Learn the art of career awareness. It is not about having a cast-iron, 20-year career plan, but the ability to rapidly match opportunity to personal goals
What are the essentials?
Learn the art of career awareness. It is not about having a cast-iron, 20-year career plan, but the ability to rapidly match opportunity to personal goals. Career awareness focuses on what we can do now. It requires answers to three basic questions:
• What kind of work do I find meaningful and challenging?
• What outcomes does my present or next employer really seek?
• How can I exploit the overlap, or create one?
How good are HR people at planning their own careers?
Because HR professionals are usually responsible for career development and retention, they’re often the last to heed their own advice. Occasionally, HR can also feel a little distant from the action, so HR professionals sometimes fail to sell a match between their personal achievements to the organisation’s primary goals.
What are the dos and don’ts of career planning for the year ahead?
DO...
• take your learning seriously - particularly if you have reached a flat point of your learning curve.
• make sure that your planning isn’t just navel-gazing. Talk to colleagues, your boss, a mentor/coach and contacts outside the organisation to get a rounded picture.
DON’T...
• get so obsessed by short-term objectives that you miss key outcomes that matter to your organisation.
• get so focused on the tasks in hand that you fail to undertake a career audit.
John Lees is a career coach, speaker and authorCourtesy of Personnel Today
