Career Plan
27 February 2009
Read by 3167 persons
Text: "While the goal is important, a career plan should also be flexible."
If you want to get the most out of your job, you will need to define a career plan. Whether you are a freelancer or work in a large company, you should always have a general idea of the direction you want to take your career.
Define your vision
Start with your vision - what do you want to have accomplished in your work in 10 years? Assume that nothing is impossible. Write down your ideal scenario and then try to formulate a concrete goal to achieve it. Successful people, whether athletes, business people, or artists, are always incredibly focused on a goal. Before you start, you need to know exactly where you want to end up.
Determine your possibilities
Okay, not everyone can win a gold medal at the Olympics. At some point, you will need to determine your strengths and weaknesses and where the best career opportunities lie for you. William Frank, president of CareerLab.com, confirms that a career often develops organically. It is therefore important that you ensure that it goes directly in the right direction. He also advises you to research trends in the industry or profession that interests you, in order to get an idea of future career possibilities.
Partial objectives
Set some partial objectives in the meantime - steps on the road that lead to your final goal and show what you have achieved so far. Example: 'I want to have learned Japanese by January 2007 and start working as a marketing manager in Japan before 2009'. Partial objectives should be relatively easy to achieve, and should help you keep your career moving. Thanks to them, your career plan will seem more achievable. Each partial objective you achieve is also proof of your success.
Goal and flexibility
While the goal is important, a career plan should also be flexible. The experiences you will gain along the way will impact how you see yourself and the image you have of your dream job. In their recruitment procedures, employers are looking precisely for this kind of flexibility. Hans Gutch, senior vice president HR at Compaq, looks at the long term when hiring new employees: ‘We would never have come this far if we hadn't hired our staff with a view to the future. When we hire staff, we look for people who are likely to change roles within the company and move up the ranks'. According to Gutch, this adaptability is essential, as companies are finding it increasingly difficult to predict what they will need to demand from their staff in the future.
Take care of your reputation
Your career will stagnate or take off depending on your social and professional relationships. If you want to make fruitful contacts, it is essential, according to William Frank, to defend your own reputation and give a 'little boost' to that of others. If you have a good reputation, people will remember you and will not hesitate, for example, to mention your name if a position becomes available. They expect you to succeed in your new role and for your success to benefit them.
Find a mentor
Throughout your career, you will need support and feedback. Finding the right person is not always easy - they must wish you well and be willing to give you time. This kind of relationship works best when there is interaction. Choose carefully: your mentor can indeed play a decisive role in how well you manage to achieve the goals you have set yourself.
Posted on June 23, 2008
emploi-it.stepstone.be
If you want to get the most out of your job, you will need to define a career plan. Whether you are a freelancer or work in a large company, you should always have a general idea of the direction you want to take your career.
Define your vision
Start with your vision - what do you want to have accomplished in your work in 10 years? Assume that nothing is impossible. Write down your ideal scenario and then try to formulate a concrete goal to achieve it. Successful people, whether athletes, business people, or artists, are always incredibly focused on a goal. Before you start, you need to know exactly where you want to end up.
Determine your possibilities
Okay, not everyone can win a gold medal at the Olympics. At some point, you will need to determine your strengths and weaknesses and where the best career opportunities lie for you. William Frank, president of CareerLab.com, confirms that a career often develops organically. It is therefore important that you ensure that it goes directly in the right direction. He also advises you to research trends in the industry or profession that interests you, in order to get an idea of future career possibilities.
Partial objectives
Set some partial objectives in the meantime - steps on the road that lead to your final goal and show what you have achieved so far. Example: 'I want to have learned Japanese by January 2007 and start working as a marketing manager in Japan before 2009'. Partial objectives should be relatively easy to achieve, and should help you keep your career moving. Thanks to them, your career plan will seem more achievable. Each partial objective you achieve is also proof of your success.
Goal and flexibility
While the goal is important, a career plan should also be flexible. The experiences you will gain along the way will impact how you see yourself and the image you have of your dream job. In their recruitment procedures, employers are looking precisely for this kind of flexibility. Hans Gutch, senior vice president HR at Compaq, looks at the long term when hiring new employees: ‘We would never have come this far if we hadn't hired our staff with a view to the future. When we hire staff, we look for people who are likely to change roles within the company and move up the ranks'. According to Gutch, this adaptability is essential, as companies are finding it increasingly difficult to predict what they will need to demand from their staff in the future.
Take care of your reputation
Your career will stagnate or take off depending on your social and professional relationships. If you want to make fruitful contacts, it is essential, according to William Frank, to defend your own reputation and give a 'little boost' to that of others. If you have a good reputation, people will remember you and will not hesitate, for example, to mention your name if a position becomes available. They expect you to succeed in your new role and for your success to benefit them.
Find a mentor
Throughout your career, you will need support and feedback. Finding the right person is not always easy - they must wish you well and be willing to give you time. This kind of relationship works best when there is interaction. Choose carefully: your mentor can indeed play a decisive role in how well you manage to achieve the goals you have set yourself.
Posted on June 23, 2008
emploi-it.stepstone.be
