Elaborating a career plan will help you to have a clear idea of what you are looking for in terms of career prospects. You will first need to identify :
- where you are now in your career,
- where you want to be,
- what steps you need to take to reach your ultimate goal.
Here, you will learn the 6 key steps to creating your career plan.
1. What is your situation?
Write down what your current situation is, as well as your strengths and skills used in your current or previous job. You can also add what motivates or frustrates you. What do you enjoy doing in your job and why?
2. What do you want to do?
What are the tasks and missions that would be important in your future job? Identify what the job description and role mean. What are the skills that you need to be able to do the job? You may be able to obtain this information from different job offers that you see online.
3. What are your goals ?
You should be able to plan your short- and long-term goals. When you know where you are and where you want to be. List the skills, experiences, and competencies you already possess and those you still need to acquire. This can then be broken down into steps. By setting smaller goals that you can accomplish as you go, you will feel like you are making progress toward your ultimate objective. Set realistic goals and set deadlines for achieving them. Make sure you acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments when you reach one of your smaller goals. Keep your end goal in sight and stay motivated by acknowledging the progress you have already made.
4. What do other people think of me?
Getting input from colleagues or managers will help you to gain confidence in yourself, but also to identify progress points. Why not contact previous or current colleagues to share your career plan with them? They may be able to give you advice on how you can improve your professional or personal skills.
5. What about your private life?
Since your career map will focus mainly on your professional life, it’s also important to take into account your personal motivations and interests. Elaborating your career map should also include your personal plans, for example, if you want to live abroad, travel, work remotely, or start a family.
6. Are you flexible?
Your career plan will evolve depending on your motivations, priority and career choices, so remember to update your short and medium term plans on a regular basis
Conclusions
Elaborating and keeping your career plan up to date will help you make level-headed decisions. Things may change, but you can always consult your map and see if you need to adapt by upskilling, reskilling or persisting.