career planning is spending time mapping out your job and career path since the last time you did any sort of planning. While you should not dwell on your past, taking the time to review and reflect on the path, whether straight and narrow or one filled with curves and dead-ends, will help you plan for the future.
3. Reflect on your likes and dislikes, needs and wants
Change is a fact of life; everybody changes, as do our likes and dislikes. So always take time to reflect on the things in your life, not just in your job, that you feel most strongly about.
Make a two-column list of your major likes and dislikes. Then use this list to examine your current job and career path. If your job and career still fall mostly in the like column, then you know you are still on the right path; however, if your job activities fall mostly in the dislike column, now is the time to begin examining new jobs and new careers.
4. Examine your hobbies
Career planning provides a great time to also examine the activities you like doing when you're not working. It may sound a bit odd; to examine non-work activities when doing career planning, but it's not. Many times your hobbies and leisurely pursuits can give you great insight into future career paths.
5. Make note of your past accomplishments
Making note of your past accomplishments is not only useful for building your resume, it's also useful for career planning. Sometimes reviewing your past accomplishments will reveal forgotten successes, one or more, which may trigger researching and planning a career shift.
6. Set career and job goals
Develop a roadmap for your job and career success. A major component of career planning is setting short-term (in the coming year) and long-term (beyond a year) career and job goals. Then review and adjust those goals as your career plans progress or change.
7. Explore new education/training opportunities
Never pass up chances to learn and grow more as a person and as a worker. Part of career planning is going beyond passive acceptance of training opportunities to finding new ones that will help enhance or further your career.
Take the time to contemplate what types of educational experiences will help you achieve your career goals. Look within your company, your professional association, your local universities and community colleges, as well as online distance learning programs, to find potential career-enhancing opportunities and then find a way achieve them.
8. Research further career/job advancement opportunities
When creating a career plan you must picture yourself in the future, you must ask yourself, where will you be in a year? In five years? A key component to developing multiple scenarios of that future is researching career paths.
Of course, if you're in what you consider a dead-end job, this activity becomes even more essential to you, but all job seekers should take the time to research various career paths. Also do not be afraid to look beyond to other possible careers.
9. Finally believe in yourself
When writing your career plan believe in what you are writing and what you are capable of doing. Think of ways you can be your best, challenge yourself to be all you can be, acknowledge ALL of your successes and allow yourself to achieve your goals.
