Career Planning

Long past are the days of lifetime employment and now you need to plan careers as how to shift from one organization to another for gaining maximum industry experience. The task of career planning is quite a laborious one and it requires systematic planning of every step and a calculated execution. Take the onus of planning your own career.

Steps in Career Planning Process

Step One: Self Assessment

The first and foremost step in career planning is to know and assess yourself. You need to collect information about yourself while deciding about a particular career option.You must analyze your interests, abilities, aptitudes, desired lifestyle, and personal traits and then study the relationship between the career opted for and self.

Step Two: Goal Setting

Set your goals according to your academic qualification, work experience, priorities and expectations in life. Once your goal is identified, then you determine the feasible ways and objectives how to realize it.

Step Three: Academic/Career Options

Narrow your general occupational direction to a particular one by an informatory decision making process. Analyze the career option by keeping in mind your present educational qualification and what more academic degrees you need to acquire for it.

Step Four: Plan of Action

Recognize those industries and particular companies where you want to get into. Make the plan a detailed one so that you can determine for how many years you are going to work in a company in order to achieve maximum success, and then switch to another. Decide where you would like to see yourself after five years and in which position.

Step Five: Catch Hold of Opportunities

Opportunity comes but once. So, whenever you get any opportunity to prove yourself and get into your desired career, try to convert it in every way for suiting your purpose. Remember, a successful professional is also quite opportunistic in his moves, examining every opening to turn to his favor.

Advice on Career Planning

Try not to waste much time and wait too long between career planning sessions.

Don't ever judge and analyze yourself, like your likes and dislikes, abilities, etc. by listening to what people around you say. Be your best judge.

Be open to constructive criticisms.