Turns out we can all benefit from a career plan—even if we don't have a 5-year career plan already in place.
From recent grads to more experienced professionals, career planning is a beneficial exercise no matter your career level or career stage. And leaders will love career planning exercises because it helps them manage your team to think proactively about their careers and future career paths, which can boost employee engagement and retention.
Taking time to reflect on what type of work you want to do is the foundation of career planning. Here's my 6-step guide to help you get started.
Who Should Have a Career Plan?
We often associate career planning with those applying for their first full-time job or students selecting a college major. At that stage it might seem like the options before us are endless so creating a plan is necessary to sort through the choices. As we carry on in a career it may seem like options are fewer and, as such, we stay on the career path in front of us, only considering a plan when we are conducting a job search. The truth is that everyone, at any stage in their professional career can benefit from career planning and if you haven't started yet the best time is now.
What Is Career Planning?
Career planning is the process of understanding what we enjoy, the skills we’ve developed and our personal strengths to determine roles, organizations or responsibilities that are of interest. The career planning process helps us, as individuals, and it can also help our colleagues and team members to develop their own plans. After all, how can we determine our next step if we don’t know where we are going?
Having a career plan can allow you to plan for professional development opportunities, explore new qualifications, identify useful resources and create the right connections to feel challenged and excited about the work you do.
Busting Career Planning Myths
Once I Have A Plan, I’m Done
Career planning does not have a set beginning or end, it’s a process that evolves as we do so there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer when looking at your next career move. Your plan and schedule will constantly change and evolve.
Career Planning Means Climbing The Corporate Ladder
For some, career planning may involve staying in a fantastic role and taking on new challenges, for others it’s planning for retirement and others will start a side hustle. Anything goes when career planning, as long as it’s the right plan for you!
I Need To Have a Target Job Title
Job titles are always evolving and changing and it’s absolutely possible to create a plan without a specific title. Instead, you might focus on responsibilities, industries or number of direct reports as higher priorities than the job title.
I Must Have a 5-Year Plan
Career plans don't need to have set timelines. Yours may include a goal by the end of the month, year or entire career. Long-term goals and short-term goals are equally valuable.
6 Steps To Create An Actionable Career Plan
So let’s explore the actionable steps you can take to create an effective career plan.
1. Notice What Lights You Up
Start from where you are and notice what you enjoy at work. You may do this by writing in a weekly journal, taking a career assessment or even reflecting on performance reviews. When things are going well at work, in particular, it’s easy to forget to reflect and notice WHY things are going well in the same way that we take note when things did not work out as planned. This self-exploration can help you not only to know your strengths and abilities at work but it also notices patterns in your professional accomplishments over time as you encounter new situations at work and develop new skills.
2. Stay Curious and Keep Learning
Any type of progression and planning requires outside learning in addition to self-reflection. This may bring up the idea of a course or degree, but the learning process will look different for different people. You may learn about different roles through job boards, news stories, informational interviews or Instagram. Remain open to career exploration and share what you’ve learned about what lights you up. When you tell someone what you enjoy they may have ideas as to how your skills can be used across different industries or roles.
3. Go Beyond the Job Title
Job titles are constantly changing and I often work with people whose titles do not describe their day to day responsibilities. When searching for roles of interest or possible career paths, start with key words that align with skills and responsibilities rather than job titles. This can open your eyes to possibilities you hadn’t considered in career planning. Knowing that you want to create content for a mission-driven media company can be just as valuable as knowing that you'd like to be a Chief Marketing Officer.
4. Examine Your Brand
Take a look at your professional persona from your resume to cover letters, professional projects and LinkedIn. What achievements have meant the most to you? Which projects were most enjoyable? What do you want more of? Now, consider if your professional persona is aligned with those desires. Many people notice a disconnect between what they put forward and what they actually want to do. If you’re not sure where to begin, try color-coding your resume bullets. Make bullets that you don’t want to do again red, yellow for what could take or leave and green for what you’d like to continue doing or areas where you’d like to grow.
5. Tap Into Your Networks
Keep in touch with your peers as well as people in the roles that are of interest to you. These relationships in your professional network allow you to have a front-row seat to the career choices that others have made and you may want to emulate. Your former peers may also likely have similar skills and experience so you’ll see where those skills can be put to use in different fields. Beyond online connections, find easy ways to connect so you feel comfortable to ask people for questions, additional connections, or opportunities.
6. Share Your Plan
Finally, think about how others can support you and how you can help them do so. Once you know your plan, sharing it will be key. Enlist the help of those in your network so you can continue to grow and work toward your next steps. Have conversations about your progression with those you trust and ask for feedback along the way so you can take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
These specific action steps can help you to plan at any stage, whether you're thinking about long-term career goals, advancement opportunities within your current organization or considering a career change. The important thing is knowing what is most attractive to you so that you can take advantage of the right opportunities.
