Long-term career planning can be a daunting task. As a result, many of us take an opportunistic approach to career progress, seizing suitable openings as they present themselves
Why is it important to plan your career?
Long-term career planning can be a daunting task. As a result, many of us take an opportunistic approach to career progress, seizing suitable openings as they present themselves. While leaving things to chance sometimes works in your favour, John Lees, career transition coach and author of Take Control of Your Career, warns against having a CV full of jobs that “just came along”– especially given the amount of time we spend working. That’s a fairly passive way of anticipating the 100,000 hours or so of your waking life you spend at work,” he says. In fact, if you don’t take control of your career in the short-term, someone else might end up doing it for you in the long run.
Where do I start?
The beginning of a new year is an excellent time to review what you have achieved over the past 12 months. Where did you make a notable contribution? Did you achieve all of your objectives? What new skills and talents have you acquired, and how have they enabled you to do things differently? Decide what you would like to change, or whether you would like to do something else. Does your current position or organisation provide sufficient scope to make this transition to the next phase? Consider how you might feel if everything were to stay the same for another 12 months.
Enlist expert counsel
Seek advice from senior colleagues or a mentor to help you to create an action plan and clarify your performance objectives. They will help to keep you focused and motivated. Also, consult your line manager about what lies ahead for the department or business, and the skills that will be most in demand. Use this information to make a case for additional training to build up your own skills.
Work on your brand
Ensure your work is always the best you can deliver. Even if you turned in a five-star performance before, doing just enough to get by afterwards could place your position in jeopardy. “If you want to be seen as someone with a rosy future, it’s vital to keep selling yourself as a brand, even if you are staying in the same job,” explains Lees.”That means being able to demonstrate to key decision makers what makes your contribution distinctive, valuable, and focused on the objectives that are closest to the heart of the business.”
Make the right choice
If you believe you are ready for a move, thoroughly explore and research options that will yield fresh challenges and stimulation. Give thought to crossover skills that will secure you the job, but most of all, make sure the move relates to what you want to achieve in the next 12 months.
Conduct regular reviews
Individual career objectives can suddenly alter, so it is essential to periodically revisit your career plan to appraise what you have achieved, to affirm that things are still on the right track and to underscore what still needs to be done. “Every three months, take an A4 piece of paper and conduct a quick-fire DIY career audit cataloguing your achievements, near-misses, key contributions and what you have learned,” advises Lees. He suggests leaving space at the bottom for a three-stage action plan, broken up into areas such as new knowledge and skills you want to acquire, key experience you would like to add to your CV, key people you need to connect with, inside and outside your organisation.
For more info
BooksTake Control of Your Career, John Lees, McGraw-Hill Professional. How to Get a Job You’ll Love, John Lees, McGraw-Hill Professional
Website
www.jobyoulove.co.uk
Courtesy of Personnel Today
